Early Results from GLASS-JWST. IX. First Spectroscopic Confirmation of Low-mass Quiescent Galaxies at z > 2 with NIRISS

Danilo Marchesini, Gabriel Brammer, Takahiro Morishita, Pietro Bergamini, Xin Wang, Marusa Bradac, Guido Roberts-Borsani, Victoria Strait, Tommaso Treu, Adriano Fontana, Tucker Jones, Paola Santini, Benedetta Vulcani, Ana Acebron, Antonello Calabrò, Marco Castellano, Karl Glazebrook, Claudio Grillo, Amata Mercurio, Themiya NanayakkaraPiero Rosati, Chanita Tubthong, Eros Vanzella

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

How passive galaxies form, and the physical mechanisms which prevent star formation over long timescales, are some of the most outstanding questions in understanding galaxy evolution. The properties of quiescent galaxies over cosmic time provide crucial information to identify the quenching mechanisms. Passive galaxies have been confirmed and studied out to z ∼ 4, but all of these studies have been limited to massive systems (mostly with log ( M star / M ⊙ ) > 10.8 ). Using JWST-NIRISS grism slitless spectroscopic data from the GLASS-JWST Early Release Science program, we present spectroscopic confirmation of two quiescent galaxies at z spec = 2.650 − 0.006 + 0.004 and z spec = 2.433 − 0.016 + 0.032 (3σ errors) with stellar masses of log ( M star / M ⊙ ) = 10.59 − 0.05 + 0.11 and log ( M star / M ⊙ ) = 10.07 − 0.03 + 0.06 (corrected for magnification factors of μ = 2.0 and μ = 2.1, respectively). The latter represents the first spectroscopic confirmation of the existence of low-mass quiescent galaxies at cosmic noon, showcasing the power of JWST to identify and characterize this enigmatic population.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberL25
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume942
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2023
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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