JWST's TEMPLATES for Star Formation: The First Resolved Gas-phase Metallicity Maps of Dust-obscured Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 4

oleh: Jack E. Birkin, Taylor A. Hutchison, Brian Welch, Justin S. Spilker, Manuel Aravena, Matthew B. Bayliss, Jared Cathey, Scott C. Chapman, Anthony H. Gonzalez, Gayathri Gururajan, Christopher C. Hayward, Gourav Khullar, Keunho J. Kim, Guillaume Mahler, Matthew A. Malkan, Desika Narayanan, Grace M. Olivier, Kedar A. Phadke, Cassie Reuter, Jane R. Rigby, J. D. T. Smith, Manuel Solimano, Nikolaus Sulzenauer, Joaquin D. Vieira, David Vizgan, Axel Weiss

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: IOP Publishing 2023-01-01

Deskripsi

We present the first spatially resolved maps of gas-phase metallicity for two dust-obscured star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 4, from the JWST TEMPLATES Early Release Science program, derived from NIRSpec integral field unit spectroscopy of the H α and [N ii ] emission lines. Empirical optical line calibrations are used to determine that the sources are globally enriched to near-solar levels. While one source shows elevated [N  ii ]/H α ratios and broad H α emission consistent with the presence of an active galactic nucleus in a ≳1 kpc region, we argue that both systems have already undergone significant metal enrichment as a result of their extremely high star formation rates. Utilizing Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array rest-frame 380 μ m continuum and [C i ]( ^3 P _2 – ^3 P _1 ) line maps we compare the spatial variation of the metallicity and gas-to-dust ratio in the two galaxies, finding the two properties to be anticorrelated on highly resolved spatial scales, consistent with various literature studies of z ∼ 0 galaxies. The data are indicative of the enormous potential of JWST to probe the enrichment of the interstellar medium on ∼kpc scales in extremely dust-obscured systems at z ∼ 4 and beyond.