Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years

Mengyuan Xiao; Pascal A. Oesch; David Elbaz; Longji Bing; Erica J. Nelson; Andrea Weibel; Garth D. Illingworth; Pieter van Dokkum; Rohan P. Naidu; Emanuele Daddi; Rychard J. Bouwens; Jorryt Matthee; Stijn Wuyts; John Chisholm; Gabriel Brammer; Mark Dickinson; Benjamin Magnelli; Lucas Leroy; Daniel Schaerer; Thomas Herard-Demanche; Seunghwan Lim; Laia Barrufet; Ryan Endsley; Yoshinobu Fudamoto; Carlos Gómez-Guijarro; Rashmi Gottumukkala; Ivo Labbé; Dan Magee; Danilo Marchesini; Michael Maseda; Yuxiang Qin; Naveen A. Reddy; Alice Shapley; Irene Shivaei; Marko Shuntov; Mauro Stefanon; Katherine E. Whitaker; J. Stuart B. Wyithe

doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5

Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years

Mengyuan Xiao^*, Pascal A. Oesch, David Elbaz, Longji Bing, Erica J. Nelson, Andrea Weibel, Garth D. Illingworth, Pieter van Dokkum, Rohan P. Naidu, Emanuele Daddi, Rychard J. Bouwens, Jorryt Matthee, Stijn Wuyts, John Chisholm, Gabriel Brammer, Mark Dickinson, Benjamin Magnelli, Lucas Leroy, Daniel Schaerer, Thomas Herard-DemancheSeunghwan Lim, Laia Barrufet, Ryan Endsley, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Carlos Gómez-Guijarro, Rashmi Gottumukkala, Ivo Labbé, Dan Magee, Danilo Marchesini, Michael Maseda, Yuxiang Qin, Naveen A. Reddy, Alice Shapley, Irene Shivaei, Marko Shuntov, Mauro Stefanon, Katherine E. Whitaker, J. Stuart B. Wyithe

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

60 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations have revealed an unexpected abundance of massive-galaxy candidates in the early Universe, extending further in redshift and to lower luminosity than what had previously been found by submillimetre surveys^1–6. These JWST candidates have been interpreted as challenging the Λ cold dark-matter cosmology (where Λ is the cosmological constant)^7–9, but, so far, these studies have mostly relied on only rest-frame ultraviolet data and have lacked spectroscopic confirmation of their redshifts^10–16. Here we report a systematic study of 36 massive dust-obscured galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 5 and 9 from the JWST FRESCO survey. We find no tension with the Λ cold dark-matter model in our sample. However, three ultra-massive galaxies (logM_★/M_⊙ ≳ 11.0, where M_★ is the stellar mass and M_⊙ is the mass of the Sun) require an exceptional fraction of 50 per cent of baryons converted into stars—two to three times higher than the most efficient galaxies at later epochs. The contribution from an active galactic nucleus is unlikely because of their extended emission. Ultra-massive galaxies account for as much as 17 per cent of the total cosmic star-formation-rate density¹⁷ at redshifts between about five and six.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	311-315
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	635
Issue number	8038
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5
Publication status	Published - 13 Nov 2024
Externally published	Yes

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Xiao, M., Oesch, P. A., Elbaz, D., Bing, L., Nelson, E. J., Weibel, A., Illingworth, G. D., van Dokkum, P., Naidu, R. P., Daddi, E., Bouwens, R. J., Matthee, J., Wuyts, S., Chisholm, J., Brammer, G., Dickinson, M., Magnelli, B., Leroy, L., Schaerer, D., ... Wyithe, J. S. B. (2024). Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years. Nature, 635(8038), 311-315. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5

@article{85098a6a69894424a73e562008b3f039,

title = "Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years",

abstract = "Recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations have revealed an unexpected abundance of massive-galaxy candidates in the early Universe, extending further in redshift and to lower luminosity than what had previously been found by submillimetre surveys1–6. These JWST candidates have been interpreted as challenging the Λ cold dark-matter cosmology (where Λ is the cosmological constant)7–9, but, so far, these studies have mostly relied on only rest-frame ultraviolet data and have lacked spectroscopic confirmation of their redshifts10–16. Here we report a systematic study of 36 massive dust-obscured galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 5 and 9 from the JWST FRESCO survey. We find no tension with the Λ cold dark-matter model in our sample. However, three ultra-massive galaxies (logM★/M⊙ ≳ 11.0, where M★ is the stellar mass and M⊙ is the mass of the Sun) require an exceptional fraction of 50 per cent of baryons converted into stars—two to three times higher than the most efficient galaxies at later epochs. The contribution from an active galactic nucleus is unlikely because of their extended emission. Ultra-massive galaxies account for as much as 17 per cent of the total cosmic star-formation-rate density17 at redshifts between about five and six.",

author = "Mengyuan Xiao and Oesch, \{Pascal A.\} and David Elbaz and Longji Bing and Nelson, \{Erica J.\} and Andrea Weibel and Illingworth, \{Garth D.\} and \{van Dokkum\}, Pieter and Naidu, \{Rohan P.\} and Emanuele Daddi and Bouwens, \{Rychard J.\} and Jorryt Matthee and Stijn Wuyts and John Chisholm and Gabriel Brammer and Mark Dickinson and Benjamin Magnelli and Lucas Leroy and Daniel Schaerer and Thomas Herard-Demanche and Seunghwan Lim and Laia Barrufet and Ryan Endsley and Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Carlos G{\'o}mez-Guijarro and Rashmi Gottumukkala and Ivo Labb{\'e} and Dan Magee and Danilo Marchesini and Michael Maseda and Yuxiang Qin and Reddy, \{Naveen A.\} and Alice Shapley and Irene Shivaei and Marko Shuntov and Mauro Stefanon and Whitaker, \{Katherine E.\} and Wyithe, \{J. Stuart B.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = nov,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5",

language = "English",

volume = "635",

pages = "311--315",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "8038",

}

Xiao, M, Oesch, PA, Elbaz, D, Bing, L, Nelson, EJ, Weibel, A, Illingworth, GD, van Dokkum, P, Naidu, RP, Daddi, E, Bouwens, RJ, Matthee, J, Wuyts, S, Chisholm, J, Brammer, G, Dickinson, M, Magnelli, B, Leroy, L, Schaerer, D, Herard-Demanche, T, Lim, S, Barrufet, L, Endsley, R, Fudamoto, Y, Gómez-Guijarro, C, Gottumukkala, R, Labbé, I, Magee, D, Marchesini, D, Maseda, M, Qin, Y, Reddy, NA, Shapley, A, Shivaei, I, Shuntov, M, Stefanon, M, Whitaker, KE & Wyithe, JSB 2024, 'Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years', Nature, vol. 635, no. 8038, pp. 311-315. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5

TY - JOUR

T1 - Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years

AU - Xiao, Mengyuan

AU - Oesch, Pascal A.

AU - Elbaz, David

AU - Bing, Longji

AU - Nelson, Erica J.

AU - Weibel, Andrea

AU - Illingworth, Garth D.

AU - van Dokkum, Pieter

AU - Naidu, Rohan P.

AU - Daddi, Emanuele

AU - Bouwens, Rychard J.

AU - Matthee, Jorryt

AU - Wuyts, Stijn

AU - Chisholm, John

AU - Brammer, Gabriel

AU - Dickinson, Mark

AU - Magnelli, Benjamin

AU - Leroy, Lucas

AU - Schaerer, Daniel

AU - Herard-Demanche, Thomas

AU - Lim, Seunghwan

AU - Barrufet, Laia

AU - Endsley, Ryan

AU - Fudamoto, Yoshinobu

AU - Gómez-Guijarro, Carlos

AU - Gottumukkala, Rashmi

AU - Labbé, Ivo

AU - Magee, Dan

AU - Marchesini, Danilo

AU - Maseda, Michael

AU - Qin, Yuxiang

AU - Reddy, Naveen A.

AU - Shapley, Alice

AU - Shivaei, Irene

AU - Shuntov, Marko

AU - Stefanon, Mauro

AU - Whitaker, Katherine E.

AU - Wyithe, J. Stuart B.

PY - 2024/11/13

Y1 - 2024/11/13

N2 - Recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations have revealed an unexpected abundance of massive-galaxy candidates in the early Universe, extending further in redshift and to lower luminosity than what had previously been found by submillimetre surveys1–6. These JWST candidates have been interpreted as challenging the Λ cold dark-matter cosmology (where Λ is the cosmological constant)7–9, but, so far, these studies have mostly relied on only rest-frame ultraviolet data and have lacked spectroscopic confirmation of their redshifts10–16. Here we report a systematic study of 36 massive dust-obscured galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 5 and 9 from the JWST FRESCO survey. We find no tension with the Λ cold dark-matter model in our sample. However, three ultra-massive galaxies (logM★/M⊙ ≳ 11.0, where M★ is the stellar mass and M⊙ is the mass of the Sun) require an exceptional fraction of 50 per cent of baryons converted into stars—two to three times higher than the most efficient galaxies at later epochs. The contribution from an active galactic nucleus is unlikely because of their extended emission. Ultra-massive galaxies account for as much as 17 per cent of the total cosmic star-formation-rate density17 at redshifts between about five and six.

AB - Recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations have revealed an unexpected abundance of massive-galaxy candidates in the early Universe, extending further in redshift and to lower luminosity than what had previously been found by submillimetre surveys1–6. These JWST candidates have been interpreted as challenging the Λ cold dark-matter cosmology (where Λ is the cosmological constant)7–9, but, so far, these studies have mostly relied on only rest-frame ultraviolet data and have lacked spectroscopic confirmation of their redshifts10–16. Here we report a systematic study of 36 massive dust-obscured galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts between 5 and 9 from the JWST FRESCO survey. We find no tension with the Λ cold dark-matter model in our sample. However, three ultra-massive galaxies (logM★/M⊙ ≳ 11.0, where M★ is the stellar mass and M⊙ is the mass of the Sun) require an exceptional fraction of 50 per cent of baryons converted into stars—two to three times higher than the most efficient galaxies at later epochs. The contribution from an active galactic nucleus is unlikely because of their extended emission. Ultra-massive galaxies account for as much as 17 per cent of the total cosmic star-formation-rate density17 at redshifts between about five and six.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85209212054

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5

DO - 10.1038/s41586-024-08094-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 39537883

AN - SCOPUS:85209212054

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 635

SP - 311

EP - 315

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 8038

ER -

Accelerated formation of ultra-massive galaxies in the first billion years

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