TY - JOUR

T1 - Cosmic Vine

T2 - A z = 3.44 large-scale structure hosting massive quiescent galaxies

AU - Jin, Shuowen

AU - Sillassen, Nikolaj B.

AU - Magdis, Georgios E.

AU - Brinch, Malte

AU - Shuntov, Marko

AU - Brammer, Gabriel

AU - Gobat, Raphael

AU - Valentino, Francesco

AU - Carnall, Adam C.

AU - Lee, Minju

AU - Vijayan, Aswin P.

AU - Gillman, Steven

AU - Kokorev, Vasily

AU - Le Bail, Aurélien

AU - Greve, Thomas R.

AU - Gullberg, Bitten

AU - Gould, Katriona M.L.

AU - Toft, Sune

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Authors 2024.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - We report the discovery of a large-scale structure at z = 3.44 revealed by JWST data in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) field. This structure, called the Cosmic Vine, consists of 20 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts at 3.43 < z < 3.45 and six galaxy overdensities (4−7σ) with consistent photometric redshifts, making up a vine-like structure extending over a ∼4 × 0.2 pMpc2 area. The two most massive galaxies (M∗ ≈ 1010.9 M ) of the Cosmic Vine are found to be quiescent with bulge-dominated morphologies (B/T > 70%). Comparisons with simulations suggest that the Cosmic Vine would form a cluster with halo mass Mhalo > 1014M at z = 0, and the two massive galaxies are likely forming the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). The results unambiguously reveal that massive quiescent galaxies can form in growing large-scale structures at z > 3, thus disfavoring the environmental quenching mechanisms that require a virialized cluster core. Instead, as suggested by the interacting and bulge-dominated morphologies, the two galaxies are likely quenched by merger-triggered starburst or active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback before falling into a cluster core. Moreover, we found that the observed specific star formation rates of massive quiescent galaxies in z > 3 dense environments are one to two orders of magnitude lower than that of the BCGs in the TNG300 simulation. This discrepancy potentially poses a challenge to the models of massive cluster galaxy formation. Future studies comparing a large sample with dedicated cluster simulations are required to solve the problem.

AB - We report the discovery of a large-scale structure at z = 3.44 revealed by JWST data in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) field. This structure, called the Cosmic Vine, consists of 20 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts at 3.43 < z < 3.45 and six galaxy overdensities (4−7σ) with consistent photometric redshifts, making up a vine-like structure extending over a ∼4 × 0.2 pMpc2 area. The two most massive galaxies (M∗ ≈ 1010.9 M ) of the Cosmic Vine are found to be quiescent with bulge-dominated morphologies (B/T > 70%). Comparisons with simulations suggest that the Cosmic Vine would form a cluster with halo mass Mhalo > 1014M at z = 0, and the two massive galaxies are likely forming the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). The results unambiguously reveal that massive quiescent galaxies can form in growing large-scale structures at z > 3, thus disfavoring the environmental quenching mechanisms that require a virialized cluster core. Instead, as suggested by the interacting and bulge-dominated morphologies, the two galaxies are likely quenched by merger-triggered starburst or active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback before falling into a cluster core. Moreover, we found that the observed specific star formation rates of massive quiescent galaxies in z > 3 dense environments are one to two orders of magnitude lower than that of the BCGs in the TNG300 simulation. This discrepancy potentially poses a challenge to the models of massive cluster galaxy formation. Future studies comparing a large sample with dedicated cluster simulations are required to solve the problem.

KW - galaxies: clusters: general

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: formation

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

KW - galaxies: structure

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202348540

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202348540

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85186589599

VL - 683

JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics

SN - 0004-6361

M1 - L4

ER -