First Results from the JWST Early Release Science Program Q3D: Ionization Cone, Clumpy Star Formation, and Shocks in a z = 3 Extremely Red Quasar Host

October 2023 • 2023ApJ...955...92V

Authors • Vayner, Andrey • Zakamska, Nadia L. • Ishikawa, Yuzo • Sankar, Swetha • Wylezalek, Dominika • Rupke, David S. N. • Veilleux, Sylvain • Bertemes, Caroline • Barrera-Ballesteros, Jorge K. • Chen, Hsiao-Wen • Diachenko, Nadiia • Goulding, Andy D. • Greene, Jenny E. • Hainline, Kevin N. • Hamann, Fred • Heckman, Timothy • Johnson, Sean D. • Grace Lim, Hui Xian • Liu, Weizhe • Lutz, Dieter • Lützgendorf, Nora • Mainieri, Vincenzo • McCrory, Ryan • Murphree, Grey • Nesvadba, Nicole P. H. • Ogle, Patrick • Sturm, Eckhard • Whitesell, Lillian

Abstract • Massive galaxies formed most actively at redshifts z = 1-3 during the period known as "cosmic noon." Here we present an emission-line study of the extremely red quasar SDSSJ165202.64+172852.3's host galaxy at z = 2.94, based on observations with the Near Infrared Spectrograph integral field unit on board JWST. We use standard emission-line diagnostic ratios to map the sources of gas ionization across the host and a swarm of companion galaxies. The quasar dominates the photoionization, but we also discover shock-excited regions orthogonal to the ionization cone and the quasar-driven outflow. These shocks could be merger-induced or-more likely, given the presence of a powerful galactic-scale quasar outflow-these are signatures of wide-angle outflows that can reach parts of the galaxy that are not directly illuminated by the quasar. Finally, the kinematically narrow emission associated with the host galaxy presents as a collection of 1 kpc-scale clumps forming stars at a rate of at least 200 M _⊙ yr^-1. The interstellar medium within these clumps shows high electron densities, reaching up to 3000 cm^-3, with metallicities ranging from half to a third solar with a positive metallicity gradient, and V-band extinctions up to 3 mag. The star formation conditions are far more extreme in these regions than in local star-forming galaxies but consistent with those of massive galaxies at cosmic noon. The JWST observations simultaneously reveal an archetypal rapidly forming massive galaxy undergoing a merger, a clumpy starburst, an episode of obscured near-Eddington quasar activity, and an extremely powerful quasar outflow.

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Andrey Vayner

Postdoctoral Research Associate