The structural properties of z~2 dusty star-forming galaxies and AGN as revealed by deep NIRCAM imaging

Abstract

While massive galaxies are known to host a supermassive black hole at their centers, the interplay between active black hole growth and star formation in the host galaxy is not well understood. With the advent of JWST, we can view unprecedented detail in the morphology of galaxies that were previously unresolvable, especially in dust-obscured galaxies. These advancements are crucial in understanding the co-evolution of active black hole growth and star formation in a galaxy. In this work, we investigate how galaxy morphology changes as a function of active galactic nuclei (AGN) strength. We present a sample of dusty galaxies with z~2 in the GOODS-N and GOODS-S fields with measured mid-infrared AGN fractions from previous Spitzer data. We identify counterparts in the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) NIRCam data based on photometric redshifts and coordinates to generate a sample of 44 galaxies. We conduct both a visual morphology survey and a quantitative analysis with Statmorph to calculate nonparametric measurements of galaxy structure; Concentration, Asymmetry, Gini, and M20. We find that galaxies with a higher AGN fraction tend to be spheroidal in shape, more symmetric, and don’t tend to look like major mergers. Additionally, we find that AGN-dominated galaxies tend to have more focused light (high Gini) but not necessarily a higher central concentration of light. Our study shows that NIRCam imaging can provide a clear picture of galaxy structure even in heavily dust-obscured galaxies.

Publication
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #245

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