A first look at a complete view of spatially resolved star formation at 1<z<1.8 with JWST NGDEEP+FRESCO slitless spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study uses JWST slitless spectroscopy to spatially resolve dust-obscured and unobscured star formation in galaxies at 1<z<1.8, revealing inside-out growth and varying dust attenuation across the main sequence.

Contribution

First direct comparison of spatially resolved Paα and Hα emission in distant galaxies, demonstrating inside-out growth and variable dust attenuation at cosmic noon.

Findings

Inside-out galaxy growth observed via EW profiles.

Weak positive Paα/Hα ratio gradient in lower-mass galaxies.

Negative Paα/Hα ratio gradient in higher-mass galaxies.

Abstract

[abridged] The previously inaccessible star formation tracer Pa$\alpha$ can now be spatially resolved by JWST NIRCam slitless spectroscopy in distant galaxies up to cosmic noon. In the first study of its kind, we combine JWST NGDEEP NIRISS and FRESCO NIRCam slitless spectroscopy to provide the first direct comparison of spatially resolved dust-obscured (traced by Pa$\alpha$) versus unobscured (traced by H$\alpha$) star formation across the main sequence. We stack Pa$\alpha$ and H$\alpha$ emission-line maps, along with stellar continuum images at both wavelengths of 31 galaxies at 1<z<1.8 in three bins of stellar mass. Surface brightness profiles are measured and equivalent width (EW) profiles computed. Increasing Pa$\alpha$ and H$\alpha$ EW profiles with galactocentric radius across all stellar masses probed provide direct evidence for the inside-out growth of galaxies both via dust-obscured and unobscured star formation for the first time. For galaxies on the main sequence, a weakly positive ($0.1\pm0.1$) Pa$\alpha$/H$\alpha$ line profile as a function of radius is found at $8.8\leqslant\mathrm{log}(M_{*}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})<9.9$ with a negative ($-0.4\pm0.1$) Pa$\alpha$/H$\alpha$ line profile found at $9.9\leqslant\mathrm{log}(M_{*}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})<11.0$. Low mass galaxies ($7.7\leqslant\mathrm{log}(M_{*}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot})<8.8$) with high sSFRs are found to have a negative ($-0.5\pm0.1$) Pa$\alpha$/H$\alpha$ line profile gradient. Our results demonstrate that while inside-out growth via star formation is ubiquitous across the main sequence just after cosmic noon, centrally concentrated dust attenuation is not. Along with other recent work in the literature, our findings motivate future studies of resolved SFR profiles in large samples of individual cosmic noon galaxies across the main sequence, to understand the intrinsic scatter in spatially resolved star formation.