Affiliation: University of Arizona

Contribution: Oral

Title: NIRCam Simulations and Observations of AGN Ionization Cones in Cosmic Noon Galaxies

Abstract: One of the most crucial goals of extragalactic astronomy is understanding the relationship between Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star formation over cosmic time. Investigation of narrow line regions (NLR), or AGN “ionization cones”, at cosmic noon (z=2-3) enables us to study the impact of the AGN on the local gaseous environment during the peak of galaxy growth. Thanks to the JWST’s unprecedented resolution and sensitivity in the infrared, we conducted the first study of the NLR size – luminosity relation beyond the low-redshift universe. In the first part of this talk, I will present our results from our NIRCam simulations and observations, taken from JEMS and FRESCO in GOODS-S, of AGN ionization cones in cosmic noon galaxies. We have discovered six cosmic noon galaxies with morphologies consistent with AGN ionization cones with characteristic NLR sizes of 1 − 5 kpc. These objects demonstrate increasing NLR size with AGN luminosity, in agreement with the NLR size – luminosity relation seen at lower redshift. In the second part of this talk, I will describe how we combined several JWST deep extragalactic surveys (PRIMER, CEERS, JADES) to expand the AGN census and constrain AGN incidence as a function of galaxy properties. Our work reveals how JWST can shed light on the significant interplay between the AGN and its host galaxy at high redshift, paving the way to establish the role of AGN feedback at the epoch of galaxy formation.

This contribution can be found here (when available).