Affiliation: Johns Hopkins University

Contribution: Oral

Title: Insights into quenching and quenched galaxies at cosmic noon with JWST

Abstract: Understanding why galaxies quench star formation is one of the major puzzles in galaxy evolution research. Post-starburst galaxies are excellent laboratories for studying the cessation of star formation, as they have undergone a recent, rapid shutdown in star formation. A great deal of progress has been made over the last decade in understanding how galaxies quench, but the dominant quenching mechanisms at different redshifts are still uncertain, and we have been limited by small samples of high-resolution spectra of post-starburst and quiescent galaxies at higher redshifts (z > 1). I will present a sample of JWST/NIRSpec spectra of quiescent and post-starburst galaxies at cosmic noon from the Early eXtragalactic Continuum and Emission Line Science (EXCELS) survey. I will discuss AGN activity and the star formation histories of these galaxies. These deep observations mark a new frontier in galaxy evolution, allowing us to study quenching at higher redshifts than was previously possible.

This contribution can be found here (pdf).