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  • First Results from the JWST...
    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

    Astrophysical journal/˜The œAstrophysical journal, 10/2023, Volume: 955, Issue: 2
    Journal Article

    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.