CEERS Key Paper VII: JWST/MIRI Reveals a Faint Population of Galaxies at Cosmic Noon Unseen by Spitzer
Authors: Allison Kirkpatrick, Guang Yang, Aurelien Le Bail, Greg Troiani, Eric F. Bell, Nikko J. Cleri, David Elbaz, Steven L. Finkelstein, Nimish P. Hathi, Michaela Hirschmann, Benne W. Holwerda, Dale D. Kocevski, Ray A. Lucas, Jed McKinney, Casey Papovich, Pablo G. Perez-Gonzalez, Alexander de la Vega, Micaela B. Bagley, Emanuele Daddi, Mark Dickinson, Henry C. Ferguson, Adriano Fontana, Andrea Grazian, Norman A. Grogin, Pablo Arrabal Haro, Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Lisa J. Kewley, Anton M. Koekemoer, Jennifer M. Lotz, Laura Pentericci, Nor Pirzkal, Swara Ravindranath, Rachel S. Somerville, Jonathan R. Trump, Stephen M. Wilkins, L. Y. Aaron Yung
AI-generated Key Points
- CEERS program conducted observations of the Extended Groth Strip using MIRI on JWST in 2022
- Four MIRI pointings utilized longer wavelength filters (F770W, F1000W, F1280W, F1500W, F1800W, and F2100W)
- MIRI is capable of observing significantly deeper than MIPS with shorter integration times due to larger aperture and improved sensitivity
- MIRI can detect faint galaxies ($L_{\rm IR}<10^{10} L_\odot$) at redshifts around $z\sim1-2$
- Some MIRI galaxies exhibit "mid-IR weakness" with strong near-IR emission but relatively weaker mid-IR emission
- New infrared templates were developed to understand how mid-IR to near-IR emission changes with increasing infrared luminosity
- Two color-color diagrams were presented to distinguish between different types of galaxies
- There are fewer than ten IR AGN per MIRI pointing, potentially due to challenges in distinguishing AGN from mid-IR weak galaxies
- MIRI is effective at observing moderate luminosity galaxies ($L_{\rm IR}=10^9 - 10^{10}L_\odot$) at redshifts $z=1 - 2$
- Photometry alone is not sufficient for identifying AGN within this faint population
Abstract: The Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) program observed the Extended Groth Strip with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2022. In this paper, we discuss the four MIRI pointings that observed with longer wavelength filters, including F770W, F1000W, F1280W, F1500W, F1800W, and F2100W. We compare the MIRI galaxies with the Spitzer/MIPS 24$\mu$m population in the EGS field. We find that MIRI can observe an order of magnitude deeper than MIPS in significantly shorter integration times, attributable to JWST's much larger aperture and MIRI's improved sensitivity. MIRI is exceptionally good at finding faint ($L_{\rm IR}<10^{10} L_\odot$) galaxies at $z\sim1-2$. We find that a significant portion of MIRI galaxies are "mid-IR weak"--they have strong near-IR emission and relatively weaker mid-IR emission, and most of the star formation is unobscured. We present new IR templates that capture how the mid-IR to near-IR emission changes with increasing infrared luminosity. We present two color-color diagrams to separate mid-IR weak galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) from dusty star-forming galaxies and find that these color diagrams are most effective when used in conjunction with each other. We present the first number counts of 10$\mu$m sources and find that there are $\lesssim10$ IR AGN per MIRI pointing, possibly due to the difficulty of distinguishing AGN from intrinsically mid-IR weak galaxies (due to low metallicities or low dust content). We conclude that MIRI is most effective at observing moderate luminosity ($L_{\rm IR}=10^9-10^{10}L_\odot$) galaxies at $z=1-2$, and that photometry alone is not effective at identifying AGN within this faint population.
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