Interstellar dust captures a significant fraction of elements heavier than
helium in the solid state and is an indispensable component both in theory and
observations of galaxy evolution. Dust emission is generally the primary
coolant of the interstellar medium (ISM) and facilitates the gravitational
collapse and fragmentation of gas clouds from which stars form, while altering
the emission spectrum of galaxies from ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared
wavelengths through the reprocessing of starlight. However, the astrophysical
origin of various types of dust grains remains an open question, especially in
the early Universe. Here we report direct evidence for the presence of
carbonaceous grains from the detection of the broad UV absorption feature
around $2175 \, A$ in deep near-infrared spectra of galaxies up
to the first billion years of cosmic time, at a redshift ($z$) of $7$.
This dust attenuation feature has previously only been observed
spectroscopically in older, more evolved galaxies at redshifts of $z < 3$. The
carbonaceous grains giving rise to this feature are often thought to be
produced on timescales of hundreds of millions of years by asymptotic giant
branch (AGB) stars. Our results suggest a more rapid production scenario,
likely in supernova (SN) ejecta.
Description
Carbonaceous dust grains within galaxies seen in the first billion years of cosmic time
%0 Generic
%1 witstok2023carbonaceous
%A Witstok, Joris
%A Shivaei, Irene
%A Smit, Renske
%A Maiolino, Roberto
%A Carniani, Stefano
%A Curtis-Lake, Emma
%A Ferruit, Pierre
%A Arribas, Santiago
%A Bunker, Andrew J.
%A Cameron, Alex J.
%A Charlot, Stephane
%A Chevallard, Jacopo
%A Curti, Mirko
%A de Graaff, Anna
%A D'Eugenio, Francesco
%A Giardino, Giovanna
%A Looser, Tobias J.
%A Rawle, Tim
%A del Pino, Bruno Rodríguez
%A Willott, Chris
%A Alberts, Stacey
%A Baker, William M.
%A Boyett, Kristan
%A Egami, Eiichi
%A Eisenstein, Daniel J.
%A Endsley, Ryan
%A Hainline, Kevin N.
%A Ji, Zhiyuan
%A Johnson, Benjamin D.
%A Kumari, Nimisha
%A Lyu, Jianwei
%A Nelson, Erica
%A Perna, Michele
%A Rieke, Marcia
%A Robertson, Brant E.
%A Sandles, Lester
%A Saxena, Aayush
%A Scholtz, Jan
%A Sun, Fengwu
%A Tacchella, Sandro
%A Williams, Christina C.
%A Willmer, Christopher N. A.
%D 2023
%K dust grains
%T Carbonaceous dust grains within galaxies seen in the first billion years
of cosmic time
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/2302.05468
%X Interstellar dust captures a significant fraction of elements heavier than
helium in the solid state and is an indispensable component both in theory and
observations of galaxy evolution. Dust emission is generally the primary
coolant of the interstellar medium (ISM) and facilitates the gravitational
collapse and fragmentation of gas clouds from which stars form, while altering
the emission spectrum of galaxies from ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared
wavelengths through the reprocessing of starlight. However, the astrophysical
origin of various types of dust grains remains an open question, especially in
the early Universe. Here we report direct evidence for the presence of
carbonaceous grains from the detection of the broad UV absorption feature
around $2175 \, A$ in deep near-infrared spectra of galaxies up
to the first billion years of cosmic time, at a redshift ($z$) of $7$.
This dust attenuation feature has previously only been observed
spectroscopically in older, more evolved galaxies at redshifts of $z < 3$. The
carbonaceous grains giving rise to this feature are often thought to be
produced on timescales of hundreds of millions of years by asymptotic giant
branch (AGB) stars. Our results suggest a more rapid production scenario,
likely in supernova (SN) ejecta.
@misc{witstok2023carbonaceous,
abstract = {Interstellar dust captures a significant fraction of elements heavier than
helium in the solid state and is an indispensable component both in theory and
observations of galaxy evolution. Dust emission is generally the primary
coolant of the interstellar medium (ISM) and facilitates the gravitational
collapse and fragmentation of gas clouds from which stars form, while altering
the emission spectrum of galaxies from ultraviolet (UV) to far-infrared
wavelengths through the reprocessing of starlight. However, the astrophysical
origin of various types of dust grains remains an open question, especially in
the early Universe. Here we report direct evidence for the presence of
carbonaceous grains from the detection of the broad UV absorption feature
around $2175 \, \mathring{\rm A}$ in deep near-infrared spectra of galaxies up
to the first billion years of cosmic time, at a redshift ($z$) of $\sim 7$.
This dust attenuation feature has previously only been observed
spectroscopically in older, more evolved galaxies at redshifts of $z < 3$. The
carbonaceous grains giving rise to this feature are often thought to be
produced on timescales of hundreds of millions of years by asymptotic giant
branch (AGB) stars. Our results suggest a more rapid production scenario,
likely in supernova (SN) ejecta.},
added-at = {2023-02-14T09:03:02.000+0100},
author = {Witstok, Joris and Shivaei, Irene and Smit, Renske and Maiolino, Roberto and Carniani, Stefano and Curtis-Lake, Emma and Ferruit, Pierre and Arribas, Santiago and Bunker, Andrew J. and Cameron, Alex J. and Charlot, Stephane and Chevallard, Jacopo and Curti, Mirko and de Graaff, Anna and D'Eugenio, Francesco and Giardino, Giovanna and Looser, Tobias J. and Rawle, Tim and del Pino, Bruno Rodríguez and Willott, Chris and Alberts, Stacey and Baker, William M. and Boyett, Kristan and Egami, Eiichi and Eisenstein, Daniel J. and Endsley, Ryan and Hainline, Kevin N. and Ji, Zhiyuan and Johnson, Benjamin D. and Kumari, Nimisha and Lyu, Jianwei and Nelson, Erica and Perna, Michele and Rieke, Marcia and Robertson, Brant E. and Sandles, Lester and Saxena, Aayush and Scholtz, Jan and Sun, Fengwu and Tacchella, Sandro and Williams, Christina C. and Willmer, Christopher N. A.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/24907150c5826e2ac2b76ff7e9cee81d5/quark75},
description = {Carbonaceous dust grains within galaxies seen in the first billion years of cosmic time},
interhash = {ea95f596888d4ff6f2b69edcbb1d7437},
intrahash = {4907150c5826e2ac2b76ff7e9cee81d5},
keywords = {dust grains},
note = {cite arxiv:2302.05468Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures. Submitted},
timestamp = {2023-02-14T09:03:02.000+0100},
title = {Carbonaceous dust grains within galaxies seen in the first billion years
of cosmic time},
url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2302.05468},
year = 2023
}