JWST observations of ALMA [O iii] 88 μm emitters in the epoch of reionization

Abstract

Understanding properties of galaxies in the epoch of reionization (EoR) is a frontier in the modern astronomy. ALMA observations have demonstrated that i) some [O iii] 88 μm emitters have matured stellar populations at z>6, implying early star formation activity at z>10, and that ii) high-z star-forming galaxies typically have very high [O iii] 88 μm-to-[C ii] 158 μm luminosity ratios ranging from 3 to 12 or higher, indicating interstellar media of high-z galaxies could be highly ionized. We discuss initial results of a medium-sized JWST GO1 program that targets a sample of 12 z=6–8 ALMA [O iii] 88 μm emitters with NIRCam and NIRSPec IFU modes (GO-1840). Our JWST GO1 program, in conjunction with ALMA data, will characterize the stellar, nebular, and dust properties of these [O iii] 88 μm emitters and place this galaxies in the context of reionization.