Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6

Xuheng Ding; Masafusa Onoue; John D. Silverman; Yoshiki Matsuoka; Takuma Izumi; Michael A. Strauss; Knud Jahnke; Camryn L. Phillips; Junyao Li; Marta Volonteri; Zoltan Haiman; Irham Taufik Andika; Kentaro Aoki; Shunsuke Baba; Rebekka Bieri; Sarah E.I. Bosman; Connor Bottrell; Anna Christina Eilers; Seiji Fujimoto; Melanie Habouzit; Masatoshi Imanishi; Kohei Inayoshi; Kazushi Iwasawa; Nobunari Kashikawa; Toshihiro Kawaguchi; Kotaro Kohno; Chien Hsiu Lee; Alessandro Lupi; Jianwei Lyu; Tohru Nagao; Roderik Overzier; Jan Torge Schindler; Malte Schramm; Kazuhiro Shimasaku; Yoshiki Toba; Benny Trakhtenbrot; Maxime Trebitsch; Tommaso Treu; Hideki Umehata; Bram P. Venemans; Marianne Vestergaard; Fabian Walter; Feige Wang; Jinyi Yang

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5

Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6

Xuheng Ding, Masafusa Onoue, John D. Silverman, Yoshiki Matsuoka, Takuma Izumi, Michael A. Strauss, Knud Jahnke, Camryn L. Phillips, Junyao Li, Marta Volonteri, Zoltan Haiman, Irham Taufik Andika, Kentaro Aoki, Shunsuke Baba, Rebekka Bieri, Sarah E.I. Bosman, Connor Bottrell, Anna Christina Eilers, Seiji Fujimoto, Melanie HabouzitMasatoshi Imanishi, Kohei Inayoshi, Kazushi Iwasawa, Nobunari Kashikawa, Toshihiro Kawaguchi, Kotaro Kohno, Chien Hsiu Lee, Alessandro Lupi, Jianwei Lyu, Tohru Nagao, Roderik Overzier, Jan Torge Schindler, Malte Schramm, Kazuhiro Shimasaku, Yoshiki Toba, Benny Trakhtenbrot, Maxime Trebitsch, Tommaso Treu, Hideki Umehata, Bram P. Venemans, Marianne Vestergaard, Fabian Walter, Feige Wang, Jinyi Yang

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Abstract

The detection of starlight from the host galaxies of quasars during the reionization epoch (z > 6) has been elusive, even with deep Hubble Space Telescope observations^1,2. The current highest redshift quasar host detected³, at z = 4.5, required the magnifying effect of a foreground lensing galaxy. Low-luminosity quasars^4–6 from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP)⁷ mitigate the challenge of detecting their underlying, previously undetected host galaxies. Here we report rest-frame optical images and spectroscopy of two HSC-SSP quasars at z > 6 with the JWST. Using near-infrared camera imaging at 3.6 and 1.5 μm and subtracting the light from the unresolved quasars, we find that the host galaxies are massive (stellar masses of 13 × and 3.4 × 10¹⁰ M _☉, respectively), compact and disc-like. Near-infrared spectroscopy at medium resolution shows stellar absorption lines in the more massive quasar, confirming the detection of the host. Velocity-broadened gas in the vicinity of these quasars enables measurements of their black hole masses (1.4 × 10⁹ and 2.0 × 10⁸ M _☉, respectively). Their location in the black hole mass–stellar mass plane is consistent with the distribution at low redshift, suggesting that the relation between black holes and their host galaxies was already in place less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	51-55
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	621
Issue number	7977
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5
State	Published - Sep 7 2023

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Ding, X., Onoue, M., Silverman, J. D., Matsuoka, Y., Izumi, T., Strauss, M. A., Jahnke, K., Phillips, C. L., Li, J., Volonteri, M., Haiman, Z., Andika, I. T., Aoki, K., Baba, S., Bieri, R., Bosman, S. E. I., Bottrell, C., Eilers, A. C., Fujimoto, S., ... Yang, J. (2023). Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6. Nature, 621(7977), 51-55. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5

@article{6709eee7c747465c996e0de99394c2ff,

title = "Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6",

abstract = "The detection of starlight from the host galaxies of quasars during the reionization epoch (z > 6) has been elusive, even with deep Hubble Space Telescope observations 1,2. The current highest redshift quasar host detected 3, at z = 4.5, required the magnifying effect of a foreground lensing galaxy. Low-luminosity quasars 4–6 from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) 7 mitigate the challenge of detecting their underlying, previously undetected host galaxies. Here we report rest-frame optical images and spectroscopy of two HSC-SSP quasars at z > 6 with the JWST. Using near-infrared camera imaging at 3.6 and 1.5 μm and subtracting the light from the unresolved quasars, we find that the host galaxies are massive (stellar masses of 13 × and 3.4 × 1010 M ☉, respectively), compact and disc-like. Near-infrared spectroscopy at medium resolution shows stellar absorption lines in the more massive quasar, confirming the detection of the host. Velocity-broadened gas in the vicinity of these quasars enables measurements of their black hole masses (1.4 × 109 and 2.0 × 108 M ☉, respectively). Their location in the black hole mass–stellar mass plane is consistent with the distribution at low redshift, suggesting that the relation between black holes and their host galaxies was already in place less than a billion years after the Big Bang.",

author = "Xuheng Ding and Masafusa Onoue and Silverman, {John D.} and Yoshiki Matsuoka and Takuma Izumi and Strauss, {Michael A.} and Knud Jahnke and Phillips, {Camryn L.} and Junyao Li and Marta Volonteri and Zoltan Haiman and Andika, {Irham Taufik} and Kentaro Aoki and Shunsuke Baba and Rebekka Bieri and Bosman, {Sarah E.I.} and Connor Bottrell and Eilers, {Anna Christina} and Seiji Fujimoto and Melanie Habouzit and Masatoshi Imanishi and Kohei Inayoshi and Kazushi Iwasawa and Nobunari Kashikawa and Toshihiro Kawaguchi and Kotaro Kohno and Lee, {Chien Hsiu} and Alessandro Lupi and Jianwei Lyu and Tohru Nagao and Roderik Overzier and Schindler, {Jan Torge} and Malte Schramm and Kazuhiro Shimasaku and Yoshiki Toba and Benny Trakhtenbrot and Maxime Trebitsch and Tommaso Treu and Hideki Umehata and Venemans, {Bram P.} and Marianne Vestergaard and Fabian Walter and Feige Wang and Jinyi Yang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2023",

month = sep,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "621",

pages = "51--55",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "7977",

}

Ding, X, Onoue, M, Silverman, JD, Matsuoka, Y, Izumi, T, Strauss, MA, Jahnke, K, Phillips, CL, Li, J, Volonteri, M, Haiman, Z, Andika, IT, Aoki, K, Baba, S, Bieri, R, Bosman, SEI, Bottrell, C, Eilers, AC, Fujimoto, S, Habouzit, M, Imanishi, M, Inayoshi, K, Iwasawa, K, Kashikawa, N, Kawaguchi, T, Kohno, K, Lee, CH, Lupi, A, Lyu, J, Nagao, T, Overzier, R, Schindler, JT, Schramm, M, Shimasaku, K, Toba, Y, Trakhtenbrot, B, Trebitsch, M, Treu, T, Umehata, H, Venemans, BP, Vestergaard, M, Walter, F, Wang, F & Yang, J 2023, 'Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6', Nature, vol. 621, no. 7977, pp. 51-55. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5

TY - JOUR

T1 - Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6

AU - Ding, Xuheng

AU - Onoue, Masafusa

AU - Silverman, John D.

AU - Matsuoka, Yoshiki

AU - Izumi, Takuma

AU - Strauss, Michael A.

AU - Jahnke, Knud

AU - Phillips, Camryn L.

AU - Li, Junyao

AU - Volonteri, Marta

AU - Haiman, Zoltan

AU - Andika, Irham Taufik

AU - Aoki, Kentaro

AU - Baba, Shunsuke

AU - Bieri, Rebekka

AU - Bosman, Sarah E.I.

AU - Bottrell, Connor

AU - Eilers, Anna Christina

AU - Fujimoto, Seiji

AU - Habouzit, Melanie

AU - Imanishi, Masatoshi

AU - Inayoshi, Kohei

AU - Iwasawa, Kazushi

AU - Kashikawa, Nobunari

AU - Kawaguchi, Toshihiro

AU - Kohno, Kotaro

AU - Lee, Chien Hsiu

AU - Lupi, Alessandro

AU - Lyu, Jianwei

AU - Nagao, Tohru

AU - Overzier, Roderik

AU - Schindler, Jan Torge

AU - Schramm, Malte

AU - Shimasaku, Kazuhiro

AU - Toba, Yoshiki

AU - Trakhtenbrot, Benny

AU - Trebitsch, Maxime

AU - Treu, Tommaso

AU - Umehata, Hideki

AU - Venemans, Bram P.

AU - Vestergaard, Marianne

AU - Walter, Fabian

AU - Wang, Feige

AU - Yang, Jinyi

PY - 2023/9/7

Y1 - 2023/9/7

N2 - The detection of starlight from the host galaxies of quasars during the reionization epoch (z > 6) has been elusive, even with deep Hubble Space Telescope observations 1,2. The current highest redshift quasar host detected 3, at z = 4.5, required the magnifying effect of a foreground lensing galaxy. Low-luminosity quasars 4–6 from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) 7 mitigate the challenge of detecting their underlying, previously undetected host galaxies. Here we report rest-frame optical images and spectroscopy of two HSC-SSP quasars at z > 6 with the JWST. Using near-infrared camera imaging at 3.6 and 1.5 μm and subtracting the light from the unresolved quasars, we find that the host galaxies are massive (stellar masses of 13 × and 3.4 × 1010 M ☉, respectively), compact and disc-like. Near-infrared spectroscopy at medium resolution shows stellar absorption lines in the more massive quasar, confirming the detection of the host. Velocity-broadened gas in the vicinity of these quasars enables measurements of their black hole masses (1.4 × 109 and 2.0 × 108 M ☉, respectively). Their location in the black hole mass–stellar mass plane is consistent with the distribution at low redshift, suggesting that the relation between black holes and their host galaxies was already in place less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

AB - The detection of starlight from the host galaxies of quasars during the reionization epoch (z > 6) has been elusive, even with deep Hubble Space Telescope observations 1,2. The current highest redshift quasar host detected 3, at z = 4.5, required the magnifying effect of a foreground lensing galaxy. Low-luminosity quasars 4–6 from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) 7 mitigate the challenge of detecting their underlying, previously undetected host galaxies. Here we report rest-frame optical images and spectroscopy of two HSC-SSP quasars at z > 6 with the JWST. Using near-infrared camera imaging at 3.6 and 1.5 μm and subtracting the light from the unresolved quasars, we find that the host galaxies are massive (stellar masses of 13 × and 3.4 × 1010 M ☉, respectively), compact and disc-like. Near-infrared spectroscopy at medium resolution shows stellar absorption lines in the more massive quasar, confirming the detection of the host. Velocity-broadened gas in the vicinity of these quasars enables measurements of their black hole masses (1.4 × 109 and 2.0 × 108 M ☉, respectively). Their location in the black hole mass–stellar mass plane is consistent with the distribution at low redshift, suggesting that the relation between black holes and their host galaxies was already in place less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85165379991&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5

DO - 10.1038/s41586-023-06345-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 37380029

AN - SCOPUS:85165379991

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 621

SP - 51

EP - 55

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7977

ER -

Detection of stellar light from quasar host galaxies at redshifts above 6

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