Austrian Early Career Conference 2024

Contribution:
Poster

Authors:
Ivan Kramarenko

Affiliations:
Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Title:
Star-formation rates of galaxies in the early Universe: new insights from JWST

Abstract:
The distribution of star formation rate among galaxies is one the most important observables in the studies of galaxy formation and evolution. Coupled with the halo mass function, it provides an estimate of the star-formation efficiency as a function of halo mass and redshift, shedding light on the impact of feedback mechanisms on galaxy evolution. However, measuring star formation rates at z>3 has long been hampered as most sensitive results relied on the rest-frame UV light, which is subject to uncertainties in dust attenuation. To address this issue, we take advantage of the unique near-IR capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to measure star formation rates among galaxies at z>3 using rest-frame optical spectroscopy for the first time. In particular, we use the wide-field slitless spectroscopic (WFSS) data from JWST Cycle 1 & 2 observations to obtain a complete sample of H-alpha emitters at 3.8