PRIMER and JADES reveal an abundance of massive quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5

Authors

• Struan D. Stevenson, University of EdinburghFollow
• Adam C. Carnall, University of Edinburgh
• Ho Hin Leung, University of Edinburgh
• Elizabeth Taylor, University of Edinburgh
• Fergus Cullen, University of Edinburgh
• James S. Dunlop, University of Edinburgh
• Derek J. McLeod, University of Edinburgh
• Ross J. McLure, University of Edinburgh
• Ryan Begley, University of Edinburgh
• Karla Z. Arellano-Córdova, University of Edinburgh
• Laia Barrufet, University of Edinburgh
• Cecilia Bondestam, University of Edinburgh
• Callum T. Donnan, NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
• Richard S. Ellis, University College London
• Norman A. Grogin, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Anton M. Koekemoer, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Feng Yuan Liu, University of Edinburgh
• Pablo G. Pérez-González, CSIC-INTA - Astrobiology Center
• Kate Rowlands, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Ryan L. Sanders, University of KentuckyFollow
• Dirk Scholte, University of Edinburgh
• Alice E. Shapley, University of California, Los Angeles
• Maya Skarbinski, Johns Hopkins University
• Thomas M. Stanton, University of Edinburgh
• Vivienne Wild, University of St Andrews

Abstract

We select a mass-complete sample of 225 quiescent galaxies at z > 2 with M_∗ > 1010 M_⊙ from PRIMER and JADES photometry spanning a total area of ≃ 320 sq. arcmin. Our analysis is restricted to only area with optical coverage in three Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS filters, which we show is important for selecting the most complete and clean samples. We investigate the contamination in our sample via James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRSpec spectroscopy, Chandra X-ray imaging, and ALMA interferometry, calculating a modest contamination fraction of 12.9_-3.1^+4.0 percent. The removal of HST data increases star-forming galaxy contamination by ≃ 10 percent and results in a ≃ 20 percent loss of candidates recovered from HST + JWST data combined. We calculate massive quiescent galaxy number densities at 2 < z < 5, finding values three times larger than pre-JWST estimates, but generally in agreement with more-recent and larger-area JWST studies. In comparison with simulations, we find that most can now reproduce the observed number density at 2 < z < 3; however, they still increasingly fall short at z > 3, up to ≃ 1 dex. We place 14 of our z > 3 massive quiescent galaxies on the BPT and WHaN diagrams using medium-resolution spectroscopic data from the EXCELS survey, finding a very high incidence of weak active galactic nucleus (≃ 50 per cent), consistent with recent results at cosmic noon. This is interesting in the context of ‘maintenance-mode’ feedback, which is invoked in many simulations to prevent the re-ignition of quenched galaxies. To properly characterize the evolution of early massive quiescent galaxies, greater coverage in optical filters and significantly larger spectroscopic samples will be required.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Notes/Citation Information

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/mnras/staf2087

Archival?

Archival

Repository Citation

Stevenson, Struan D.; Carnall, Adam C.; Leung, Ho Hin; Taylor, Elizabeth; Cullen, Fergus; Dunlop, James S.; McLeod, Derek J.; McLure, Ross J.; Begley, Ryan; Arellano-Córdova, Karla Z.; Barrufet, Laia; Bondestam, Cecilia; Donnan, Callum T.; Ellis, Richard S.; Grogin, Norman A.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Liu, Feng Yuan; Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Rowlands, Kate; Sanders, Ryan L.; Scholte, Dirk; Shapley, Alice E.; Skarbinski, Maya; Stanton, Thomas M.; and Wild, Vivienne, "PRIMER and JADES reveal an abundance of massive quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5" (2026). Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications. 793.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_facpub/793