No hidden monsters: Probing recently-quenched galaxies for obscured AGN with JWST -PRIMER MIRI and NIRCam

Clicks: 1
ID: 318326
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #734 of 900 articles by views in monthly notices of the royal astronomical society

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 900 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract We investigate the role of obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) in recently quenched post-starburst galaxies (PSBs), using a sample of 65 photometrically selected PSBs in the PRIMER-UDS field at 1 < z < 2. Combining JWST/MIRI 7.7 μm and 18 μm (F770W and F1800W) imaging with eight NIRCam and three HST/ACS bands, we probe hot dust emission to test for hidden AGN or dust-enshrouded star formation. We find strong differences between the low- and high-mass PSBs. Most high-mass PSBs (>1010 M⊙) show no excess infrared emission (consistent with the quiescent population), indicating little or no dust-obscured activity, while low-mass PSBs display enhanced emission at 18 μm, which we attribute to residual star formation. AGN template modelling indicates that the absence of mid-IR excess in massive PSBs limits any dust-enshrouded AGN to Eddington ratios of $<1~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. In addition, we show that the F770W–F1800W colour alone is a highly effective diagnostic for separating passive and star-forming galaxies, particularly at high stellar masses. Overall, our results provide further evidence for distinct quenching pathways within the PSB population, and confirm that massive PSBs show no evidence for excess AGN activity relative to older passive galaxies.
Reference Key
openalex_W7165622695 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Guillaume Hewitt, O. Almaini, David Maltby, Emma Chapman, Thomas de Lisle, Pallavi Patil, Kate Rowlands, Maya Skarbinski, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivienne Wild, Adam C. Carnall, J S Dunlop, Norman Grogin, Anton M. Koekemoer, D J McLeod, Pablo G Pérez-González
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1180
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1180
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.