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91̽»¨
Black Hole

Lensing of space time around a black hole. At 91̽»¨ we study black holes observationally and theoretically on all size and time scales - it is some of our core work.

Credit: ALAIN RIAZUELO, IAP/UPMC/CNRS. CLICK HERE TO VIEW MORE IMAGES.

Professor Andrew Bunker

Professor of Astrophysics

Research theme

  • Astronomy and astrophysics

Sub department

  • Astrophysics

Research groups

  • Galaxy formation and evolution
Andy.Bunker@physics.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: 01865 (2)83126
Denys Wilkinson Building, room 702
  • About
  • Publications

The JADES Origins Field: A New JWST Deep Field in the JADES Second NIRCam Data Release

The Astrophysical Journal: Supplement Series American Astronomical Society 281:2 (2025) 50

Authors:

Daniel J Eisenstein, Benjamin D Johnson, Brant Robertson, Sandro Tacchella, Kevin Hainline, Peter Jakobsen, Roberto Maiolino, Nina Bonaventura, Andrew J Bunker, Alex J Cameron, Phillip A Cargile, Emma Curtis-Lake, Ryan Hausen, Dávid Puskás, Marcia Rieke, Fengwu Sun, Christopher NA Willmer, Chris Willott, Stacey Alberts, Santiago Arribas, William M Baker, Stefi Baum, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Stefano Carniani, Jacopo Chevallard, Gareth C Jones, Aayush Saxena

Abstract:

We summarize the properties and initial data release of the JADES Origins Field (JOF), the longest single pointing yet imaged with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This field falls within the GOODS-S region about 8′ southwest of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), where it was formed initially in Cycle 1 as a parallel field of HUDF spectroscopic observations within the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). This imaging was greatly extended in Cycle 2 program 3215, which observed the JOF for 5 days in six medium-band filters, seeking robust candidates for z > 15 galaxies. This program also includes ultradeep parallel NIRSpec spectroscopy (up to 91 hr on source, summing over the dispersion modes) on the HUDF. Cycle 3 observations from program 4540 added 20 hr of NIRCam slitless spectroscopy and F070W imaging to the JOF. With these three campaigns, the JOF was observed for 380 open-shutter hours with NIRCam using 15 imaging filters and two grism bandpasses. Further, parts of the JOF have deep 43 hr MIRI observations in F770W. Taken together, the JOF is one of the most compelling deep fields available with JWST and a powerful window into the early Universe. This paper presents the second data release from JADES, featuring the imaging and catalogs from the year 1 JOF observations.

JADES and BlackTHUNDER: rest-frame Balmer-line absorption and the local environment in a Little Red Dot at z = 5

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 91̽»¨ University Press 545:3 (2025) staf2117

Authors:

Francesco D’Eugenio, Ignas Juodžbalis, Xihan Ji, Jan Scholtz, Roberto Maiolino, Stefano Carniani, Michele Perna, Giovanni Mazzolari, Hannah Übler, Santiago Arribas, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Andrew J Bunker, Giovanni Cresci, Emma Curtis-Lake, Kevin Hainline, Kohei Inayoshi, Yuki Isobe, Zhiyuan Ji, Benjamin D Johnson, Gareth C Jones, Tobias J Looser, Erica J Nelson, Eleonora Parlanti, Dávid Puskás

Abstract:

We present a ‘Little Red Dot’ (LRD) broad-line active galactic nucleus (AGN) at , observed with NIRSpec/MSA (micro-shutter assembly) and NIRSpec/IFU (integral-field unit) by the JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey) and BlackTHUNDER (Black holes in THe early Universe aNd their DensE surRoundings) surveys. Combining spatially resolved and high-resolution spectroscopy, we characterize its central engine, host, and environment. H has multiple components, including two broad Gaussians, yielding a black-hole mass , while [O iii]5007 gives a galaxy dynamical mass , suggesting an overmassive black hole relative to the host galaxy. The target is immersed in a 7-kpc wide pool of ionized gas and has three neighbours: a satellite galaxy, a possible satellite/gas cloud, and a tentatively detected spatially detached outflow. H shows strong, rest-frame absorption, deeper than the continuum, ruling out a stellar origin. The velocity and velocity dispersion are and . There is tentative evidence (2.6σ) of temporal variability in the equivalent width of the H absorber over two rest-frame months, suggesting a highly dynamic nucleus. Notably, while the H absorber is clearly visible and even dominant in the high-resolution G395H observations, it is not detected in the medium-resolution G395M data of the same epoch. This implies that the current incidence rate of absorbers in LRDs – and especially of rest-frame absorbers – may be severely underestimated, because most LRDs rely on lower resolution spectroscopy. The high incidence rate of rest-frame absorbers in LRDs may indicate a configuration that is either intrinsically stationary, such as a rotating disc, or that exhibits time-averaged stability, such as an oscillatory ‘breathing mode’ accretion with cyclic expansion and contraction of the gas around the supermassive black hole.

GATOS. VIII. On the Physical Origin of the Extended Mid-infrared Emission in Active Galactic Nuclei

The Astrophysical Journal American Astronomical Society 994:2 (2025) 206

Authors:

Enrique Lopez-Rodriguez, Cristina Ramos Almeida, Miguel Pereira-Santaella, Ismael García-Bernete, Robert Nikutta, Almudena Alonso-Herrero, Anelise Audibert, Enrica Bellocchi, Andrew Bunker, Steph Campbell, Françoise Combes, Richard Davies, Tanio Diaz-Santos, Lindsay Fuller, Poshak Gandhi, Santiago García-Burillo, Omaira González-Martín, Erin KS Hicks, Sebastian Hönig, Kohei Ichikawa, Masatoshi Imanishi, Takuma Izumi, Alvaro Labiano, Nancy A Levenson, Dimitra Rigopoulou

Abstract:

The polar mid-infrared (MIR) emission detected within tens to hundreds of parsecs in some active galactic nuclei (AGN) has been associated with dusty winds driven away by radiation pressure. The physical characterization of this extended polar emission remains uncertain. Here, we combine 10–21 μm JWST/Mid-InfRared Instrument (MIRI) imaging observations with 7–25 μm JWST/MIRI MRS integral field spectroscopic observations of six nearby, D¯=35.4±4.6 Mpc, AGN from the GATOS Survey to quantify the nature of the extended MIR emission at ∼75 pc resolution at 21 μm. These AGN have similar bolometric luminosities, log10(L¯bol[ergs−1])=44.0±0.3 , span a wide range of optical outflow rates, Ṁ= 0.003–0.21 M⊙ yr−1, column densities, log10(NHX−ray[cm−2])= 22.2–24.3, and Eddington ratios, λEdd = 0.005–0.06. We cross-correlate the line-only and continuum-only images and find a poor correlation, which indicates that the extended MIR continuum emission is spatially uncorrelated with the warm outflows associated with narrow emission lines within 10–15 μm. Line emission is resolved along the jet axis, while dust emission is perpendicular to it. The 75–450 pc continuum emission has a fairly constant dust temperature, Td=132−7+7 K, and mass, Md=728−27+29 M⊙. Using the conditions of energy balance between radiation-pressure and gravity (λEdd versus NH), we find that our AGN sample is in the gravitationally bounded regime consistent with no detection of dusty winds. At 10 μm, the level of extended line emission contribution is correlated with the outflow kinetic energy and mass outflow rates. We find no correlation with the AGN properties. These results indicate that the radio jet may be triggering the gas outflow and line emission, while the extended dust emission is distributed in molecular clouds and/or shocked regions.

JADES: Carbon-enhanced, Nitrogen-normal compact galaxy at z=11.2

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2025) staf2107

Authors:

J Scholtz, MS Silcock, E Curtis-Lake, R Maiolino, S Carniani, F D’Eugenio, X Ji, P Jakobsen, K Hainline, S Arribas, WM Baker, R Bhatawdekar, AJ Bunker, S Charlot, J Chevallard, M Curti, Daniel J Eisenstein, Y Isobe, GC Jones, E Parlanti, PG Pérez-González, P Rinaldi, B Robertson, S Tacchella, H Übler, CC Williams, C Willott, J Witstok

Abstract:

Over the past few years JWST has been a major workhorse in detecting and constraining the metal enrichment of the first galaxies in the early Universe and finding the source of the ionisation of their interstellar medium. In this work, we present new deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy of GS-z11-1, a galaxy at z = 11.28, in which we report the detection of multiple rest-frame UV and optical emission lines: CIII]λλ1907,09, CIV]λλ1548,51, [OII]λλ3726,29, [NeIII]λ3869, Hγ and tentative evidence for HeIIλ1640. The ionisation properties of GS-z11-1 are consistent with star formation, with potential contribution from an active galactic nucleus (AGN). We estimate a galaxy stellar mass of log(M⋆/M⊙) = 7.8±0.2 and log(SFR/(M⊙ yr−1))= 0.32±0.11 for the fiducial SF-only models. We measured C/O from the SED modelling of C/O = 1.20±0.15 × solar. This is one of the highest C/O abundances at z>10, and it is consistent with either PopII and PopIII enrichment paths. Despite this source being extremely compact, with a half-light radius of 73±10 pc, we see no increased equivalent width of NIV] and NIII] emission lines as seen in some other compact sources at similar redshifts, a potential signature of second-generation stars in GCs. Overall, this galaxy exhibits low metallicity and high ionisation parameter consistent with intense star-formation or AGN activity in the early Universe, possibly observed before the enrichment by the second generation of stars in proto-globular clusters in the core of the galaxy.

JADES: Low Surface Brightness Galaxies at 0.4 < z < 0.8 in GOODS-S

(2025)

Authors:

Tristen Shields, Marcia Rieke, Kevin Hainline, Jakob M Helton, Andrew J Bunker, Courtney Carreira, Emma Curtis-Lake, Daniel J Eisenstein, Benjamin D Johnson, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Brant Robertson, Christina C Williams, Christopher NA Willmer, Yang Sun

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