REBELS-IFU: Linking damped Lyman-
Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology)
Abstract
Neutral gas present in galaxies during the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) is responsible for regulating star formation, dust growth, and the escape of ionising photons, making it a key ingredient in our understanding of both galaxy assembly and reionisation. However, direct constraints on the H I content of galaxies at z > 6 have been scarce thus far. With JWST, it is possible to obtain a direct probe of this neutral component by surveying Lyα damping wings in galaxy spectra. We analysed JWST/NIRSpec prism spectra of 12 UV-luminous galaxies from the REBELS-IFU program at z ∼ 6.5–7.7, deriving H I column densities by modelling Lyα damping wings. Significant damped Lyα absorption from local H I gas was detected in six galaxies, with NH I ≳ 1021 cm−2. We use the column densities and sizes derived for these sources to estimate their H I masses and compare with L[C II]–MH I calibrations. The resulting H I masses show a tentative correlation with those inferred from [C II], although the [C II]-based estimates are systematically larger, suggesting that the H I reservoirs might extend beyond the [C II]-emitting gas. We also combined measurements taken from damped Lyman-α (Lyα) systems (DLAs) with far-infrared (FIR) derived dust-to-gas ratios (DTGs), dust attenuation, and gas-phase metallicities. No correlation was found between DLA-based and FIR-based DTGs; however, combining the REBELS-IFU sample with literature samples at lower metallicities revealed a strong correlation between AV/NH I and metallicity. These findings suggest that by z ∼ 7 massive galaxies already have the capacity to host substantial, enriched reservoirs of neutral gas and dust, consistent with AV/NH I–metallicity trends at lower redshifts. Finally, we also see tentative evidence of a redshift evolution of the AV/NH I–metallicity relation, with lower AV/NH I at fixed metallicity with increasing redshift, which might point to pristine gas accretion or more efficient dust destruction and/or expulsion.
Authors 23
-
Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
-
Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica · Academia Sinica
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics , Academia Sinica , 11F of
-
Universitat de València · Instituto de Física de Cantabria
Affiliation as printed
Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica , Universitat de València , C. Dr Moliner 50 , E-46100 Burjassot , València , Spain
Unidad Asociada CSIC 'Grupo de Astrofísica Extragaláctica y Cosmología' ( Instituto de Física de Cantabria -Universitat de València) , Spain
-
Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
-
Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
-
Affiliation as printed
Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos , Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias , Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército 441 , Santiago , Chile
Millenium Nucleus for Galaxies (MINGAL)
-
Liverpool John Moores University
Affiliation as printed
Astrophysics Research Institute , Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool , UK
-
The University of Western Australia · ASTRO-3D · ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics · International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
Affiliation as printed
ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D ), Australia
International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) , The University of Western Australia , Crawley , WA 6009 , Australia
-
Affiliation as printed
Scuola Normale Superiore , Piazza dei Cavalieri 7 , 56126 Pisa , Italy
-
Affiliation as printed
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics , Department of Physics and Astronomy , University of Manchester , Manchester , UK
-
Affiliation as printed
Departamento de Astronomía , Universidad de Chile , Camino del Observatorio 1515 , Las Condes , Santiago 7591245 , Chile
-
Affiliation as printed
Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center , Hiroshima University , Hiroshima 739-8526 , Japan
-
Universitat de València · Instituto de Física de Cantabria
Affiliation as printed
Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica , Universitat de València , C. Dr Moliner 50 , E-46100 Burjassot , València , Spain
Unidad Asociada CSIC 'Grupo de Astrofísica Extragaláctica y Cosmología' ( Instituto de Física de Cantabria -Universitat de València) , Spain
-
Affiliation as printed
Sterrenkundig Observatorium , Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium
-
Swinburne University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing , Swinburne University of Technology , Hawthorn , VIC 3122 , Australia
-
Liverpool John Moores University
Affiliation as printed
Astrophysics Research Institute , Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool , UK
-
University of Pisa · Scuola Normale Superiore
Affiliation as printed
Dipartimento di Fisica "Enrico Fermi" , Università di Pisa , Pisa , Italy
Scuola Normale Superiore , Piazza dei Cavalieri 7 , 56126 Pisa , Italy
-
Liverpool John Moores University
Affiliation as printed
Astrophysics Research Institute , Liverpool John Moores University , Liverpool , UK
-
Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
Cited by 0 stored of 0
No patents citing this paper on Lens.org (checked 2026-10-11).