BEASTS is a volume-complete spectroscopic survey of five galaxy candidates selected from the COSMOS2020 galaxy catalog at z~9 with rest-UV magnitudes brighter than -21. If genuine, they are some of the brightest galaxies of their epoch. Spatially-resolved integral-field spectroscopy from JWST/NIRSpec will enable an unprecented dissection of their remarkable properties.
Hinted from the ground, the era of JWST has been marked by a confirmation of extremely luminous galaxies in the early universe that present a challege to theoretical models. However, the small FOV of JWST prevents it from finding the rarest and most luminous challengers. By selecting from known candidates, BEASTS probes a degree-scale area for only 14.4 hours of NIRSpec. Will the extreme bright-end of the UVLF hold?
Such UV bright galaxies are presumably also extremely massive, forming out of the highest overdensities in the primordial web of dark matter. We see them as they were in their infancy, some 500 Million years after the big bang. Spatially-resolved spectroscopy will reveal the physics behind their extreme UV luminosities and ultimately their formation.
The backbone of BEASTS are the four graduate students responsible for data reduction and the key scientific analyses evisioned for the program. We are committed to empowering them by faciliting opportunities to do cutting-edge science, and empowering others by releasing our data, pipeline, and analysis tools to the community.
