Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry

A. van der Wel; M. Martorano; D. Marchesini; S. Wuyts; S. E. Meidt; A. Gebek; G. B. Brammer; K. E. Whitaker; R. Bezanson; E. J. Nelson; G. H. Rudnick; M. Kriek; J. Leja; J. S. Dunlop; C. M. Casey; J. S. Kartaltepe

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202555488

Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry

A. van der Wel, M. Martorano, D. Marchesini, S. Wuyts, S. E. Meidt, A. Gebek, G. B. Brammer, K. E. Whitaker, R. Bezanson, E. J. Nelson, G. H. Rudnick, M. Kriek, J. Leja, J. S. Dunlop, C. M. Casey, J. S. Kartaltepe

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Abstract

Aims. JWST/NIRCam provides rest-frame near-IR photometry of galaxies up to z=-2.5 with exquisite depth and accuracy. This affords us an unprecedented view of the evolution of the UV/optical/near-IR color distribution and its interpretation in terms of the evolving dust attenuation, A _V. Methods. We used the value-added data products (photometric redshift, stellar mass, rest-frame U-V and V-J colors, and A _V) provided by the public DAWN JWST Archive. These data products derive from fitting the spectral energy distributions obtained from multiple NIRCam imaging surveys, augmented with preexisting HST imaging data. Our sample consists of a stellar-mass-complete sample of ≈28 000M _∗ > -10 ⁹ M _⊙ galaxies in the redshift range 0.5 < z < -2.5. Results. The V-J color distribution of star-forming galaxies evolves strongly, in particular for high-mass galaxies (M _∗ > 3 × -10 ¹⁰ M _⊙), which have a pronounced tail of very red galaxies reaching V-J > -2.5 at z > -1.5 that does not exist at z < -1. Such red V-J can only be explained by dust attenuation, with typical values for M _∗ ≈ 10 ¹¹ M _⊙ galaxies in the range A _V ≈ 1.5-3.5 at z ≈ 2. This redshift evolution went largely unnoticed before. Today, however, photometric redshift estimates for the reddest (V-J > -2.5), most attenuated galaxies have markedly improved thanks to the new, precise photometry, which is in much better agreement with the 25 available spectroscopic redshifts for such galaxies. The reddest population readily stands out as the independently identified population of galaxies detected at submillimeter wavelengths. Despite the increased attenuation, U-V colors across the entire mass range are slightly bluer at higher z. A well-defined and tight color sequence exists at redshifts 0.5 < z < 2.5 for M _∗ > 3 × 10 ¹⁰ M _⊙ quiescent galaxies, in both U-V and V-J, but in V-J it is bluer rather than redder compared to star-forming galaxies. In conclusion, whereas the rest-frame UV-optical color distribution evolves remarkably little from z = 0.5 to z=2.5, the rest-frame optical/near-IR color distribution evolves strongly, primarily due to a very substantial increase with redshift in dust attenuation for massive galaxies.

Original language	English
Article number	A30
Journal	Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume	701
Early online date	2 Sept 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202555488
Publication status	Published - 30 Sept 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors 2025.

Funding

This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. The specific observations analyzed can be accessed via doi http://dx.doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier. These observations are associated with programs ERS #1324, 1345, and 1355; ERO #2736; GO #1837 and 2822; GTO #2738; and COM #1063. The authors acknowledge the teams and PIs for developing their observing program with a zero-exclusive-access period. MM acknowledges the financial support of the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen), research project G030319N. (Some of) The data products presented herein were retrieved from the Dawn JWST Archive (DJA). DJA is an initiative of the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), which is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under grant DNRF140. JSD acknowledges the support of the Royal Society via the award of a Research Professorship. This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5–03127 for JWST. The specific observations analyzed can be accessed via doi http://dx.doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier . These observations are associated with programs ERS #1324, 1345, and 1355; ERO #2736; GO #1837 and 2822; GTO #2738; and COM #1063. The authors acknowledge the teams and PIs for developing their observing program with a zero-exclusive-access period. MM acknowledges the financial support of the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen), research project G030319N. (Some of) The data products presented herein were retrieved from the Dawn JWST Archive (DJA). DJA is an initiative of the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), which is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under grant DNRF140. JSD acknowledges the support of the Royal Society via the award of a Research Professorship.

Funders	Funder number
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Endocrine Society of Australia
Flemish Fund for Scientific Research
Royal Society
Canadian Space Agency	2822, NAS 5-03127, 1355, GTO #2738, 1063, 1837, 2736
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	G030319N
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond	DNRF140

Keywords

Galaxies: evolution
Galaxies: fundamental parameters
Galaxies: general
Galaxies: high-redshift
Galaxies: photometry
Galaxies: statistics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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vanderWel2025_arXivAccepted author manuscript, 11.1 MB

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van der Wel, A., Martorano, M., Marchesini, D., Wuyts, S., Meidt, S. E., Gebek, A., Brammer, G. B., Whitaker, K. E., Bezanson, R., Nelson, E. J., Rudnick, G. H., Kriek, M., Leja, J., Dunlop, J. S., Casey, C. M., & Kartaltepe, J. S. (2025). Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 701, Article A30. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202555488

van der Wel, A, Martorano, M, Marchesini, D, Wuyts, S, Meidt, SE, Gebek, A, Brammer, GB, Whitaker, KE, Bezanson, R, Nelson, EJ, Rudnick, GH, Kriek, M, Leja, J, Dunlop, JS, Casey, CM & Kartaltepe, JS 2025, 'Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry', Astronomy & Astrophysics, vol. 701, A30. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202555488

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title = "Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry",

abstract = "Aims. JWST/NIRCam provides rest-frame near-IR photometry of galaxies up to z=-2.5 with exquisite depth and accuracy. This affords us an unprecedented view of the evolution of the UV/optical/near-IR color distribution and its interpretation in terms of the evolving dust attenuation, A V. Methods. We used the value-added data products (photometric redshift, stellar mass, rest-frame U-V and V-J colors, and A V) provided by the public DAWN JWST Archive. These data products derive from fitting the spectral energy distributions obtained from multiple NIRCam imaging surveys, augmented with preexisting HST imaging data. Our sample consists of a stellar-mass-complete sample of ≈28 000M ∗ > -10 9 M ⊙ galaxies in the redshift range 0.5 < z < -2.5. Results. The V-J color distribution of star-forming galaxies evolves strongly, in particular for high-mass galaxies (M ∗ > 3 × -10 10 M ⊙), which have a pronounced tail of very red galaxies reaching V-J > -2.5 at z > -1.5 that does not exist at z < -1. Such red V-J can only be explained by dust attenuation, with typical values for M ∗ ≈ 10 11 M ⊙ galaxies in the range A V ≈ 1.5-3.5 at z ≈ 2. This redshift evolution went largely unnoticed before. Today, however, photometric redshift estimates for the reddest (V-J > -2.5), most attenuated galaxies have markedly improved thanks to the new, precise photometry, which is in much better agreement with the 25 available spectroscopic redshifts for such galaxies. The reddest population readily stands out as the independently identified population of galaxies detected at submillimeter wavelengths. Despite the increased attenuation, U-V colors across the entire mass range are slightly bluer at higher z. A well-defined and tight color sequence exists at redshifts 0.5 < z < 2.5 for M ∗ > 3 × 10 10 M ⊙ quiescent galaxies, in both U-V and V-J, but in V-J it is bluer rather than redder compared to star-forming galaxies. In conclusion, whereas the rest-frame UV-optical color distribution evolves remarkably little from z = 0.5 to z=2.5, the rest-frame optical/near-IR color distribution evolves strongly, primarily due to a very substantial increase with redshift in dust attenuation for massive galaxies.",

keywords = "Galaxies: evolution, Galaxies: fundamental parameters, Galaxies: general, Galaxies: high-redshift, Galaxies: photometry, Galaxies: statistics",

author = "\{van der Wel\}, A. and M. Martorano and D. Marchesini and S. Wuyts and Meidt, \{S. E.\} and A. Gebek and Brammer, \{G. B.\} and Whitaker, \{K. E.\} and R. Bezanson and Nelson, \{E. J.\} and Rudnick, \{G. H.\} and M. Kriek and J. Leja and Dunlop, \{J. S.\} and Casey, \{C. M.\} and Kartaltepe, \{J. S.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Authors 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = sep,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/202555488",

language = "English",

volume = "701",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry

AU - van der Wel, A.

AU - Martorano, M.

AU - Marchesini, D.

AU - Wuyts, S.

AU - Meidt, S. E.

AU - Gebek, A.

AU - Brammer, G. B.

AU - Whitaker, K. E.

AU - Bezanson, R.

AU - Nelson, E. J.

AU - Rudnick, G. H.

AU - Kriek, M.

AU - Leja, J.

AU - Dunlop, J. S.

AU - Casey, C. M.

AU - Kartaltepe, J. S.

PY - 2025/9/30

Y1 - 2025/9/30

N2 - Aims. JWST/NIRCam provides rest-frame near-IR photometry of galaxies up to z=-2.5 with exquisite depth and accuracy. This affords us an unprecedented view of the evolution of the UV/optical/near-IR color distribution and its interpretation in terms of the evolving dust attenuation, A V. Methods. We used the value-added data products (photometric redshift, stellar mass, rest-frame U-V and V-J colors, and A V) provided by the public DAWN JWST Archive. These data products derive from fitting the spectral energy distributions obtained from multiple NIRCam imaging surveys, augmented with preexisting HST imaging data. Our sample consists of a stellar-mass-complete sample of ≈28 000M ∗ > -10 9 M ⊙ galaxies in the redshift range 0.5 < z < -2.5. Results. The V-J color distribution of star-forming galaxies evolves strongly, in particular for high-mass galaxies (M ∗ > 3 × -10 10 M ⊙), which have a pronounced tail of very red galaxies reaching V-J > -2.5 at z > -1.5 that does not exist at z < -1. Such red V-J can only be explained by dust attenuation, with typical values for M ∗ ≈ 10 11 M ⊙ galaxies in the range A V ≈ 1.5-3.5 at z ≈ 2. This redshift evolution went largely unnoticed before. Today, however, photometric redshift estimates for the reddest (V-J > -2.5), most attenuated galaxies have markedly improved thanks to the new, precise photometry, which is in much better agreement with the 25 available spectroscopic redshifts for such galaxies. The reddest population readily stands out as the independently identified population of galaxies detected at submillimeter wavelengths. Despite the increased attenuation, U-V colors across the entire mass range are slightly bluer at higher z. A well-defined and tight color sequence exists at redshifts 0.5 < z < 2.5 for M ∗ > 3 × 10 10 M ⊙ quiescent galaxies, in both U-V and V-J, but in V-J it is bluer rather than redder compared to star-forming galaxies. In conclusion, whereas the rest-frame UV-optical color distribution evolves remarkably little from z = 0.5 to z=2.5, the rest-frame optical/near-IR color distribution evolves strongly, primarily due to a very substantial increase with redshift in dust attenuation for massive galaxies.

AB - Aims. JWST/NIRCam provides rest-frame near-IR photometry of galaxies up to z=-2.5 with exquisite depth and accuracy. This affords us an unprecedented view of the evolution of the UV/optical/near-IR color distribution and its interpretation in terms of the evolving dust attenuation, A V. Methods. We used the value-added data products (photometric redshift, stellar mass, rest-frame U-V and V-J colors, and A V) provided by the public DAWN JWST Archive. These data products derive from fitting the spectral energy distributions obtained from multiple NIRCam imaging surveys, augmented with preexisting HST imaging data. Our sample consists of a stellar-mass-complete sample of ≈28 000M ∗ > -10 9 M ⊙ galaxies in the redshift range 0.5 < z < -2.5. Results. The V-J color distribution of star-forming galaxies evolves strongly, in particular for high-mass galaxies (M ∗ > 3 × -10 10 M ⊙), which have a pronounced tail of very red galaxies reaching V-J > -2.5 at z > -1.5 that does not exist at z < -1. Such red V-J can only be explained by dust attenuation, with typical values for M ∗ ≈ 10 11 M ⊙ galaxies in the range A V ≈ 1.5-3.5 at z ≈ 2. This redshift evolution went largely unnoticed before. Today, however, photometric redshift estimates for the reddest (V-J > -2.5), most attenuated galaxies have markedly improved thanks to the new, precise photometry, which is in much better agreement with the 25 available spectroscopic redshifts for such galaxies. The reddest population readily stands out as the independently identified population of galaxies detected at submillimeter wavelengths. Despite the increased attenuation, U-V colors across the entire mass range are slightly bluer at higher z. A well-defined and tight color sequence exists at redshifts 0.5 < z < 2.5 for M ∗ > 3 × 10 10 M ⊙ quiescent galaxies, in both U-V and V-J, but in V-J it is bluer rather than redder compared to star-forming galaxies. In conclusion, whereas the rest-frame UV-optical color distribution evolves remarkably little from z = 0.5 to z=2.5, the rest-frame optical/near-IR color distribution evolves strongly, primarily due to a very substantial increase with redshift in dust attenuation for massive galaxies.

KW - Galaxies: evolution

KW - Galaxies: fundamental parameters

KW - Galaxies: general

KW - Galaxies: high-redshift

KW - Galaxies: photometry

KW - Galaxies: statistics

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U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/202555488

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202555488

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6361

VL - 701

JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy & Astrophysics

M1 - A30

ER -

Even redder than we knew: Color and AV evolution up to z = 2.5 from JWST/NIRCam photometry

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