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We present the properties of two candidate massive ( M _⋆ ∼ 10 ^11 M _⊙ ) and dusty ( A _v > 2.5 mag) galaxies at z = 5–7 in the first 0.28 deg ^2 of the COSMOS-Web survey. One object is spectroscopically confirmed at z _spec = 5.051, while the other has a robust z _phot = 6.7 ± 0.3. Thanks to their extremely red colors (F277W–F444W ∼ 1.7 mag), these galaxies satisfy the nominal color selection for the widely studied “little red dot” (LRD) population with the exception of their spatially resolved morphologies. The morphology of our targets allows us to conclude that their red continuum is dominated by highly obscured stellar emission and not by reddened nuclear activity. Using a variety of spectral energy distribution fitting tools and star formation histories, we estimate the stellar masses to be $\mathrm{log}({M}_{\star })={11.32}_{-0.15}^{+0.07}\,{M}_{\odot }$ and $\mathrm{log}({M}_{\star })={11.2}_{-0.2}^{+0.1}\,{M}_{\odot }$ , respectively, with a red continuum emission dominated by a recent episode of star formation. We then compare their number density to the halo mass function to infer stellar baryon fractions of ϵ _⋆ ∼ 0.25 and ϵ _⋆ ∼ 0.5. Both are significantly higher than what is commonly observed in lower- z galaxies or more dust-obscured galaxies at similar redshifts. With very bright ultra-high- z Lyman-Break Galaxies and some non-AGN-dominated LRDs, such “extended” LRDs represent another population that may require very efficient star formation at early times.

With their high angular resolutions of 30–100 mas, large fields of view, and complex optical systems, imagers on next-generation optical/near-infrared space observatories, such as the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope, present new opportunities for science and also new challenges for empirical point-spread function (PSF) characterization. In this context, we introduce ShOpt , a new PSF fitting tool developed in Julia and designed to bridge the advanced features of PSFs in the full field of view (PIFF) with the computational efficiency of PSF Extractor (PSFEx). Along with ShOpt , we propose a suite of nonparametric statistics suitable for evaluating PSF fit quality in space-based imaging. Our study benchmarks ShOpt against the established PSF fitters PSFEx and PIFF using real and simulated COSMOS-Web Survey imaging. We assess their respective PSF model fidelity with our proposed diagnostic statistics and investigate their computational efficiencies, focusing on their processing speed relative to the complexity and size of the PSF models. We find that ShOpt can already achieve PSF model fidelity comparable to PSFEx and PIFF while maintaining competitive processing speeds, constructing PSF models for large NIRCam mosaics within minutes.

We report the identification of 15 galaxy candidates at z ≥ 9 using the initial COSMOS-Web JWST observations over 77 arcmin ^2 through four Near Infrared Camera filters (F115W, F150W, F277W, and F444W) with an overlap with the Mid-Infrared Imager (F770W) of 8.7 arcmin ^2 . We fit the sample using several publicly available spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting and photometric redshift codes and determine their redshifts between z = 9.3 and z = 10.9 (〈 z 〉 = 10.0), UV magnitudes between M _UV = −21.2 and −19.5 (with 〈 M _UV 〉 = −20.2), and rest-frame UV slopes (〈 β 〉 = −2.4). These galaxies are, on average, more luminous than most z ≥ 9 candidates discovered by JWST so far in the literature, while exhibiting similar blue colors in their rest-frame UV. The rest-frame UV slopes derived from SED fitting are blue ( β ∼ [−2.0, −2.7]) without reaching extremely blue values as reported in other recent studies at these redshifts. The blue color is consistent with models that suggest the underlying stellar population is not yet fully enriched in metals like similarly luminous galaxies in the lower-redshift Universe. The derived stellar masses with $\langle {\mathrm{log}}_{10}($ M _⋆ / M _⊙ )〉 ≈ 8–9 are not in tension with the standard Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model, and our measurement of the volume density of such UV-luminous galaxies aligns well with previously measured values presented in the literature at z ∼ 9–10. Our sample of galaxies, although compact, is significantly resolved.

We present observations and analysis of the starburst PACS-819 at z = 1.45 ( M _* = 10 ^10.7 M _⊙ ), using high-resolution (0.″1; 0.8 kpc) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and multiwavelength JWST images from the COSMOS-Web program. Dissimilar to Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ACS images in the rest-frame UV, the redder NIRCam and MIRI images reveal a smooth central mass concentration and spiral-like features, atypical for such an intense starburst. Through dynamical modeling of the CO ( J = 5–4) emission with ALMA, PACS-819 is rotation dominated and thus consistent with having a disk-like nature. However, kinematic anomalies in CO and asymmetric features in the bluer JWST bands (e.g., F150W) support a more disturbed nature likely due to interactions. The JWST imaging further enables us to map the distribution of stellar mass and dust attenuation, thus clarifying the relationships between different structural components not discernible in the previous HST images. The CO ( J = 5–4) and far-infrared dust continuum emission are cospatial with a heavily obscured starbursting core (

We report the discovery of 15 exceptionally luminous 10 ≲ z ≲ 14 candidate galaxies discovered in the first 0.28 deg ^2 of JWST/NIRCam imaging from the COSMOS-Web survey. These sources span rest-frame UV magnitudes of −20.5 > M _UV > −22, and thus constitute the most intrinsically luminous z ≳ 10 candidates identified by JWST to date. Selected via NIRCam imaging, deep ground-based observations corroborate their detection and help significantly constrain their photometric redshifts. We analyze their spectral energy distributions using multiple open-source codes and evaluate the probability of low-redshift solutions; we conclude that 12/15 (80%) are likely genuine z ≳ 10 sources and 3/15 (20%) likely low-redshift contaminants. Three of our z ∼ 12 candidates push the limits of early stellar mass assembly: they have estimated stellar masses ∼ 5 × 10 ^9 M _⊙ , implying an effective stellar baryon fraction of ϵ _⋆ ∼ 0.2−0.5, where ϵ _⋆ ≡ M _⋆ /( f _b M _halo ). The assembly of such stellar reservoirs is made possible due to rapid, burst-driven star formation on timescales < 100 Myr where the star formation rate may far outpace the growth of the underlying dark matter halos. This is supported by the similar volume densities inferred for M _⋆ ∼ 10 ^10 M _⊙ galaxies relative to M _⋆ ∼ 10 ^9 M _⊙ —both about 10 ^−6 Mpc ^−3 —implying they live in halos of comparable mass. At such high redshifts, the duty cycle for starbursts would be of order unity, which could cause the observed change in the shape of the UV luminosity function from a double power law to a Schechter function at z ≈ 8. Spectroscopic redshift confirmation and ensuing constraints of their masses will be critical to understand how, and if, such early massive galaxies push the limits of galaxy formation in the Lambda cold dark matter paradigm.

A growing number of far-infrared (FIR) bright sources completely invisible in deep extragalactic optical surveys hint at an elusive population of z > 4 dusty, star-forming galaxies. Cycle 1 JWST surveys are now detecting their rest-frame optical light, which provides key insight into their stellar properties and statistical constraints on the population as a whole. This work presents the JWST Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) counterpart from the COSMOS-Web survey to an FIR SCUBA-2 and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) source, AzTECC71, which was previously undetected at wavelengths shorter than 850 μ m. AzTECC71, among the reddest galaxies in COSMOS-Web with F277W − F444W ∼ 0.9, is undetected in NIRCam/F150W and F115W and fainter in F444W than other submillimeter galaxies identified in COSMOS-Web by 2–4 magnitudes. This is consistent with the system having both a lower stellar mass and higher redshift than the median dusty, star-forming galaxy. With deep ground- and space-based upper limits combined with detections in F277W, F444W, and the FIR including ALMA Band 6, we find a high probability (99%) that AzTECC71 is at z > 4 with ${z}_{\mathrm{phot}}={5.7}_{-0.7}^{+0.8}$ . This galaxy is massive ( $\mathrm{log}\,{M}_{* }/{M}_{\odot }\sim 10.7$ ) and infrared-luminous ( $\mathrm{log}\,{L}_{\mathrm{IR}}/{L}_{\odot }\sim 12.7$ ), comparable to other optically undetected but FIR-bright dusty, star-forming galaxies at z > 4. This population of luminous, infrared galaxies at z > 4 is largely unconstrained but comprises an important bridge between the most extreme dust-obscured galaxies and more typical high-redshift star-forming galaxies. If further FIR-selected galaxies that drop out of the F150W filter in COSMOS-Web have redshifts z > 4 like AzTECC71, then the volume density of such sources may be ∼3–10 × greater than previously estimated.

We present a search for extremely red, dust-obscured, z > 7 galaxies with JWST/NIRCam+MIRI imaging over the first 20 arcmin ^2 of publicly available Cycle 1 data from the COSMOS-Web, CEERS, and PRIMER surveys. Based on their red color in F277W−F444W (∼2.5 mag) and detection in MIRI/F770W (∼25 mag), we identify two galaxies, COS-z8M1 and CEERS-z7M1, that have best-fit photometric redshifts of $z={8.4}_{-0.4}^{+0.3}$ and ${7.6}_{-0.1}^{+0.1}$ , respectively. We perform spectral energy distribution fitting with a variety of codes (including bagpipes , prospector , beagle , and cigale ) and find a >95% probability that these indeed lie at z > 7. Both sources are compact ( R _eff ≲ 200 pc) and highly obscured ( A _V ∼ 1.5–2.5) and, at our best-fit redshift estimates, likely have strong [O iii ]+H β emission contributing to their 4.4 μ m photometry. We estimate stellar masses of ∼10 ^10 M _⊙ for both sources; by virtue of detection in MIRI at 7.7 μ m, these measurements are robust to the inclusion of bright emission lines, for example, from an active galactic nucleus. We identify a marginal (2.9 σ ) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array detection at 2 mm within 0.″5 of COS-z8M1, which, if real, would suggest a remarkably high IR luminosity of ∼10 ^12 L _⊙ . These two galaxies, if confirmed at z ∼ 8, would be extreme in their stellar and dust masses and may be representative of a substantial population of highly dust-obscured galaxies at cosmic dawn.

We present the survey design, implementation, and outlook for COSMOS-Web, a 255 hr treasury program conducted by the James Webb Space Telescope in its first cycle of observations. COSMOS-Web is a contiguous 0.54 deg ^2 NIRCam imaging survey in four filters (F115W, F150W, F277W, and F444W) that will reach 5 σ point-source depths ranging ∼27.5–28.2 mag. In parallel, we will obtain 0.19 deg ^2 of MIRI imaging in one filter (F770W) reaching 5 σ point-source depths of ∼25.3–26.0 mag. COSMOS-Web will build on the rich heritage of multiwavelength observations and data products available in the COSMOS field. The design of COSMOS-Web is motivated by three primary science goals: (1) to discover thousands of galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (6 ≲ z ≲ 11) and map reionization’s spatial distribution, environments, and drivers on scales sufficiently large to mitigate cosmic variance, (2) to identify hundreds of rare quiescent galaxies at z > 4 and place constraints on the formation of the universe’s most-massive galaxies ( M _⋆ > 10 ^10 M _⊙ ), and (3) directly measure the evolution of the stellar-mass-to-halo-mass relation using weak gravitational lensing out to z ∼ 2.5 and measure its variance with galaxies’ star formation histories and morphologies. In addition, we anticipate COSMOS-Web’s legacy value to reach far beyond these scientific goals, touching many other areas of astrophysics, such as the identification of the first direct collapse black hole candidates, ultracool subdwarf stars in the Galactic halo, and possibly the identification of z > 10 pair-instability supernovae. In this paper we provide an overview of the survey’s key measurements, specifications, goals, and prospects for new discovery.

We select and characterize a sample of massive (log( M _* / M _⊙ ) > 10.6) quiescent galaxies (QGs) at 3 < z < 5 in the latest Cosmological Evolution Survey catalog (COSMOS2020). QGs are selected using a new rest-frame color-selection method, based on their probability of belonging to the quiescent group defined by a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) trained on rest-frame colors ( NUV − U , U − V , V − J ) of similarly massive galaxies at 2 < z < 3. We calculate the quiescent probability threshold above which a galaxy is classified as quiescent using simulated galaxies from the shark semi-analytical model. We find that, at z ≥ 3 in shark , the GMM/ NUVU − VJ method outperforms classical rest-frame UVJ selection and is a viable alternative. We select galaxies as quiescent based on their probability in COSMOS2020 at 3 < z < 5, and compare the selected sample to both UVJ - and NUVrJ -selected samples. We find that, although the new selection matches UVJ and NUVrJ in number, the overlap between color selections is only ∼50%–80%, implying that rest-frame color commonly used at lower-redshift selections cannot be equivalently used at z > 3. We compute median rest-frame spectral energy distributions for our sample and find the median QG at 3 < z < 5 has a strong Balmer/4000 Å break, and residual NUV flux indicating recent quenching. We find the number densities of the entire quiescent population (including post-starbursts) more than doubles from 3.5 ± 2.2 × 10 ^−6 Mpc ^−3 at 4 < z < 5 to 1.4 ± 0.4 × 10 ^−5 Mpc ^−3 at 3 < z < 4, confirming that the onset of massive galaxy quenching occurs as early as 3 < z < 5.

We conduct a systematic search for protocluster candidates at z ≥ 6 in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field using the recently released COSMOS2020 source catalog. We select galaxies using a number of selection criteria to obtain a sample of galaxies that have a high probability of being inside a given redshift bin. We then apply overdensity analysis to the bins using two density estimators, a Weighted Adaptive Kernel estimator and a Weighted Voronoi Tessellation estimator. We have found 15 significant (>4 σ ) candidate galaxy overdensities across the redshift range 6 ≤ z ≤ 7.7. The majority of the galaxies appear to be on the galaxy main sequence at their respective epochs. We use multiple stellar-mass-to-halo-mass conversion methods to obtain a range of dark matter halo mass estimates for the overdensities in the range of ∼10 ^11 –10 ^13 M _⊙ , at the respective redshifts of the overdensities. The number and the masses of the halos associated with our protocluster candidates are consistent with what is expected from the area of a COSMOS-like survey in a standard Λ cold dark matter cosmology. Through comparison with simulation, we expect that all of the overdensities at z ≃ 6 will evolve into Virgo-/Coma-like clusters at present (i.e., with masses ∼10 ^14 –10 ^15 M _⊙ ). Compared to other overdensities identified at z ≥ 6 via narrowband selection techniques, the overdensities presented appear to have ∼10× higher stellar masses and star formation rates (SFRs). We compare the evolution in the total SFR and stellar mass content of the protocluster candidates across the redshift range 6 ≤ z ≤ 7.7 and find agreement with the total average SFR from simulations.