Improving z ∼ 7–11 Galaxy Property Estimates with JWST/NIRCam Medium-band Photometry

The past decade has seen impressive progress in the detection of $z>7$ galaxies with Hubble Space Telescope, however little is known about their properties. James Webb Telescope will revolutionise high-$z$ field by providing NIR (i.e., rest-frame optical) data unprecedented depth and spatial resolution. Measuring galaxy quantities such as resolved stellar ages or gas metallicity gradients traditionally requires spectroscopy, broad-band imaging filters are generally too coarse to fully isolate diagnostics 4000 \r{A} (rest-frame) break, continuum emission from aged stars, key lines (e.g., [OII], [OIII], H$\beta$). However, this paper, we show that adding NIRCam images through a strategically chosen medium-band filter common wide-band sets adopted ERS GTO programs delivers tighter constraints on these galactic To constrain choice filter, perform systematic investigation which combinations single offer tightest several properties at redshifts $z\sim7-11$. We employ JAGUAR extragalactic catalogs construct statistical samples physically-motivated mock photometry conduct SED-fitting procedures evaluate accuracy property (and photo-$z$) recovery simple star-formation history model. find $>4.1 \mu$m medium comparable can significantly improve photo-$z$s yield close order-of-magnitude improvements determination ages, metallicities, SF-related line fluxes $z\sim8$. For sources, proposed approach enables spatially-resolved would be prohibitive slit spectroscopy.