Unveiling the Nature of Infrared Bright, Optically Dark Galaxies with Early JWST Data

Understand

Over the last few years, both ALMA and Spitzer/IRAC observations have revealed a population of likely massive galaxies at $z>3$ that was too faint to be detected in HST rest-frame ultraviolet imaging.

• However, due to the very limited photometry for individual galaxies, the true nature of these so-called HST-dark galaxies has remained elusive.
• Here, we present the first sample of such galaxies observed with very deep, high-resolution NIRCam imaging from the Early Release Science Program CEERS.
• 30 HST-dark sources are selected based on their red colours across 1.6 $\mu$m to 4.4 $\mu$m.