J/A+A/707/A352ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/707/A352CDSGiovinazzo E.Oesch P.A.Weibel A.Meyer R.A.Witten C.Bhagwat A.,Brammer G.Chisholm J.de Graaff A.Gottumukkala R.Jecmen M.Katz H.,Leja J.Marques-Chaves R.Maseda M.Shivaei I.Trabitsch M.,Verhamme A.2026-03-17T07:06:31Z2026-03-17T08:06:07ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frgalaxiesredshiftedultraviolet-astronomyline-intensitiesThe escape fraction of Lyman continuum photons fesc(LyC) is the last key unknown in our understanding of cosmic reionization. Directly estimating the escape fraction (fesc) of ionizing photons in the epoch of reionization (EoR) is impossible, due to the opacity of the intergalactic medium (IGM). However, a high fesc leaves clear imprints in the spectrum of a galaxy, due to reduced nebular line and continuum emission, which also leads to bluer UV continuum slopes. Here, we exploit the large archive of deep JWST/NIRSpec spectra from the DAWN JWST Archive to analyze over 1400 galaxies at 5<z_spec_<10 and constrain their fesc based on SED fitting enhanced with a picket fence model. We identify 71 high-confidence sources with significant fesc based on Bayes factor analysis strongly favouring fesc>0 over fesc=0 solutions. We compare the characteristics of this high-escape subset against both the parent sample and established diagnostics including UVbeta slope, O32, and SFR surface density. For the overall sample, we find that most sources have a low escape fraction (<1%), however, a small subset of sources seems to emit a large number of their ionizing photons into the IGM, such that the average fesc is found to be ~10%, as needed for galaxies to drive reionization. Although uncertainties remain regarding recent burstiness and the intrinsic stellar ionizing photon output at low metallicities, our results demonstrate the unique capability of JWST/NIRSpec to identify individual LyC leakers, measure average fesc and thus constrain the drivers of cosmic reionization.2026A&A...707A.352Ghttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/707/A352CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicehttps://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/707/A352https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/707/A352http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/707/A352https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/707/A352https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/707/A352http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/707/A352GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/A+A/707/A352/tablea1 (Properties of the sources with high-confidence escape fraction estimates)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/707/A352/tablea1?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/707/A352/tablea1?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/707/A352/tablea1?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true3.5138029-30.35333910.0055555555555555566/7904 11252 11425 16486 17690 27258 35935https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/A+A/707/A352?format=asciiUVdefaultJ/A+A/707/A352/tablea1Properties of the sources with high-confidence escape fraction estimatesrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintNameNamemeta.id;meta.maincharzSpectroscopic redshiftsrc.redshiftfloatRAJ2000Right ascension (J2000)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDEJ2000Reclination (J2000)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainfescEscape fractionstat.fit.omcfloate_fescLower uncertainty on escape fractionstat.errorfloatE_fescUpper uncertainty on escape fractionstat.error;stat.maxfloatlogMlog10 stellar masslog(solMass)phys.massfloate_logMLower uncertainty on log stellar masslog(solMass)stat.errorfloatE_logMUpper uncertainty on log stellar masslog(solMass)stat.error;stat.maxfloatlogSFRlog10 star formation ratelog(solMass.yr**-1)phys.SFRfloate_logSFRLower uncertainty on log star formation ratelog(solMass.yr**-1)stat.error;phys.SFRfloatE_logSFRUpper uncertainty on log star formation ratelog(solMass.yr**-1)stat.error;stat.maxfloatUVMAGAbsolute UV magnitude (MUV)magphys.magAbsfloate_UVMAGAbsolute UV magnitude uncertainty (e_MUV)magstat.errorfloatbetaUVBeta slopemeta.crypticfloate_betaUVBeta slope uncertaintystat.errorfloatEWHbHbeta equivalent width0.1nmspect.line.eqWidthfloate_EWHbHbeta equivalent width uncertainty0.1nmstat.errorfloat