In the nearby universe, massive galaxies are typically found in a quiescent state, characterized by low rates of star formation and predominantly old stellar populations. The transition to this phase, known as quenching, occurred roughly 10 billion years ago—at redshift 2 to 3—during an era commonly referred to as cosmic noon. To better understand the quenching process, we conducted a series of JWST NIRSpec observations on a representative sample of galaxies from this epoch, with the goal of investigating their gaseous and stellar properties. By creating numerical models that align with these observations, we are able to gain valuable insights into the conditions of these galaxies 10 billion years ago, as well as explore plausible mechanisms behind quenching, such as the influence of highly energetic active galactic nuclei.
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