High-velocity outflows in [OIII] emitters at z=2.5-9 from JWST NIRSpec medium-resolution spectroscopy (2502.18310v2)

Abstract: We identify galaxies hosting ionised-gas high-velocity outflows from the complete sample of medium resolution (R1000) JWST/NIRSpec MSA spectroscopy taken as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). From a total sample of 1087 [OIII]5007 emitters we identify 40 galaxies with a blue-side broadened [OIII]5007 line at z=2.5-9. Of these, 34 are strong outflow candidates whilst 6 sources have broadening potentially driven by rotating clumps. Our outflow candidate sample is mainly composed of star-forming galaxies, including ~65% starbursts, which span the stellar mass range log10(M*/Msun)=7.5-11.0. It also includes two candidate type-2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) and a 'little red dot' (LRD). We report a median outflow velocity of 531(+146)(-159) km/s and an overall incidence rate of 3.4%. These values are significantly higher and lower respectively than recent similar works, which we accredit to the limiting resolution of the R1000 spectroscopy and a stricter outflow selection criterion. We find no correlation between the outflow velocity and the galaxy stellar mass or star-formation rate. The median ratio between outflow velocity and escape velocity is 0.77(+0.36)(-0.32), indicating that most outflows cannot escape the galaxy gravitational potentials. We do find an anti-correlation between mass loading factor and stellar mass up to M* ~(10^10)Msun, with most lowest stellar-mass M*<(10^9)Msun galaxies reaching values well above unity, as is the case for local starburst galaxies.