---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '22362'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "We present a systematic study of the environments of 25 luminous quasars
    at z > 6.5 from the ASPIRE program.\r\nUsing JWST/NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy
    data, we identified 487 galaxies at 5.3 ≲ z ≲ 7.0 exhibiting\r\n[O III] emission.
    Among these, 122 [O III] emitters lie within |Δvlos| < 1000 km s\r\n−1 of the
    quasars, corresponding\r\nto a ∼9.4-fold enhancement relative to the average galaxy
    density at other redshifts. Furthermore, we identified 16\r\n[C II]-emitting galaxies
    at the quasar redshifts from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)
    mosaic observations. A cross-correlation function analysis between quasars and
    [O III]+[C II] emitters yields a\r\ncross-correlation length of r 8.68 h cMpc
    0\r\nQG\r\n0.55 = +0.51 1\r\nand an autocorrelation of r 15.76 h cMpc 0\r\nQQ\r\n2.70
    = +2.48 1 ,\r\nindicating that z ∼ 7 quasars reside in dark matter halos with\r\nMhalo
    1012.27 0.26 M 0.21\r\n= +\r\nand have a quasar lifetime of\r\ntQ 10 yr 7.05 1.01\r\n0.95\r\n=
    +\r\n. Notably, the number of [O III]-emitting galaxies at quasar redshifts varies
    significantly from\r\nfield to field, ranging from 0 to 20, highlighting a diverse
    quasar environment. Remarkably, seven quasars trace\r\nsignificant galaxy overdensities
    (i.e., protoclusters), with δgal > 5 within a volume of V ∼ 500 cMpc3\r\n. We
    also\r\nfind that |Δvlos| increases rapidly toward smaller galaxy–quasar separations
    in protocluster fields, consistent with\r\ngalaxy kinematics around extremely
    massive halos in cosmological simulations. By combining JWST and ALMA\r\ndata,
    we reveal the complex and diverse environments of these early quasars, providing
    robust evidence that the\r\nearliest luminous quasars are effective tracers of
    galaxy overdensities, albeit with substantial field-to-field\r\nvariation."
acknowledgement: "F.W. acknowledges support from NSF award AST-2513040. J.B.C. acknowledges
  funding from the JWST Arizona/Steward Postdoc in Early galaxies and Reionization
  (JASPER) Scholar contract at the University of Arizona. M.H. acknowledges support
  from the Swiss SNSF Starting Grant (grant no. 218032). S.E.I.B. is supported by
  the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under Emmy Noether grant No. BO 5771/1-1.
  J.-T.S. is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research
  Foundation)—project No. 518006966. A.L. acknowledges support from PRIN MUR 2022935STW.
  C.M. acknowledges support from Fondecyt Iniciacion grant 11240336 and the ANID BASAL
  project FB210003. R.A.M. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation
  (SNSF) through project grant 200020_207349. B.T. acknowledges support from the European
  Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
  program (grant agreement No. 950533) and from the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS, which
  is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)
  under Germany’s Excellence Strategy—EXC 2094—390783311. M.V. gratefully acknowledges
  financial support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark via grant Nos. DFF
  8021-00130 and 3103-00146 and from the Carlsberg Foundation (grant CF23-0417).\r\n\r\nThis
  work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
  The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space
  Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities
  for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. These
  observations are associated with program #2078 and can be accessed via doi:10.17909/vt74-kd84.
  Support for program #2078 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope
  Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research
  in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. We acknowledge the strong support
  provided by the program coordinator Weston Eck and instrument reviewers Norbert
  Pirzkal and Stephanie La Massa."
article_number: '39'
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Feige
  full_name: Wang, Feige
  last_name: Wang
- first_name: Jaclyn B.
  full_name: Champagne, Jaclyn B.
  last_name: Champagne
- first_name: Jiamu
  full_name: Huang, Jiamu
  last_name: Huang
- first_name: Jinyi
  full_name: Yang, Jinyi
  last_name: Yang
- first_name: Joseph F.
  full_name: Hennawi, Joseph F.
  last_name: Hennawi
- first_name: Xiaohui
  full_name: Fan, Xiaohui
  last_name: Fan
- first_name: Haowen
  full_name: Zhang, Haowen
  last_name: Zhang
- first_name: Tiago
  full_name: Costa, Tiago
  last_name: Costa
- first_name: Roberto
  full_name: Decarli, Roberto
  last_name: Decarli
- first_name: Melanie
  full_name: Habouzit, Melanie
  last_name: Habouzit
- first_name: Fengwu
  full_name: Sun, Fengwu
  last_name: Sun
- first_name: Eduardo
  full_name: Bañados, Eduardo
  last_name: Bañados
- first_name: Xiangyu
  full_name: Jin, Xiangyu
  last_name: Jin
- first_name: Koki
  full_name: Kakiichi, Koki
  last_name: Kakiichi
- first_name: Romain A.
  full_name: Meyer, Romain A.
  last_name: Meyer
- first_name: Yunjing
  full_name: Wu, Yunjing
  last_name: Wu
- first_name: Silvia
  full_name: Belladitta, Silvia
  last_name: Belladitta
- first_name: Laura
  full_name: Blecha, Laura
  last_name: Blecha
- first_name: Sarah E.I.
  full_name: Bosman, Sarah E.I.
  last_name: Bosman
- first_name: Zheng
  full_name: Cai, Zheng
  last_name: Cai
- first_name: Thomas
  full_name: Connor, Thomas
  last_name: Connor
- first_name: Frederick B.
  full_name: Davies, Frederick B.
  last_name: Davies
- first_name: Anna Christina
  full_name: Eilers, Anna Christina
  last_name: Eilers
- first_name: Zoltán
  full_name: Haiman, Zoltán
  id: 7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36
  last_name: Haiman
  orcid: 0000-0003-3633-5403
- first_name: Hyunsung D.
  full_name: Jun, Hyunsung D.
  last_name: Jun
- first_name: Mingyu
  full_name: Li, Mingyu
  last_name: Li
- first_name: Zihao
  full_name: Li, Zihao
  last_name: Li
- first_name: Weizhe
  full_name: Liu, Weizhe
  last_name: Liu
- first_name: Alessandro
  full_name: Lupi, Alessandro
  last_name: Lupi
- first_name: Jianwei
  full_name: Lyu, Jianwei
  last_name: Lyu
- first_name: Chiara
  full_name: Mazzucchelli, Chiara
  last_name: Mazzucchelli
- first_name: Masafusa
  full_name: Onoue, Masafusa
  last_name: Onoue
- first_name: Elia
  full_name: Pizzati, Elia
  last_name: Pizzati
- first_name: Maria
  full_name: Pudoka, Maria
  last_name: Pudoka
- first_name: Sofía
  full_name: Rojas-Ruiz, Sofía
  last_name: Rojas-Ruiz
- first_name: Jan Torge
  full_name: Schindler, Jan Torge
  last_name: Schindler
- first_name: Yue
  full_name: Shen, Yue
  last_name: Shen
- first_name: Wei Leong
  full_name: Tee, Wei Leong
  last_name: Tee
- first_name: Benny
  full_name: Trakhtenbrot, Benny
  last_name: Trakhtenbrot
- first_name: Maxime
  full_name: Trebitsch, Maxime
  last_name: Trebitsch
- first_name: Marianne
  full_name: Vestergaard, Marianne
  last_name: Vestergaard
- first_name: Marta
  full_name: Volonteri, Marta
  last_name: Volonteri
- first_name: Fabian
  full_name: Walter, Fabian
  last_name: Walter
- first_name: Huanian
  full_name: Zhang, Huanian
  last_name: Zhang
- first_name: Siwei
  full_name: Zou, Siwei
  last_name: Zou
citation:
  ama: 'Wang F, Champagne JB, Huang J, et al. ASPIRE: The environments and dark matter
    halos of luminous quasars in the epoch of reionization. <i>Astrophysical Journal</i>.
    2026;1006(1). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa">10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa</a>'
  apa: 'Wang, F., Champagne, J. B., Huang, J., Yang, J., Hennawi, J. F., Fan, X.,
    … Zou, S. (2026). ASPIRE: The environments and dark matter halos of luminous quasars
    in the epoch of reionization. <i>Astrophysical Journal</i>. IOP Publishing. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa">https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa</a>'
  chicago: 'Wang, Feige, Jaclyn B. Champagne, Jiamu Huang, Jinyi Yang, Joseph F. Hennawi,
    Xiaohui Fan, Haowen Zhang, et al. “ASPIRE: The Environments and Dark Matter Halos
    of Luminous Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization.” <i>Astrophysical Journal</i>.
    IOP Publishing, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa">https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa</a>.'
  ieee: 'F. Wang <i>et al.</i>, “ASPIRE: The environments and dark matter halos of
    luminous quasars in the epoch of reionization,” <i>Astrophysical Journal</i>,
    vol. 1006, no. 1. IOP Publishing, 2026.'
  ista: 'Wang F, Champagne JB, Huang J, Yang J, Hennawi JF, Fan X, Zhang H, Costa
    T, Decarli R, Habouzit M, Sun F, Bañados E, Jin X, Kakiichi K, Meyer RA, Wu Y,
    Belladitta S, Blecha L, Bosman SEI, Cai Z, Connor T, Davies FB, Eilers AC, Haiman
    Z, Jun HD, Li M, Li Z, Liu W, Lupi A, Lyu J, Mazzucchelli C, Onoue M, Pizzati
    E, Pudoka M, Rojas-Ruiz S, Schindler JT, Shen Y, Tee WL, Trakhtenbrot B, Trebitsch
    M, Vestergaard M, Volonteri M, Walter F, Zhang H, Zou S. 2026. ASPIRE: The environments
    and dark matter halos of luminous quasars in the epoch of reionization. Astrophysical
    Journal. 1006(1), 39.'
  mla: 'Wang, Feige, et al. “ASPIRE: The Environments and Dark Matter Halos of Luminous
    Quasars in the Epoch of Reionization.” <i>Astrophysical Journal</i>, vol. 1006,
    no. 1, 39, IOP Publishing, 2026, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa">10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa</a>.'
  short: F. Wang, J.B. Champagne, J. Huang, J. Yang, J.F. Hennawi, X. Fan, H. Zhang,
    T. Costa, R. Decarli, M. Habouzit, F. Sun, E. Bañados, X. Jin, K. Kakiichi, R.A.
    Meyer, Y. Wu, S. Belladitta, L. Blecha, S.E.I. Bosman, Z. Cai, T. Connor, F.B.
    Davies, A.C. Eilers, Z. Haiman, H.D. Jun, M. Li, Z. Li, W. Liu, A. Lupi, J. Lyu,
    C. Mazzucchelli, M. Onoue, E. Pizzati, M. Pudoka, S. Rojas-Ruiz, J.T. Schindler,
    Y. Shen, W.L. Tee, B. Trakhtenbrot, M. Trebitsch, M. Vestergaard, M. Volonteri,
    F. Walter, H. Zhang, S. Zou, Astrophysical Journal 1006 (2026).
das_tickbox: '1'
dataavailabilitystatement: "This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO.ALMA#2022.1.01077.L.
  ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA) and NINS
  (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic
  of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory
  is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory
  is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement
  by Associated Universities, Inc.\r\n\r\nFacility: JWST - James Webb Space Telescope
  (NIRCam).\r\n\r\nSoftware: astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2018), Matplotlib
  (J. D. Hunter 2007), Numpy (C. R. Harris et al. 2020), Photutils (L. Bradley et
  al. 2022), Scipy (P. Virtanen et al. 2020), Source Extractor (E. Bertin & S. Arnouts
  1996)."
date_created: 2026-07-19T22:01:46Z
date_published: 2026-07-20T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-07-20T13:31:18Z
day: '20'
ddc:
- '520'
department:
- _id: ZoHa
doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae7bfa
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2602.04979'
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has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '      1006'
issue: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Astrophysical Journal
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - '15384357'
  issn:
  - 0004637X
publication_status: published
publisher: IOP Publishing
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: no
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: no
title: 'ASPIRE: The environments and dark matter halos of luminous quasars in the
  epoch of reionization'
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 1006
year: '2026'
...