CEERS: Increasing Scatter along the Star-forming Main Sequence Indicates Early Galaxies Form in Bursts

Abstract We present the star formation rate–stellar mass (SFR– M * ) relation for galaxies in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science survey at 4.5 ≤ z ≤ 12. We model the JWST and Hubble Space Telescope rest-UV and rest-optical photometry of galaxies with flexible star formation histories (SFHs) using BAGPIPES. We consider SFRs averaged from the SFHs over 10 Myr (SFR 10 ) and 100 Myr (SFR 100 ), where the photometry probes SFRs on these timescales, effectively tracing nebular emission lines in the rest-optical (on ~10 Myr timescales) and the UV/optical continuum (on ~100 Myr timescales). We measure the slope, normalization and intrinsic scatter of the SFR– M * relation, taking into account the uncertainty…

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  Science and Technology Facilities Council

  Award: ST/X001040/1