Parallel Application of Slitless Spectroscopy to Analyze Galaxy Evolution (PASSAGE): Survey Overview
Abstract
During the second half of Cycle 1 of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), we conducted the Parallel Application of Slitless Spectroscopy to Analyze Galaxy Evolution (PASSAGE) program. PASSAGE received the largest allocation of JWST observing time in Cycle 1, 591 hours of NIRISS observations to obtain direct near-IR imaging and slitless spectroscopy. About two thirds of these were ultimately executed, to observe 63 high-latitude fields in Pure Parallel mode. These have provided more than ten thousand near-infrared grism spectrograms of faint galaxies. PASSAGE brings unique advantages in studying galaxy evolution: A) Unbiased spectroscopic search, without prior photometric pre-selection. By including the most numerous galaxies, with low masses and strong emission lines, slitless spectroscopy is the indispensable complement to any pre-targeted spectroscopy; B) The combination of several dozen independent fields to overcome cosmic variance; C) Near-infrared spectral coverage, often spanning the full range from 1.0--2.3 m, with minimal wavelength gaps, to measure multiple diagnostic rest-frame optical lines, minimizing sensitivity to dust reddening; D) JWST's unprecedented spatial resolution, in some cases using two orthogonal grism orientations, to overcome contamination due to blending of overlapping spectra; E) Discovery of rare bright objects especially for detailed JWST followup. PASSAGE data are public immediately, and our team plans to deliver fully-processed high-level data products. In this PASSAGE overview, we describe the survey and data quality, and present examples of these accomplishments in several areas of current interest in the evolution of emission-line galaxy properties, particularly at low masses.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2509.00596,
title = {Parallel Application of Slitless Spectroscopy to Analyze Galaxy Evolution (PASSAGE): Survey Overview},
author = {Matthew A. Malkan and Vihang Mehta and Ayan Acharyya and Hollis Akins and Anahita Alavi and Hakim Atek and Ivano Baronchelli and Andrew J. Battisti and Kit Boyett and Marusa Bradac and Sean Tyler Bruton and Andrew Bunker and Adam J. Burgasser and Caitlin Casey and Nuo Chen and James Colbert and Y. Sophia Dai and Max Franco and Clea Hannahs and Santosh Harish and Farhanul Hasan and Matthew James Hayes and Alaina L. Henry and Mason Huberty and Jeyhan Kartaltepe and Keunho J. Kim and Nicha Leethochawalit and Jacob Levine and Sijia Li and Yu-Heng Lin and Yiaxiao Liu and Charlotte Mason and Daniel Masters and Henry McCracken and Takahiro Morishita and Kalina Nedkova and Marc Rafelski and Vivasvaan Aditya Raj and Guido Roberts-Borsani and Axel Runnholm and Michael James Rutkowski and Alberto Saldana-Lopez and Zahra Sattari Claudia Scarlata and Kasper Borello Schmidt and Marko Shuntov and Harry Teplitz and Michele Trenti and Tommaso Treu and Benedetta Vulcani and Peter J. Watson and Xin Wang and Zhuyun Zhuang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.00596},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
22 pages, 18 figures