JADES Dark Horse: demonstrating high-multiplex observations with JWST /NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy in the JADES Origins Field

Francesco D’Eugenio; Erica J Nelson; Daniel J Eisenstein; Roberto Maiolino; Stefano Carniani; Jan Scholtz; Mirko Curti; Christopher N A Willmer; Andrew J Bunker; Jakob M Helton; Ignas Juodžbalis; Fengwu Sun; Sandro Tacchella; Santiago Arribas; Alex J Cameron; Stéphane Charlot; Emma Curtis-Lake; Kevin Hainline; Benjamin D Johnson; Brant Robertson; Christina C Williams; Chris Willott; William M Baker; Jacopo Chevallard; A Lola Danhaive; Yuki Isobe; Xihan Ji; Zhiyuan Ji; Gareth C Jones; Nimisha Kumari; Tobias J Looser; Jianwei Lyu; Eleonora Parlanti; Michele Perna; Dávid Puskás; Pierluigi Rinaldi; Charlotte Simmonds; Yang Sun; Hannah Übler; Giacomo Venturi; Joris Witstok; Zihao Wu; Yongda Zhu

doi:10.1093/mnras/stag824

JADES Dark Horse: demonstrating high-multiplex observations with JWST /NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy in the JADES Origins Field

Francesco D’Eugenio
, Erica J Nelson
, Daniel J Eisenstein
, Roberto Maiolino
, Stefano Carniani
, Jan Scholtz
, Mirko Curti
, Christopher N A Willmer
, Andrew J Bunker
, Jakob M Helton
, Ignas Juodžbalis
, Fengwu Sun
, Sandro Tacchella
, Santiago Arribas
, Alex J Cameron
, Stéphane Charlot
, Emma Curtis-Lake
, Kevin Hainline
, Benjamin D Johnson
, Brant Robertson

Christina C Williams, Chris Willott, William M Baker, Jacopo Chevallard, A Lola Danhaive, Yuki Isobe, Xihan Ji, Zhiyuan Ji, Gareth C Jones, Nimisha Kumari, Tobias J Looser, Jianwei Lyu, Eleonora Parlanti, Michele Perna, Dávid Puskás, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Charlotte Simmonds, Yang Sun, Hannah Übler, Giacomo Venturi, Joris Witstok, Zihao Wu, Yongda Zhu

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3 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

We present James Web Space Telescope/NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy (DSS). This novel observing strategy with the NIRSpec/multi-shutter assembly (MSA) deliberately permits a high number of controlled spectral overlaps to reach extreme multiplex while retaining the low background of slit spectroscopy. In a single configuration over the JADES Origins Field, we opened shutters on all faint ( mag) candidates, prioritizing emission-line science and rejecting only bright continuum sources. Using 33.6 and 35.8 ks on-source in G235M and G395M, we observed a single mask with 850 sources, obtaining spectroscopic redshifts for 540 galaxies over . The per-configuration target density in DSS mode is 4–5 higher than standard no- and low-overlap MSA strategies (

Original language	English
Number of pages	23
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	549
Issue number	2
Early online date	30 Apr 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag824
Publication status	Published - 30 Jun 2026

Keywords

methods: observational
galaxies: ISM
techniques: spectroscopic
surveys
instrumentation: spectrographs
galaxies: high-redshift

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10.1093/mnras/stag824Licence: CC BY

Final_versionFinal published version, 9.26 MBLicence: CC BY

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D’Eugenio, F., Nelson, E. J., Eisenstein, D. J., Maiolino, R., Carniani, S., Scholtz, J., Curti, M., Willmer, C. N. A., Bunker, A. J., Helton, J. M., Juodžbalis, I., Sun, F., Tacchella, S., Arribas, S., Cameron, A. J., Charlot, S., Curtis-Lake, E., Hainline, K., Johnson, B. D., ... Zhu, Y. (2026). JADES Dark Horse: demonstrating high-multiplex observations with JWST /NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy in the JADES Origins Field. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 549(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag824

@article{fce15fbd141944be87e0fcaea475a394,

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abstract = "We present James Web Space Telescope/NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy (DSS). This novel observing strategy with the NIRSpec/multi-shutter assembly (MSA) deliberately permits a high number of controlled spectral overlaps to reach extreme multiplex while retaining the low background of slit spectroscopy. In a single configuration over the JADES Origins Field, we opened shutters on all faint ( mag) candidates, prioritizing emission-line science and rejecting only bright continuum sources. Using 33.6 and 35.8 ks on-source in G235M and G395M, we observed a single mask with 850 sources, obtaining spectroscopic redshifts for 540 galaxies over . The per-configuration target density in DSS mode is 4{\textendash}5 higher than standard no- and low-overlap MSA strategies (",

keywords = "methods: observational, galaxies: ISM, techniques: spectroscopic, surveys, instrumentation: spectrographs, galaxies: high-redshift",

author = "Francesco D{\textquoteright}Eugenio and Nelson, \{Erica J\} and Eisenstein, \{Daniel J\} and Roberto Maiolino and Stefano Carniani and Jan Scholtz and Mirko Curti and Willmer, \{Christopher N A\} and Bunker, \{Andrew J\} and Helton, \{Jakob M\} and Ignas Juod{\v z}balis and Fengwu Sun and Sandro Tacchella and Santiago Arribas and Cameron, \{Alex J\} and St{\'e}phane Charlot and Emma Curtis-Lake and Kevin Hainline and Johnson, \{Benjamin D\} and Brant Robertson and Williams, \{Christina C\} and Chris Willott and Baker, \{William M\} and Jacopo Chevallard and Danhaive, \{A Lola\} and Yuki Isobe and Xihan Ji and Zhiyuan Ji and Jones, \{Gareth C\} and Nimisha Kumari and Looser, \{Tobias J\} and Jianwei Lyu and Eleonora Parlanti and Michele Perna and D{\'a}vid Pusk{\'a}s and Pierluigi Rinaldi and Charlotte Simmonds and Yang Sun and Hannah {\"U}bler and Giacomo Venturi and Joris Witstok and Zihao Wu and Yongda Zhu",

note = "{\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stag824",

language = "English",

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D’Eugenio, F, Nelson, EJ, Eisenstein, DJ, Maiolino, R, Carniani, S, Scholtz, J, Curti, M, Willmer, CNA, Bunker, AJ, Helton, JM, Juodžbalis, I, Sun, F, Tacchella, S, Arribas, S, Cameron, AJ, Charlot, S, Curtis-Lake, E, Hainline, K, Johnson, BD, Robertson, B, Williams, CC, Willott, C, Baker, WM, Chevallard, J, Danhaive, AL, Isobe, Y, Ji, X, Ji, Z, Jones, GC, Kumari, N, Looser, TJ, Lyu, J, Parlanti, E, Perna, M, Puskás, D, Rinaldi, P, Simmonds, C, Sun, Y, Übler, H, Venturi, G, Witstok, J, Wu, Z & Zhu, Y 2026, 'JADES Dark Horse: demonstrating high-multiplex observations with JWST /NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy in the JADES Origins Field', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 549, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag824

TY - JOUR

T1 - JADES Dark Horse: demonstrating high-multiplex observations with JWST /NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy in the JADES Origins Field

AU - D’Eugenio, Francesco

AU - Nelson, Erica J

AU - Eisenstein, Daniel J

AU - Maiolino, Roberto

AU - Carniani, Stefano

AU - Scholtz, Jan

AU - Curti, Mirko

AU - Willmer, Christopher N A

AU - Bunker, Andrew J

AU - Helton, Jakob M

AU - Juodžbalis, Ignas

AU - Sun, Fengwu

AU - Tacchella, Sandro

AU - Arribas, Santiago

AU - Cameron, Alex J

AU - Charlot, Stéphane

AU - Curtis-Lake, Emma

AU - Hainline, Kevin

AU - Johnson, Benjamin D

AU - Robertson, Brant

AU - Williams, Christina C

AU - Willott, Chris

AU - Baker, William M

AU - Chevallard, Jacopo

AU - Danhaive, A Lola

AU - Isobe, Yuki

AU - Ji, Xihan

AU - Ji, Zhiyuan

AU - Jones, Gareth C

AU - Kumari, Nimisha

AU - Looser, Tobias J

AU - Lyu, Jianwei

AU - Parlanti, Eleonora

AU - Perna, Michele

AU - Puskás, Dávid

AU - Rinaldi, Pierluigi

AU - Simmonds, Charlotte

AU - Sun, Yang

AU - Übler, Hannah

AU - Venturi, Giacomo

AU - Witstok, Joris

AU - Wu, Zihao

AU - Zhu, Yongda

N1 - © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

PY - 2026/6/30

Y1 - 2026/6/30

N2 - We present James Web Space Telescope/NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy (DSS). This novel observing strategy with the NIRSpec/multi-shutter assembly (MSA) deliberately permits a high number of controlled spectral overlaps to reach extreme multiplex while retaining the low background of slit spectroscopy. In a single configuration over the JADES Origins Field, we opened shutters on all faint ( mag) candidates, prioritizing emission-line science and rejecting only bright continuum sources. Using 33.6 and 35.8 ks on-source in G235M and G395M, we observed a single mask with 850 sources, obtaining spectroscopic redshifts for 540 galaxies over . The per-configuration target density in DSS mode is 4–5 higher than standard no- and low-overlap MSA strategies (

AB - We present James Web Space Telescope/NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy (DSS). This novel observing strategy with the NIRSpec/multi-shutter assembly (MSA) deliberately permits a high number of controlled spectral overlaps to reach extreme multiplex while retaining the low background of slit spectroscopy. In a single configuration over the JADES Origins Field, we opened shutters on all faint ( mag) candidates, prioritizing emission-line science and rejecting only bright continuum sources. Using 33.6 and 35.8 ks on-source in G235M and G395M, we observed a single mask with 850 sources, obtaining spectroscopic redshifts for 540 galaxies over . The per-configuration target density in DSS mode is 4–5 higher than standard no- and low-overlap MSA strategies (

KW - methods: observational

KW - galaxies: ISM

KW - techniques: spectroscopic

KW - surveys

KW - instrumentation: spectrographs

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stag824

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stag824

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 549

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 2

ER -

JADES Dark Horse: demonstrating high-multiplex observations with JWST /NIRSpec dense-shutter spectroscopy in the JADES Origins Field

Abstract

Keywords

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