JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5: MIRI Coordinated Parallels in GOODS-S and GOODS-N

TL;DR

This paper presents the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) Data Release 5 MIRI coordinated parallels in GOODS-S and GOODS-N, detailing ultra-deep F770W imaging and complementary medium-depth observations across F770W, F1280W, and F1500W. It describes the data-reduction pipeline, including persistence correction, warm/hot pixel masking, robust background subtraction, and precise astrometry, culminating in fully reduced mosaics with NIRCam-based forced photometry. The DR5 MIRI mosaics, with depths surpassing ETC predictions, enable rigorous rest-frame near-IR and optical constraints on early galaxies, and the appendices document exposure setups and field-specific nuances. Overall, the work emphasizes MIRI’s critical role in probing dust content, star formation, and nebular emission in the Epoch of Reionization and beyond, through high-fidelity, deep mid-infrared imaging that complements existing NIRCam data.

Abstract

Medium to ultra-deep mid-infrared imaging surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)'s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are reframing our view of the early Universe, from the emergence of ultra-red dusty and quiescent galaxies to the epoch of reionization to the first galaxies. Here we present the MIRI coordinated parallels component of the JADES program, which obtained ultra-deep (155 ks) imaging at $7.7 μ$m over $\sim10$ arcmin$^2$ as well as medium depth ($\sim5-15$ ks) imaging at $7.7, 12.8$, and $15 μ$m over $\sim36$, 25, and 22 arcmin$^2$, respectively, in the GOODS-S and GOODS-N fields. This paper describes the data reduction, which combines the official JWST Calibration Pipeline with custom steps to optimize flagging of warm/hot pixels and optimize background subtraction. We further introduce a new step to address artifacts caused by persistence from saturating sources. The final, fully reduced JADES/MIRI mosaics are being released as part of JADES Data Release 5, along with prior-based forced photometry using NIRCam detection images, providing critical rest-frame near-infrared and optical constraints on early galaxy populations.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: RGB image of the JADES/MIRI GOODS-S Deep parallel (R=MIRI F770W, G=NIRCam F444W, B=NIRCam F200W) shown outlined in teal. The GS-Deep mosaic covers $\sim10$ arcmin$^2$ with an average exposure time of 155 ks (43 hr) in the F770W filter (Section \ref{['sec:deep']}). Background grayscale image is a stack of the NIRCam F444W and F200W mosaics. Zoom-in regions: (top left) a $z\sim14$ galaxy detected at F770W helton2025ahelton2025b; (top right) a compact grouping of quenched and star forming galaxies at $z\sim3.7$ termed the Cosmic Rose alberts2024b; (bottom left) a region containing a representative cross-section of the galaxies in the GS-Deep parallel. The small purple box highlights JADES-GS-z14-1 wu2025, which is undetected in F770W despite falling in a strip of the parallel with a total exposure time of 253 ks (70.7 hr, see Figure \ref{['fig:exp_time']}).
• Figure 2: The JADES/MIRI parallel footprints in the GOODS-S (top) and GOODS-N (bottom) fields for the F770W (orange solid color), F1280W (orange circle hatch), and F1500W (orange line hatch) filters. A small subset of the ancillary data available is shown for reference: Chandra X-ray 7 Ms imaging luo2017, NIRCam F356W imaging as in DR 5 from multiple programs Johnson2026) with the JADES/NIRCam Deep and JADES/NIRCam Medium footprints (PID 1180) highlighted (purple solid line), JOF (PID 3215) eisenstein2023, SMILES MIRI 8-band survey rieke2024alberts2024a, and HST WFC3 F160W footprint grogin2011.
• Figure 3: Artifacts created from persistence due to saturated pixels (Section \ref{['sec:persistence']}). (left) A small area of the MIRI imaging detector is shown for six dithers for F770W (top), which was followed by six dithers in F1280W (bottom). An under-exposed artifact appears following the observation where a bright source saturates multiple pixels in at least one group. (Right) Without any correction, the final F1280W mosaic shows these persistence artifacts prominently.
• Figure 4: Greyscale images of GS-Deep F770W (top) and the GN-Medium F770W and F1280W (bottom) mosaics. Due to the significantly different exposure times (155 vs $6-9$ ks), these are not shown on the same scale. GN-Medium and GS-Medium (Figures \ref{['fig:mosaics2']} and \ref{['fig:mosaics3']}) are displayed on the same scale and stretch, derived from the GN-Medium F770W.
• Figure 5: Greyscale images of GS-Medium-1, -2, and -3 in F770W (left), F1280W (middle), and F1500W (right). Scale and strength match GN-Medium F770W (Figure \ref{['fig:mosaics1']}).