Bias-free Extragalactic Analysis for Cosmic Origins with NIRCam

What are the properties of the first galaxies? When did they form? How did galaxies acquire mass, evolve in structure, and quench star formation? Beacon (Bias-free Extragalactic Analysis for Cosmic Origins with NIRCam, PID 3990) is a pure-parallel imaging survey awarded 600 hours in JWST Cycle 2 to address these fundamental questions. Beacon will build a large, unbiased sample of the universe across 100 independent sightlines (~0.3 deg^2 total area), minimizing cosmic variance to achieve a comprehensive census of early galaxies. Our NIRCam imaging spans 8+ bands, providing uninterrupted spectral coverage from 0.8 to 5 microns. This allows for robust photometric redshift determination and physical property analysis of sources at redshifts z ~ 2 to z > 10 through spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling. At no prime-time cost, Beacon will facilitate cutting-edge investigations across four key cosmic epochs: (1) Redshift frontiers (z>10), (2) Epoch of Reionization (710, >1000 at z~7-10, and ~10^5 >10^9Msun galaxies at z~2-7. All images and high-level science products will be published at our dedicated website.