The Structure and Morphology of Galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization Revealed by JWST

TL;DR

This study uses JWST data to analyze the structure and morphology of 347 galaxies during the epoch of reionization, revealing insights into their sizes, shapes, and the prevalence of disk-like features at high redshifts.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed morphological analysis of galaxies at $4<z<9.5$ using JWST, including robust uncertainty estimates and insights into galaxy sizes and disk fractions during reionization.

Findings

Approximately 45% of galaxies show disk-like features.

Galaxy sizes decrease with increasing redshift, from 0.91 to 0.69 kpc.

No significant evolution in galaxy structure parameters across the studied redshift range.

Abstract

We analyze 347 galaxies at redshift $4<z<9.5$ using JWST observations from the CEERS program by fitting a two-dimensional parametric model simultaneously to the seven-filter NIRCam images to measure the overall structural parameters and quantify the global properties of the galaxies in the rest-frame optical band. Particular attention is devoted to deriving robust uncertainties that include, among other factors, the influence of cosmological surface brightness dimming and resolution effects. Using the global S\'ersic index ($n < 1.5$) and observed axial ratio ($q < 0.6$) as a guide, we place a conservative lower limit of $\sim 45\%$ on the incidence of galactic disks. Galaxies follow a relation between rest-frame optical luminosity and effective radius in the redshift range $4<z<9.5$, as well as separately over the intervals $4 < z < 5$ and $5 \leq z < 9.5$, with a very similar slope but a marginally lower zero point in the higher redshift bin ($R_e = 0.69 \pm 0.05$ kpc) compared to the lower redshift bin ($R_e = 0.91 \pm 0.04$ kpc). Within the limitations of the current sample size, we find no significant redshift evolution of $n$ or $R_e$ at these early epochs.