Morphology of Galaxies in JWST Fields: Initial Distribution and Evolution of Galaxy Morphology

TL;DR

This study analyzes the distribution and evolution of galaxy morphologies in JWST fields, confirming simulation predictions that low-mass galaxies are predominantly disk-like, with a transition to spheroids at higher masses across redshifts.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive observational validation of simulation-based predictions on galaxy morphology distribution using JWST data across multiple fields.

Findings

Disk galaxies dominate at all redshifts and masses.

Spheroidal galaxies become prevalent at high masses.

Morphological trends agree with cosmological simulations.

Abstract

A recent study from the Horizon Run (HR5) cosmological simulation has predicted that galaxies with ${\rm log}~M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}\lesssim 10$ in the cosmic morning ($10\gtrsim z\gtrsim 4$) dominantly have disk-like morphology in the $\Lambda$CDM universe, which is driven by the tidal torque in the initial matter fluctuations. For a direct comparison with observation, we identify a total of about $19,000$ James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) galaxies with ${\rm log}~M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}>9$ at $z=0.6-8.0$ utilizing deep JWST/NIRCam images of publicly released fields, including NEP-TDF, NGDEEP, CEERS, COSMOS, UDS, and SMACS J0723$-$7327. We estimate their stellar masses and photometric redshifts with the redshift dispersion of $\sigma_{\rm NMAD}=0.009$ and outlier fraction of only about $6\%$. We classify galaxies into three morphological types, `disks', `spheroids', and `irregulars', applying the same criteria used in the HR5 study. The morphological distribution of the JWST galaxies shows that disk galaxies account for $60-70\%$ at all redshift ranges. However, in the high-mass regime (${\rm log}~M_{\ast}/M_{\odot}\gtrsim11$), spheroidal morphology becomes the dominant type. This implies that mass growth of galaxies is accompanied with morphological transition from disks to spheroids. The fraction of irregulars is about 20\% or less at all mass and redshifts. All the trends in the morphology distribution are consistently found in the six JWST fields. These results are in close agreement with the results from the HR5 simulation, particularly confirming the prevalence of disk galaxies at small masses in the cosmic morning and noon.