Rest-Frame Near-Infrared Radial Light Profiles up to z=3 from JWST/NIRCam: Wavelength Dependence of the Sérsic Index

Abstract

We examine the wavelength dependence of radial light profiles based on Sérsic index $n$ measurements of 1067 galaxies with M${}_{\ast }\ge$ 10${}^{9.5}$M${}_{\odot }$ and in the redshift range $0.5<z<3$. The sample and rest-frame optical light profiles are drawn from CANDELS$+$3D-HST; rest-frame near-infrared light profiles are inferred from CEERS JWST/NIRCam imaging. $n$ shows only weak dependence on wavelength, regardless of redshift, galaxy mass and type: on average, star-forming galaxies have $n=1-1.5$ and quiescent galaxies have $n=3-4$ in the rest-frame optical and near-infrared. The strong correlation at all wavelengths between $n$ and star-formation activity implies a physical connection between the radial stellar mass profile and star-formation activity. The main caveat is that the current sample is too small to discern trends for the most massive galaxies (M${}_{\ast }>10^{11}{M}_{\odot }$).

15 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome

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