EPOCHS VI: The Size and Shape Evolution of Galaxies since z ~ 8 with JWST Observations

Abstract

We present the results of a size and structural analysis of 1395 galaxies at $0.5\le z\lesssim 8$ with stellar masses $\log \left(M_{\ast }/M_{\odot }\right)$ $>$ 9.5 within the JWST Public CEERS field that overlaps with the HST CANDELS EGS observations. We use GALFIT to fit single Sérsic models to the rest-frame optical profile of our galaxies, which is a mass-selected sample complete to our redshift and mass limit. Our primary result is that at fixed rest-frame wavelength and stellar mass, galaxies get progressively smaller, evolving as $\sim (1+z{)}^{-0.71\pm 0.19}$ up to $z\sim 8$. We discover that the vast majority of massive galaxies at high redshifts have low Sérsic indices, thus do not contain steep, concentrated light profiles. Additionally, we explore the evolution of the size-stellar mass relationship, finding a correlation such that more massive systems are larger up to $z\sim 3$. This relationship breaks down at $z>3$, where we find that galaxies are of similar sizes, regardless of their star formation rates and Sérsic index, varying little with mass. We show that galaxies are more compact at redder wavelengths, independent of sSFR or stellar mass up to $z\sim 3$. We demonstrate the size evolution of galaxies continues up to $z\sim 8$, showing that the process or causes for this evolution is active at early times. We discuss these results in terms of ideas behind galaxy formation and evolution at early epochs, such as their importance in tracing processes driving size evolution, including minor mergers and AGN activity.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (40)

• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• EAZY: A Fast, Public Photometric Redshift Code
• 3D-HST+CANDELS: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Distribution since $z=3$
• A Comprehensive Study on Galaxies at z~9-16 Found in the Early JWST Data: UV Luminosity Functions and Cosmic Star-Formation History at the Pre-Reionization Epoch
• CEERS Key Paper I: An Early Look into the First 500 Myr of Galaxy Formation with JWST
• The Evolution of Galaxy Structure over Cosmic Time
• Two Remarkably Luminous Galaxy Candidates at $z\approx 10-12$ Revealed by JWST
• The evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity function at redshifts z ~ 8-15 from deep JWST and ground-based near-infrared imaging
• Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging
• Early results from GLASS-JWST. III: Galaxy candidates at z$\sim$9-15
• Evidence for Mature Bulges and an Inside-out Quenching Phase 3 Billion Years After the Big Bang
• The mass evolution of the first galaxies: stellar mass functions and star formation rates at $4<z<7$ in the CANDELS GOODS-South field
• Stellar masses from the CANDELS survey: the GOODS-South and UDS fields
• Imfit: A Fast, Flexible New Program for Astronomical Image Fitting
• Discovery and properties of ultra-high redshift galaxies ($9<z<12$) in the JWST ERO SMACS 0723 Field
• CEERS Epoch 1 NIRCam Imaging: Reduction Methods and Simulations Enabling Early JWST Science Results
• Revealing Galaxy Candidates out to $z\sim 16$ with JWST Observations of the Lensing Cluster SMACS0723
• Observational constraints on the merger history of galaxies since $z\approx 6$: Probabilistic galaxy pair counts in the CANDELS fields
• JADES Imaging of GN-z11: Revealing the Morphology and Environment of a Luminous Galaxy 430 Myr After the Big Bang
• Panic! At the Disks: First Rest-frame Optical Observations of Galaxy Structure at $z>3$ with JWST in the SMACS 0723 Field
• First Batch of Candidate Galaxies at Redshifts 11 to 20 Revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope Early Release Observations
• Galaxy Merger Rates up to z $\sim$ 3 using a Bayesian Deep Learning Model $-$ A Major-Merger classifier using IllustrisTNG Simulation data
• Photometric redshifts for the next generation of deep radio continuum surveys - I: Template fitting
• Morphologies of Galaxies at $z\gtrsim 9$ Uncovered by JWST/NIRCam Imaging: Cosmic Size Evolution and an Identification of an Extremely Compact Bright Galaxy at $z\sim 12$
• Morpheus Reveals Distant Disk Galaxy Morphologies with JWST: The First AI/ML Analysis of JWST Images
• The SINS/zC-SINF Survey of z~2 Galaxy Kinematics: Rest-frame Morphology, Structure, and Colors from Near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope Imaging
• Rest-frame near-infrared sizes of galaxies at cosmic noon: objects in JWST's mirror are smaller than they appeared
• Early results from GLASS-JWST. V: the first rest-frame optical size-luminosity relation of galaxies at $z>7$
• A Large Population of Faint 8<z<16 Galaxies Found in the First JWST NIRCam Observations of the NGDEEP Survey
• Expectations of the size evolution of massive galaxies at $3\le z\le 6$ from the TNG50 simulation: the CEERS/JWST view
• Early results from GLASS-JWST XIV: A first morphological atlas of the 1 < z < 5 Universe in the rest-frame optical
• The Formation of Bulges, Discs and Two Component Galaxies in the CANDELS Survey at z < 3
• The structural and size evolution of star-forming galaxies over the last 11 Gyrs
• First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES) IV: The size evolution of galaxies at $z\ge 5$
• CLEAR: The Evolution of Spatially Resolved Star Formation in Galaxies between $0.5\lesssim z\lesssim 1.7$ using H$\alpha$ Emission Line Maps
• Bulgeless disks, dark galaxies, inverted color gradients, and other expected phenomena at higher z. The chromatic surface brightness modulation (CMOD) effect
• Galaxy Morphology from $z\sim 6$ through the eyes of JWST
• The JWST Hubble Sequence: The Rest-Frame Optical Evolution of Galaxy Structure at $1.5<z<8$
• Size - Stellar Mass Relation and Morphology of Quiescent Galaxies at $z\ge 3$ in Public $JWST$ Fields
• FLARES IX: The Physical Mechanisms Driving Compact Galaxy Formation and Evolution

Cited by in corpus (53)

• RUBIES: a complete census of the bright and red distant Universe with JWST/NIRSpec
• EPOCHS IV: SED Modelling Assumptions and their impact on the Stellar Mass Function at 6.5 < z < 13.5 using PEARLS and public JWST observations
• Galaxy Mergers in the Epoch of Reionization I: A JWST Study of Pair Fractions, Merger Rates, and Stellar Mass Accretion Rates at $z=4.5-11.5$
• Galaxy Size and Mass Build-up in the First 2 Gyrs of Cosmic History from Multi-Wavelength JWST NIRCam Imaging
• The Size-Mass relation at Rest-Frame $1.5\mu$m from JWST/NIRCam in the COSMOS-WEB and PRIMER-COSMOS fields
• Testing CCC+TL Cosmology with Observed BAO Features
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• Extreme Ionizing Properties of Metal-Poor, Muv ~ -12 Star Complex in the first Gyr
• Hitting the slopes: A spectroscopic view of UV continuum slopes of galaxies reveals a reddening at z > 9.5
• Unveiling Luminous Ly$\alpha$ Emitters at $z\approx 6$ through JWST/NIRCam Imaging in the COSMOS Field
• DAWN JWST Archive: Morphology from profile fitting of over 340 000 galaxies in major fields
• PANORAMIC: Discovery of an Ultra-Massive Grand-Design Spiral Galaxy at $z\sim 5.2$
• The evolutionary pathways of disk galaxies with different sizes
• Clumpy star formation and an obscured nuclear starburst in the luminous dusty z=4 galaxy GN20 seen by MIRI/JWST
• Linking Mg II and [O II] spatial distribution to ionizing photon escape in confirmed LyC leakers and non-leakers
• A Giant Disk Galaxy Two Billion Years After The Big Bang
• Dynamical modelling and origin of gas turbulence in z $\sim$ 4.5 galaxies
• The THESAN-ZOOM project: central starbursts and inside-out quenching govern galaxy sizes in the early Universe
• GA-NIFS: The highly overdense system BR1202-0725 at z $\sim$ 4.7. A double AGN with fast outflows plus eight companion galaxies
• Behind the Spotlight: A systematic assessment of outshining using NIRCam medium-bands in the JADES Origins Field
• Less Wound and More Asymmetric: JWST Confirms the Evolution of Spiral Structure in Galaxies at $z\lesssim 3$
• JWST/MIRI unveils the stellar component of the GN20 dusty galaxy overdensity at $z$=4.05
• The z = 9.625 Cosmic Gems Galaxy was a "Compact Blue Monster" Propelled by Massive Star Clusters
• Probing galaxy evolution from $z=0$ to $z\simeq 10$ through galaxy scaling relations in three L-Galaxies flavours
• Galaxy Mergers in the Epoch of Reionization II: Major Merger-Triggered Star Formation and AGN Activities at $z=$ 4.5-8.5
• HELLO project: High-$z$ Evolution of Large and Luminous Objects
• Investigating the Growth of Little Red Dot Descendants at z<4 with the JWST
• Cosmic Stillness: High Quiescent Galaxy Fractions Across Upper Mass Scales in the Early Universe to z = 7 with JWST
• Identification of Intermediate-mass Black Hole Candidates Among a Sample of Sd Galaxies
• Flashlights: Prospects for constraining the Initial Mass Function around cosmic noon with caustic-crossing events
• Beyond the stars: Linking H$\alpha$ sizes, kinematics, and star formation in galaxies at $z\approx 4-6$ with JWST grism surveys and $\text{geko}$
• A Morphology Catalog of Galaxies in CEERS: Evolution in the Size and Color Gradients of Galaxies Since Cosmic Dawn
• First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES) XVI: Size Evolution of Massive Dusty Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn from UV to IR
• Self-Similar Buildup and Inside-Out Growth: Tracing the Evolution of Intermediate to High-Mass Star-Forming Galaxies Since $z=2$
• Constraints on dynamically-formed massive black holes in Little Red Dots from X-ray non-detections
• The JWST Emission Line Survey (JELS): The sizes and merger fraction of star-forming galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization
• Evolution of Size, Mass, and Density of Galaxies Since Cosmic Dawn
• JWST reveals a supernova following a gamma-ray burst at z $\simeq$ 7.3
• Ultra High-Redshift or Closer-by, Dust-Obscured Galaxies? Deciphering the Nature of Faint, Previously Missed F200W-Dropouts in CEERS
• New analysis of SNeIa Pantheon Catalog: Variable speed of light as an alternative to dark energy
• A Bending in the Size-mass Relation of Star-forming Galaxies across $0.5<z<6.0$ at a Critical Stellar Mass of $10^{10}{M}_{\odot }$ Revealed by JWST
• The Cliff: A Metal-Poor Little Red Dot Hosting an Overmassive Black Hole at $z=3.55$
• Tidal disruption event rates across cosmic time: forecasts for LSST, Roman, and JWST and their constraints on the supermassive black hole mass function
• Cosmological observational tests in the JWST Era. I: angular size - redshift
• The Parallel Ionizing Emissivity Survey (PIE). I. Survey design and selection of candidate Lyman Continuum leakers at 3.1<z<3.5
• Everything Every Band All at Once I: A Global Morphology Catalog in Abell 2744 based on UNCOVER/MegaScience
• Size-Mass Relation Shows Its Colours: Contrasting Physical Imprints of Galaxy Evolution in Rest-Frame UV and Optical
• GalSBI: Phenomenological galaxy population model for cosmology using simulation-based inference
• Ram-pressure stripping caught in action in a young cluster at $z=2.51$
• Redshift Duality with Pantheon+SH0ES in a Planck-anchored Flat $\Lambda$CDM Framework: Implications for Hubble Tension and Observational Inference
• Euclid: Discovery of bright $z\simeq 7$ Lyman-break galaxies in UltraVISTA and Euclid COSMOS
• Morpho-kinematic of galaxies at cosmic noon
• The multiwavelength structure of post-starburst galaxies at 0.5 < z < 3 with JWST PRIMER: compact morphologies and residual disturbances