A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

Abstract The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe’s history. This star-forming galaxy with a stellar mass of 400 million solar masses consists of three components: a highly compact core with a half-light radius of less than 100 pc, an actively star-forming disc with a radius of about 400 pc and a star-forming clump, all of which show distinctive star-formation histories. The central stellar mass density of this galaxy is within a factor of 2 of the most massive present-day ellipticals, while being globally 1,000 times less massive. The radial profile of the specific star-formation rate is rising towards the outskirts. This evidence suggests a detection of the inside-out growth of a galaxy as a proto-bulge and a star-forming disc in the epoch of reionization.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Astronomy
Published
2024-10-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02384-8
Citations
35
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.60

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article

A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

Nimisha Kumari, Eiichi Egami, Francesco D’Eugenio, A. Lola Danhaive et al.
35 citations
Nature Astronomy
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
11.60
article

A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

Nimisha Kumari, Eiichi Egami, Francesco D’Eugenio, A. Lola Danhaive, Joris Witstok, Zhiyuan Ji, Santiago Arribas, Jakob M. Helton, Fengwu Sun, R. Maiolino, Benjamin D. Johnson, Stefano Carniani, Jacopo Chevallard, Sandro Tacchella, S. Charlot, Mirko Curti, Christina C. Williams, Tobias J. Looser, Christa DeCoursey, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Hannah Übler, Stacey Alberts, Katherine A. Suess, Zuyi Chen, Jan Scholtz, Erica J. Nelson, Emma Curtis-Lake, Christopher N. A. Willmer, William Baker, Kristan Boyett, Andrew J. Bunker, Brant E. Robertson, Dávid Puskás, Marcia Rieke, Michael V. Maseda, Ryan Endsley, Lester Sandles, Anna de Graaff, Ryan Hausen
article en
35 citations

Abstract

Abstract The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe’s history. This star-forming galaxy with a stellar mass of 400 million solar masses consists of three components: a highly compact core with a half-light radius of less than 100 pc, an actively star-forming disc with a radius of about 400 pc and a star-forming clump, all of which show distinctive star-formation histories. The central stellar mass density of this galaxy is within a factor of 2 of the most massive present-day ellipticals, while being globally 1,000 times less massive. The radial profile of the specific star-formation rate is rising towards the outskirts. This evidence suggests a detection of the inside-out growth of a galaxy as a proto-bulge and a star-forming disc in the epoch of reionization.

Nature AstronomyVol. 9(1)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Planetary Science Institute (US), European Southern Observatory (DE), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Arizona (US), University of Hertfordshire (GB), Johns Hopkins University (US), Scuola Normale Superiore (IT), The University of Melbourne (AU), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), University of Cambridge (GB), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), University of Oxford (GB), ASTRO-3D (AU), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), NSF NOIRLab (US), ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (AU), University College London (GB), The University of Texas at Austin (US), Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, University of California, Santa Cruz, Johns Hopkins University, European Commission, Liverpool John Moores University, Isaac Newton Trust, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Fondation Merac, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
11.60
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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