MIDIS: Unveiling the star formation history in massive galaxies at 1  &lt;   <i>z</i>   &lt;  4.5 with spectro-photometric analysis

Context. This paper investigates the star formation histories (SFHs) of a sample of massive galaxies ( M ⋆ ≥ 10 10 M ⊙ ) in the redshift range 1 &lt; z &lt; 4.5. Methods. We analyzed spectro-photometric data, combining broadband photometry from HST and JWST with low-resolution grism spectroscopy from JWST/NIRISS, obtained as part of the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey program. SFHs were derived through spectral energy distribution fitting using two independent codes, BAGPIPES and synthesizer , under various SFH assumptions. This approach enables a comprehensive assessment of the biases introduced by different modeling choices. Results. The inclusion of NIRISS spectroscopy, even with its low resolution, significantly improves constraints on key physical parameters, such as the mass-weighted stellar age ( t M ) and formation redshift ( z form ), by narrowing their posterior distributions. The massive galaxies in our sample exhibit rapid stellar mass assembly, forming 50% of their mass between 3 ≤ z ≤ 9. The highest inferred formation redshifts are compatible with elevated star formation efficiencies ( ϵ ) at early epochs. Nonparametric SFHs generally imply an earlier and slower mass assembly compared to parametric forms, highlighting the sensitivity of inferred formation timescales to the chosen SFH model–particularly for galaxies at z &lt; 2. We find that quiescent galaxies are, on average, older ( t M ∼ 1.1 Gyr) and assembled more rapidly at earlier times than their star-forming counterparts. These findings support the “downsizing” scenario, in which more massive and passive systems form earlier and more efficiently.

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Publication Details

Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2025-09-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202453298
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

MIDIS: Unveiling the star formation history in massive galaxies at 1  <   z   <  4.5 with spectro-photometric analysis

G. Ostlin, A. Bik, A. Eckart, A. Alonso-Herrero et al.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
article

MIDIS: Unveiling the star formation history in massive galaxies at 1  <   z   <  4.5 with spectro-photometric analysis

G. Ostlin, A. Bik, A. Eckart, A. Alonso-Herrero, K. I. Caputi, L. Boogaard, T. R. Greve, F. Walter, G. Wright, I. Jermann, Alvaro Labiano, Luca Costantin, J. Hjorth, R. A. Meyer, D. Langeroodi, Pablo G. Pérez‐González, Marianna Annunziatella, L. Colina, Edoardo Iani, J. Melinder, Pierluigi Rinaldi, M. García-Marín, J. Álvarez-Márquez, Steven Gillman, Florian Peißker, P. van der Werf
article en

Abstract

Context. This paper investigates the star formation histories (SFHs) of a sample of massive galaxies ( M ⋆ ≥ 10 10 M ⊙ ) in the redshift range 1 &lt; z &lt; 4.5. Methods. We analyzed spectro-photometric data, combining broadband photometry from HST and JWST with low-resolution grism spectroscopy from JWST/NIRISS, obtained as part of the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey program. SFHs were derived through spectral energy distribution fitting using two independent codes, BAGPIPES and synthesizer , under various SFH assumptions. This approach enables a comprehensive assessment of the biases introduced by different modeling choices. Results. The inclusion of NIRISS spectroscopy, even with its low resolution, significantly improves constraints on key physical parameters, such as the mass-weighted stellar age ( t M ) and formation redshift ( z form ), by narrowing their posterior distributions. The massive galaxies in our sample exhibit rapid stellar mass assembly, forming 50% of their mass between 3 ≤ z ≤ 9. The highest inferred formation redshifts are compatible with elevated star formation efficiencies ( ϵ ) at early epochs. Nonparametric SFHs generally imply an earlier and slower mass assembly compared to parametric forms, highlighting the sensitivity of inferred formation timescales to the chosen SFH model–particularly for galaxies at z &lt; 2. We find that quiescent galaxies are, on average, older ( t M ∼ 1.1 Gyr) and assembled more rapidly at earlier times than their star-forming counterparts. These findings support the “downsizing” scenario, in which more massive and passive systems form earlier and more efficiently.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 702
University of Geneva (CH), Leiden University (NL), University of Copenhagen (DK), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Institute of Science and Technology Austria (AT), University of Groningen (NL), University of Cologne (DE), European Space Agency (FR), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Royal Observatory (GB), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), DAWN Center for Independent Living (US), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), AlbaNova (SE), Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), University College London (GB), UK Astronomy Technology Centre (GB), Technical University of Denmark (DK)
Comunidad de Madrid, University of California Observatories
Openalex Percentile: Top 83%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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