A 13 Billion Year View of Galaxy Growth: Metallicity Gradient Evolution from the Local Universe to <i>z</i> = 9 with JWST and Archival Surveys

Abstract Galaxy gas-phase metallicity gradients have been extensively studied over the past four decades, both in the local and in the high-redshift Universe, as they trace the baryon cycle and growth of galaxies. With the unprecedented spatial resolution and sensitivity of JWST, it is now possible to measure metallicity and its radial gradients out to redshifts as high as z = 9. Here, we present a sample of 455 spectroscopically confirmed galaxies from redshifts 1.7 ≲ z ≲ 9 that are spatially resolved on subkiloparsec scales by deep JWST NIRCam or NIRISS Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy. Synthesizing these new JWST observations with legacy observations from the literature, we observe that at redshift z &gt; 5, galaxy centers are more metal rich, exhibiting negative metallicity gradients of ∼−0.4 dex kpc −1 . These gradients flatten over time, reaching near zero around z ≈ 2, coinciding with the peak of the cosmic star formation rate. Beyond this point, the gradients become negative again at lower redshifts approaching z = 0. This evolution likely reflects transitions in galaxy formation modes: an inside-out growth phase dominated by intense central star formation with inefficient feedback and limited gas mixing during “cosmic dawn,” enhanced gas mixing due to feedback-driven wind and gas accretion at “cosmic noon,” and a later phase of slow evolution and reduced feedback toward the present day. These physical processes, including gas accretion and feedback, not only regulate star and galaxy formation on a cosmic scale but also shape the evolutionary pathways of individual galaxies over cosmic time.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Published
2025-09-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/adfa70
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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article

A 13 Billion Year View of Galaxy Growth: Metallicity Gradient Evolution from the Local Universe to z = 9 with JWST and Archival Surveys

Fuyan Bian, Fabian Walter, Laura Blecha, Avishai Dekel et al.
2 citations
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
2.31
article

A 13 Billion Year View of Galaxy Growth: Metallicity Gradient Evolution from the Local Universe to z = 9 with JWST and Archival Surveys

Fuyan Bian, Fabian Walter, Laura Blecha, Avishai Dekel, Fengwu Sun, Hyunsung D. Jun, Jinyi Yang, Yunjing Wu, Jaclyn B. Champagne, Siwei Zou, Feige Wang, Shiwu Zhang, Xiaohui Fan, Eduardo Bañados, Aklant K. Bhowmick, Weizhe Liu, Sarah E. I. Bosman, Zheng Cai, Xin Wang, Maxime Trebitsch, Emmet Golden-Marx, Zhaozhou Li, Ming-Yang Zhuang, Kartick C. Sarkar, Mingyu Li, Zihao Li, Huanian Zhang, Xiaojing Lin
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract Galaxy gas-phase metallicity gradients have been extensively studied over the past four decades, both in the local and in the high-redshift Universe, as they trace the baryon cycle and growth of galaxies. With the unprecedented spatial resolution and sensitivity of JWST, it is now possible to measure metallicity and its radial gradients out to redshifts as high as z = 9. Here, we present a sample of 455 spectroscopically confirmed galaxies from redshifts 1.7 ≲ z ≲ 9 that are spatially resolved on subkiloparsec scales by deep JWST NIRCam or NIRISS Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy. Synthesizing these new JWST observations with legacy observations from the literature, we observe that at redshift z &gt; 5, galaxy centers are more metal rich, exhibiting negative metallicity gradients of ∼−0.4 dex kpc −1 . These gradients flatten over time, reaching near zero around z ≈ 2, coinciding with the peak of the cosmic star formation rate. Beyond this point, the gradients become negative again at lower redshifts approaching z = 0. This evolution likely reflects transitions in galaxy formation modes: an inside-out growth phase dominated by intense central star formation with inefficient feedback and limited gas mixing during “cosmic dawn,” enhanced gas mixing due to feedback-driven wind and gas accretion at “cosmic noon,” and a later phase of slow evolution and reduced feedback toward the present day. These physical processes, including gas accretion and feedback, not only regulate star and galaxy formation on a cosmic scale but also shape the evolutionary pathways of individual galaxies over cosmic time.

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement SeriesVol. 280(2)
Raman Research Institute (IN), University of Copenhagen (DK), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Arizona (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Heidelberg University (DE), Beijing Normal University (CN), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), University of Michigan (US), University of Florida (US), Sorbonne Université (FR), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Zhejiang Lab (CN), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), European Southern Observatory (CL), Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (IT), National Astronomical Observatories (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN), University of Virginia (US), University of Chile (CL), Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (DE), Northwestern College - Iowa (US), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Swinburne University of Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Israel Science Foundation, Tsinghua University, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
2.31
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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