Unveiling the small-scale web around galaxies with miniJPAS and DESI
We present the first statistical observational study detecting filaments in the immediate surroundings of galaxies, i.e. the local web of galaxies. Simulations predict that cold gas, the fuel for star formation, is channeled through filamentary structures into galaxies. Yet, direct observational evidence for this process has been limited by the challenge of mapping the cosmic web at small scales. Using miniJPAS spectro-photometric data combined with spectroscopic DESI redshifts when available, we constructed a high-density observational galaxy sample spanning 0.2 < z < 0.8. Local filaments are detected within a 3 Mpc physical radius of each galaxy with stellar mass M ★ > 10 10 M ⊙ using all nearby galaxies as tracers, combined with a probabilistic adaptation of the DisPerSE algorithm designed to overcome limitations due to photometric redshift uncertainties. Our methodology was tested and validated using mock catalogues built with random forest models applied to a simulated lightcone. Besides recovering the expected increase in galaxy connectivity (defined as the number of filaments attached to a galaxy) with stellar mass, we show that our connectivity measurements agree with 3D reference estimates from the mock galaxies. Thanks to these filament reconstructions, we explore the relation between small-scale connectivity and galaxy star formation rate, finding a mild positive trend which needs to be confirmed by follow-up studies with larger sample sizes. We propose galaxy connectivity to local filaments as a powerful and physically motivated metric of environment, offering new insights into the role of cosmic structure in galaxy evolution.
Authors
- J. S. Alcaniz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2441-1413)
- Elmo Tempel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5249-7018)
- A. Ederoclite (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3656-5524)
- L. Raul Abramo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8295-7022)
- Silvia Bonoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6381-2052)
- Daniela Galárraga-Espinosa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8808-803X)
- S. Carneiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7098-383X)
- Siddhartha Gurung-López (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9333-8470)
- L. Sodré (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3876-268X)
- Renato A. Dupke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1477-3453)
- A. Marín-Franch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9026-3933)
- C. López-Sanjuán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5743-3160)
- Carlos Hernández-Monteagudo
- D. Cristóbal-Hornillos
- J. Varela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0286-5940)
- Guinevere Kauffmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3289-4163)
- N. Benı́tez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0403-7455)
- Luisa Lucie-Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0160-8408)
- R. M. González Delgado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1058-1577)
- A. Hernán-Caballero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4237-5500)
- Valerio Marra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7773-1579)
- Keith F. Taylor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8444-6944)
- Claudia Mendes de Oliveira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7736-4297)
- H. Vázquez Ramió
- M. Moles
- Javier Cenarro
Institutions
- Ikerbasque (ES)
- Universidad de La Laguna (ES)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Universitat de València (ES)
- Estonian Academy of Sciences (EE)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Parc Científic de la Universitat de València (ES)
- Trieste Astronomical Observatory (IT)
- Tartu Observatory (EE)
- California Earthquake Authority (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (DE)
- Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (JP)
- Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón (ES)
- National Observatory (BR)
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES)
- Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe (IT)
- Instituto de Geofísica y Astronomía (CU)
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES)
- Donostia International Physics Center (ES)
- Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (BR)
- University of Tartu (EE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2025-12-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202556021
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.19
Funders
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- Eesti Teadusagentuur
- Generalitat Valenciana
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
- Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación