The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
Morpheus Reveals Distant Disk Galaxy Morphologies with JWST: The First AI/ML Analysis of JWST Images
- Brant E. Robertson,
- Sandro Tacchella,
- Benjamin D. Johnson,
- Ryan Hausen,
- Adebusola B. Alabi,
- Kristan Boyett,
- Andrew J. Bunker,
- Stefano Carniani,
- Eiichi Egami,
- Daniel J. Eisenstein,
- Kevin N. Hainline,
- Jakob M. Helton,
- Zhiyuan Ji,
- Nimisha Kumari,
- Jianwei Lyu,
- Roberto Maiolino,
- Erica J. Nelson,
- Marcia J. Rieke,
- Irene Shivaei,
- Fengwu Sun,
- Hannah Übler,
- Christina C. Williams,
- Christopher N. A. Willmer,
- Joris Witstok
Affiliations
- Brant E. Robertson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Sandro Tacchella
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
- Benjamin D. Johnson
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Ryan Hausen
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Adebusola B. Alabi
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Kristan Boyett
- ORCiD
- School of Physics, University of Melbourne , Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
- Andrew J. Bunker
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
- Stefano Carniani
- ORCiD
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
- Eiichi Egami
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Daniel J. Eisenstein
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Kevin N. Hainline
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Jakob M. Helton
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Zhiyuan Ji
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- Nimisha Kumari
- ORCiD
- AURA for the European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Jianwei Lyu
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Roberto Maiolino
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
- Erica J. Nelson
- ORCiD
- Department for Astrophysical and Planetary Science, University of Colorado , Boulder, CO 80309, USA
- Marcia J. Rieke
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Irene Shivaei
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Fengwu Sun
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Hannah Übler
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
- Christina C. Williams
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Christopher N. A. Willmer
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Joris Witstok
- ORCiD
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK; Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca086
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 942,
no. 2
p. L42
Abstract
The dramatic first images with JWST demonstrated its power to provide unprecedented spatial detail for galaxies in the high-redshift universe. Here, we leverage the resolution and depth of the JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey data in the Extended Groth Strip to perform pixel-level morphological classifications of galaxies in JWST F150W imaging using the Morpheus deep-learning framework for astronomical image analysis. By cross-referencing with existing photometric redshift catalogs from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) CANDELS survey, we show that JWST images indicate the emergence of disk morphologies before z ∼ 2 and with candidates appearing as early as z ∼ 5. By modeling the light profile of each object and accounting for the JWST point-spread function, we find the high-redshift disk candidates have exponential surface brightness profiles with an average Sérsic index 〈 n 〉 = 1.04 and >90% displaying “disky” profiles ( n < 2). Comparing with prior Morpheus classifications in CANDELS we find that a plurality of JWST disk galaxy candidates were previously classified as compact based on the shallower HST imagery, indicating that the improved optical quality and depth of the JWST helps to reveal disk morphologies that were hiding in the noise. We discuss the implications of these early disk candidates on theories for cosmological disk galaxy formation.
Keywords
