Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
189,105 studies31 sourcesUpdated 5 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

pop-cosmos : Galaxy size evolution across structural and star-formation classifications in COSMOS-Web

  • Madalina N Tudorache1
  • Hiranya V Peiris1,2,3
  • Stephen Thorp1,3
  • Sinan Deger1
  • Daniel J Mortlock4,5
  • Gurjeet Jagwani1,6
  • Anik Halder1
  • Boris Leistedt4
  • Benedict Van den Bussche1
  • Joel Leja7,8,9
9 affiliations
  1. 1Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA ,
  2. 2University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, , JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE ,
  3. 3Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Centre The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, , SE 106 91 Stockholm ,
  4. 4Astrophysics Group, Imperial College London , Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ ,
  5. 5Imperial College London Department of Mathematics, , London, SW7 2AZ ,
  6. 6Research Computing Services, University of Cambridge , Roger Needham Building, 7 JJ Thomson Ave, Cambridge CB3 0RB ,
  7. 7The Pennsylvania State University, University Park Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, , PA 16802 ,
  8. 8Institute for Computational & Data Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802 ,
  9. 9Institute for Gravitation & the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802 ,
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Galaxy sizes are correlated with stellar mass and redshift, as characterised by size scaling relations. The inferred forms of these scaling relations are sensitive to how galaxies are classified – either by their star formation activity (e.g. specific star-formation rate, sSFR) or by their morphology markers (e.g. bulge-to-total ratio, Sérsic index). We combine stellar mass and sSFR estimates from pop-cosmos (a generative model trained on COSMOS2020 Spitzer IRAC Ch. 1 < 26) with size and morphology measurements from COSMOS-Web, obtaining 99 369 galaxies. By investigating the size–mass and the size–redshift relations, we show that: (i) the sSFR/morphology splits give quantitatively different slopes, intercepts, and intrinsic scatter behaviour; (ii) intrinsic scatter depends on structural morphology but not on sSFR, which constrains the galaxy–halo connection; (iii) the quiescent and bulge-dominated size–mass relations both show double-power law breaks, but at different pivot masses, indicating that quenching and structural transformation occur on different time-scales; (iv) the morphology-dependent trends are only recoverable from space-based imaging. Further, the quiescent pivot mass M* ~ 1010.7 M⊙ coincides with the mass scale at which the active galactic nuclei (AGN, infrared torus) bolometric luminosity fraction peaks in transitioning galaxies, while the bulge-dominated pivot mass M* ~ 1011.1 M⊙ coincides with the halo mass at which AGN-driven baryonic redistribution peaks, which may trace the interval over which AGN feedback ramps from quenching onset to structural transformation.

Related

  1. AGN Host Galaxies in COSMOS-Web: Linking Structural Evolution and Star Formation Quenching up to z=5
    Xiao Han, Lilan Yang, T. Kelly +20
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textGalaxiesarXiv
  2. COSMOS-Web: From early star-formation enhancement to late suppression in galaxy groups
    R. C. Arango-Toro, C. Laigle, J. Lewis +29
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textGalaxiesarXiv
  3. X-ray Characterization of Galaxy Groups and Hickson Groups in COSMOS-Web to z~3.8 I. X-ray Luminosity Function Evolution
    Ghassem Gozaliasl, Günther Hasinger, Gavin Leroy +35
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textGalaxiesarXiv
  4. Characterising the formation and evolution of S0-galaxies (CaFES-0): Their formation pathways around galaxy clusters
    Diego Pallero, Yara L. Jaffé, Amelia Fraser-McKelvie +7
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsGalaxiesCrossref
  5. From short-lived to long-lived clouds: Impact of star formation models on giant molecular cloud evolution in simulations of an NGC 300-like galaxy
    Daniel Han, Taysun Kimm, Cheonsu Kang +3
    Astronomy & AstrophysicsPeer-reviewedPublisher termsSolar & stellar physicsCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{tudorache2026popcosmos,
  title = {{pop-cosmos : Galaxy size evolution across structural and star-formation classifications in COSMOS-Web}},
  author = {Madalina N Tudorache and Hiranya V Peiris and Stephen Thorp and Sinan Deger and Daniel J Mortlock and Gurjeet Jagwani and Anik Halder and Boris Leistedt and Benedict Van den Bussche and Joel Leja},
  journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag2074},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2074/9005624},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - pop-cosmos : Galaxy size evolution across structural and star-formation classifications in COSMOS-Web
AU  - Madalina N Tudorache
AU  - Hiranya V Peiris
AU  - Stephen Thorp
AU  - Sinan Deger
AU  - Daniel J Mortlock
AU  - Gurjeet Jagwani
AU  - Anik Halder
AU  - Boris Leistedt
AU  - Benedict Van den Bussche
AU  - Joel Leja
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO  - 10.1093/mnras/stag2074
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2074/9005624
AB  - Galaxy sizes are correlated with stellar mass and redshift, as characterised by size scaling relations. The inferred forms of these scaling relations are sensitive to how galaxies are classified – either by their star formation activity (e.g. specific star-formation rate, sSFR) or by their morphology markers (e.g. bulge-to-total ratio, Sérsic index). We combine stellar mass and sSFR estimates from pop-cosmos (a generative model trained on COSMOS2020 Spitzer IRAC Ch. 1 < 26) with size and morphology measurements from COSMOS-Web, obtaining 99 369 galaxies. By investigating the size–mass and the size–redshift relations, we show that: (i) the sSFR/morphology splits give quantitatively different slopes, intercepts, and intrinsic scatter behaviour; (ii) intrinsic scatter depends on structural morphology but not on sSFR, which constrains the galaxy–halo connection; (iii) the quiescent and bulge-dominated size–mass relations both show double-power law breaks, but at different pivot masses, indicating that quenching and structural transformation occur on different time-scales; (iv) the morphology-dependent trends are only recoverable from space-based imaging. Further, the quiescent pivot mass M* ~ 1010.7 M⊙ coincides with the mass scale at which the active galactic nuclei (AGN, infrared torus) bolometric luminosity fraction peaks in transitioning galaxies, while the bulge-dominated pivot mass M* ~ 1011.1 M⊙ coincides with the halo mass at which AGN-driven baryonic redistribution peaks, which may trace the interval over which AGN feedback ramps from quenching onset to structural transformation.
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
ER  -