A Massive Barred Spiral Galaxy at z = 5.102 Discovered by JWST
23 affiliations
- 1Tsinghua University
- 2Westlake University
- 3Westlake Institute for Advanced Study
- 4Center for Astrophysics ∣Harvard & Smithsonian
- 5Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics
- 6The University of Tokyo
- 7Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA)
- 8East Asian Observatory
- 9Oklahoma State University
- 10Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy
- 11Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy
- 12University of Manchester
- 13University of Geneva
- 14Universidad de Granada
- 15Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional
- 16Department of Astronomy/Steward Observatory
- 17Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik
- 18University of Cambridge
- 19Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
- 20Nagoya University
- 21Universitá degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
- 22Arizona State University
- 23Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Abstract
We report M1149-BSG-z5, a barred spiral galaxy at z = 5.102, identified in the parallel field of MACS J1149+2223 with JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope. M1149-BSG-z5 is the highest-redshift barred galaxy candidate to date. Both isophote ellipse fitting and structural modeling support a stellar bar of length ≈ 4.5 kpc, and extended spiral arms peaking at r ≈ 5.5 kpc. M1149-BSG-z5 is a massive star-forming main-sequence galaxy, with a stellar mass of 10 10.45 M ⊙ and a star formation rate of 144 M ⊙ yr ⁻¹ . A concentrated bulge is embedded in an extended disk with a global Sérsic index n = 2.37. With an effective radius of R e = 2.61 kpc measured from a stacked F277W + F356W + F444W image, M1149-BSG-z5 is larger than typical galaxies at z ∼ 5 and comparable to barred galaxies at 2 < z < 4. M1149-BSG-z5 also hosts a broad-line active galactic nucleus, with a relatively low black hole-to-stellar mass ratio of M BH / M * ∼ 10 ⁻³ . Its metal-enriched emission-line properties indicate that it is already chemically evolved. Taken together, these properties imply that M1149-BSG-z5 assembled early and is already structurally evolved. We also find that M1149-BSG-z5 resides in an overdense region with a nearby companion galaxy, suggesting interaction-driven bar formation. Its concentrated light distribution, early assembly, and location on the star-forming main sequence also suggest baryon-dominated, gas-rich conditions, where gravitational instability may further accelerate bar formation.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026massive,
title = {{A Massive Barred Spiral Galaxy at z = 5.102 Discovered by JWST}},
author = {Xiaohan Wang and Fengwu Sun and Yoshihisa Asada and Yunjing Wu and Xiaojing Lin and Shude Mao and Sijia Cai and Zheng Cai and Chian-Chou Chen and Wenlei Chen and Cheng Cheng and Christopher J. Conselice and Miroslava Dessauges-Zavadsky and Daneil Espada and Brenda L. Frye and Jean-Baptiste Jolly and Kotaro Kohno and Mingyu Li and Nicholas Martis and Hideki Umehata and Weichen Wang and Rogier A. Windhorst and Adi Zitrin},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aea414},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea414},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Massive Barred Spiral Galaxy at z = 5.102 Discovered by JWST
AU - Xiaohan Wang
AU - Fengwu Sun
AU - Yoshihisa Asada
AU - Yunjing Wu
AU - Xiaojing Lin
AU - Shude Mao
AU - Sijia Cai
AU - Zheng Cai
AU - Chian-Chou Chen
AU - Wenlei Chen
AU - Cheng Cheng
AU - Christopher J. Conselice
AU - Miroslava Dessauges-Zavadsky
AU - Daneil Espada
AU - Brenda L. Frye
AU - Jean-Baptiste Jolly
AU - Kotaro Kohno
AU - Mingyu Li
AU - Nicholas Martis
AU - Hideki Umehata
AU - Weichen Wang
AU - Rogier A. Windhorst
AU - Adi Zitrin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aea414
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea414
AB - We report M1149-BSG-z5, a barred spiral galaxy at z = 5.102, identified in the parallel field of MACS J1149+2223 with JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope. M1149-BSG-z5 is the highest-redshift barred galaxy candidate to date. Both isophote ellipse fitting and structural modeling support a stellar bar of length ≈ 4.5 kpc, and extended spiral arms peaking at r ≈ 5.5 kpc. M1149-BSG-z5 is a massive star-forming main-sequence galaxy, with a stellar mass of 10 10.45 M ⊙ and a star formation rate of 144 M ⊙ yr ⁻¹ . A concentrated bulge is embedded in an extended disk with a global Sérsic index n = 2.37. With an effective radius of R e = 2.61 kpc measured from a stacked F277W + F356W + F444W image, M1149-BSG-z5 is larger than typical galaxies at z ∼ 5 and comparable to barred galaxies at 2 < z < 4. M1149-BSG-z5 also hosts a broad-line active galactic nucleus, with a relatively low black hole-to-stellar mass ratio of M BH / M * ∼ 10 ⁻³ . Its metal-enriched emission-line properties indicate that it is already chemically evolved. Taken together, these properties imply that M1149-BSG-z5 assembled early and is already structurally evolved. We also find that M1149-BSG-z5 resides in an overdense region with a nearby companion galaxy, suggesting interaction-driven bar formation. Its concentrated light distribution, early assembly, and location on the star-forming main sequence also suggest baryon-dominated, gas-rich conditions, where gravitational instability may further accelerate bar formation.
SN - 1538-4357
SN - 0004-637X
ER -