The descendants of z ≳ 10 JWST galaxies in the COLIBRE simulations
9 affiliations
- 1Key Laboratory for Computational Astrophysics, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100012 ,
- 2Durham University Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE ,
- 3School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 ,
- 4Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden ,
- 5Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) , An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam ,
- 6Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca Dipartimento di Fisica G. Occhialini, , Piazza della Scienza, 3 I-20126 Milano MI ,
- 7Centre for Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Modelling , University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX ,
- 8E. A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics, University of Hull , Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX ,
- 9Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Leiden University , PO Box 9506, 2300 RA Leiden ,
Abstract
Recent observations with JWST have revealed a population of UV-bright galaxies at z ≳ 10. This discovery naturally raises the question: what do such early galaxies evolve into by the present day? In this work, we address this descendant question using the new-generation COLIBRE cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to trace bright galaxies selected at z = 10 and follow their descendants to the present day. Most of the high-redshift galaxies do not survive as distinct, self-bound objects to z = 0; instead, the majority are incorporated into more massive systems through merging or disruption. The surviving descendants span a broad range of present-day stellar masses, although they are most commonly intermediate- to high-mass, M⋆ ∼ 1010–1011 M⊙. They typically reside in galaxy groups and clusters, with host halo masses, M200c ∼ 1013–1014 M⊙. The large scatter in descendant stellar mass shows that present-day outcomes retain only a weak memory of the stellar mass of the high-redshift progenitor. We show that the evolution of descendant host halo masses is consistent with the forward conditional distribution predicted by extended Press–Schechter (EPS) theory, both in the median growth and in the large scatter in descendant mass. In particular, EPS confirms that massive present-day galaxies typically do not originate from the most massive objects at high redshift. A galaxy observed at z ≳ 10 therefore cannot be interpreted as the direct progenitor of a single class of z = 0 galaxies.
Related
- The atomic multiphase interstellar medium of galaxies in the COLIBRE simulations
- Atomic hydrogen in z=0 galaxies in the COLIBRE simulations
- Unveiling the population of massive quenched galaxies at z≥2 in the COLIBRE simulations - II. The role of AGN feedback and environment on their emergence
- Galaxy luminosity functions from far-UV to submillimetre at z=0 in the COLIBRE simulations
- Galactic Morpholography: Linking present-day galaxy compactness to assembly history and relic formation in the COLIBRE simulations
BibTeX
@article{zhao2026descendants,
title = {{The descendants of z ≳ 10 JWST galaxies in the COLIBRE simulations}},
author = {Xu Zhao and Carlos S Frenk and Andrew Pontzen and Kyle A Oman and Evgenii Chaikin and Isabel Santos-Santos and Shengdong Lu and Joop Schaye and Alejandro Benítez-Llambay and Filip Huško and Alexander J Richings and Matthieu Schaller},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag2039},
url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2039/8997912},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The descendants of z ≳ 10 JWST galaxies in the COLIBRE simulations
AU - Xu Zhao
AU - Carlos S Frenk
AU - Andrew Pontzen
AU - Kyle A Oman
AU - Evgenii Chaikin
AU - Isabel Santos-Santos
AU - Shengdong Lu
AU - Joop Schaye
AU - Alejandro Benítez-Llambay
AU - Filip Huško
AU - Alexander J Richings
AU - Matthieu Schaller
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stag2039
UR - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2039/8997912
AB - Recent observations with JWST have revealed a population of UV-bright galaxies at z ≳ 10. This discovery naturally raises the question: what do such early galaxies evolve into by the present day? In this work, we address this descendant question using the new-generation COLIBRE cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to trace bright galaxies selected at z = 10 and follow their descendants to the present day. Most of the high-redshift galaxies do not survive as distinct, self-bound objects to z = 0; instead, the majority are incorporated into more massive systems through merging or disruption. The surviving descendants span a broad range of present-day stellar masses, although they are most commonly intermediate- to high-mass, M⋆ ∼ 1010–1011 M⊙. They typically reside in galaxy groups and clusters, with host halo masses, M200c ∼ 1013–1014 M⊙. The large scatter in descendant stellar mass shows that present-day outcomes retain only a weak memory of the stellar mass of the high-redshift progenitor. We show that the evolution of descendant host halo masses is consistent with the forward conditional distribution predicted by extended Press–Schechter (EPS) theory, both in the median growth and in the large scatter in descendant mass. In particular, EPS confirms that massive present-day galaxies typically do not originate from the most massive objects at high redshift. A galaxy observed at z ≳ 10 therefore cannot be interpreted as the direct progenitor of a single class of z = 0 galaxies.
SN - 0035-8711
SN - 1365-2966
ER -