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scienceTuesday, June 16, 2026 at 12:51 PM
COSMOS-Web Releases 780,000-Galaxy Morphology Catalog Revealing Mass-Dependent Structural Evolution to z~6

COSMOS-Web Releases 780,000-Galaxy Morphology Catalog Revealing Mass-Dependent Structural Evolution to z~6

The COSMOS-Web morphological catalog supplies the largest uniform JWST dataset linking galaxy structure to star-formation activity up to z~6. Mass-dependent bulge growth is already evident; the public release positions the community to test coevolution scenarios with existing multi-wavelength COSMOS data.

The catalog applies uniform parametric and non-parametric fits independently in each band to the COSMOS2025 parent sample. This yields Sérsic indices, bulge-to-total ratios, and asymmetry-concentration diagnostics that trace the same galaxies from rest-UV through rest-optical wavelengths. The approach directly links structural parameters to the star-formation main sequence at 0<z<4, exposing how bulge growth tracks quenching across cosmic time.

Median n_sersic for galaxies above 10^10.5 solar masses rises from 1 at z6 to 2.5 at z2 while lower-mass systems remain disk-dominated. UV indices are systematically lower than optical values, consistent with inside-out growth and dust-obscured central star formation. These trends align with earlier HST-based results from CANDELS yet extend them by two magnitudes in depth and a factor of three in sample size.

The release enables direct cross-matching with ALMA continuum and Chandra X-ray catalogs already in COSMOS, a step the abstract does not emphasize. Such multi-wavelength overlays will test whether morphological quenching precedes or follows black-hole feedback signatures. Follow-up IFU observations with JWST or ELT will be required to confirm kinematic bulge fractions.

Next analyses will quantify the redshift-dependent scatter in the n_sersic–B/T relation and search for morphological signatures of mergers versus secular processes at fixed stellar mass.

⚡ Prediction

Kartaltepe: Median B/T for M*>10^11 galaxies at 2<z<3 will increase by >0.15 when remeasured with double-Sérsic models in public data releases by mid-2027.

Sources (2)

  • [1]
    Primary Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.14869)
  • [2]
    Supporting Source(https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.07320)