A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

William M. Baker; Sandro Tacchella; Benjamin D. Johnson; Erica Nelson; Katherine A. Suess; Francesco D’Eugenio; Mirko Curti; Anna de Graaff; Zhiyuan Ji; Roberto Maiolino; Brant Robertson; Jan Scholtz; Stacey Alberts; Santiago Arribas; Kristan Boyett; Andrew J. Bunker; Stefano Carniani; Stephane Charlot; Zuyi Chen; Jacopo Chevallard; Emma Curtis-Lake; A. Lola Danhaive; Christa DeCoursey; Eiichi Egami; Daniel J. Eisenstein; Ryan Endsley; Ryan Hausen; Jakob M. Helton; Nimisha Kumari; Tobias J. Looser; Michael V. Maseda; Dávid Puskás; Marcia Rieke; Lester Sandles; Fengwu Sun; Hannah Übler; Christina C. Williams; Christopher N.A. Willmer; Joris Witstok

doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02384-8

A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

William M. Baker, Sandro Tacchella, Benjamin D. Johnson, Erica Nelson, Katherine A. Suess, Francesco D’Eugenio, Mirko Curti, Anna de Graaff, Zhiyuan Ji, Roberto Maiolino, Brant Robertson, Jan Scholtz, Stacey Alberts, Santiago Arribas, Kristan Boyett, Andrew J. Bunker, Stefano Carniani, Stephane Charlot, Zuyi Chen, Jacopo ChevallardEmma Curtis-Lake, A. Lola Danhaive, Christa DeCoursey, Eiichi Egami, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Ryan Endsley, Ryan Hausen, Jakob M. Helton, Nimisha Kumari, Tobias J. Looser, Michael V. Maseda, Dávid Puskás, Marcia Rieke, Lester Sandles, Fengwu Sun, Hannah Übler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N.A. Willmer, Joris Witstok

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Abstract

The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe’s history. This star-forming galaxy with a stellar mass of 400 million solar masses consists of three components: a highly compact core with a half-light radius of less than 100 pc, an actively star-forming disc with a radius of about 400 pc and a star-forming clump, all of which show distinctive star-formation histories. The central stellar mass density of this galaxy is within a factor of 2 of the most massive present-day ellipticals, while being globally 1,000 times less massive. The radial profile of the specific star-formation rate is rising towards the outskirts. This evidence suggests a detection of the inside-out growth of a galaxy as a proto-bulge and a star-forming disc in the epoch of reionization.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	141-154
Number of pages	14
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02384-8
State	Published - Jan 2025

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Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Baker, W. M., Tacchella, S., Johnson, B. D., Nelson, E., Suess, K. A., D’Eugenio, F., Curti, M., de Graaff, A., Ji, Z., Maiolino, R., Robertson, B., Scholtz, J., Alberts, S., Arribas, S., Boyett, K., Bunker, A. J., Carniani, S., Charlot, S., Chen, Z., ... Witstok, J. (2025). A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe. Nature Astronomy, 9(1), 141-154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02384-8

Baker, WM, Tacchella, S, Johnson, BD, Nelson, E, Suess, KA, D’Eugenio, F, Curti, M, de Graaff, A, Ji, Z, Maiolino, R, Robertson, B, Scholtz, J, Alberts, S, Arribas, S, Boyett, K, Bunker, AJ, Carniani, S, Charlot, S, Chen, Z, Chevallard, J, Curtis-Lake, E, Danhaive, AL, DeCoursey, C, Egami, E, Eisenstein, DJ, Endsley, R, Hausen, R, Helton, JM, Kumari, N, Looser, TJ, Maseda, MV, Puskás, D, Rieke, M, Sandles, L, Sun, F, Übler, H, Williams, CC , Willmer, CNA & Witstok, J 2025, 'A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe', Nature Astronomy, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 141-154. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02384-8

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title = "A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe",

abstract = "The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe{\textquoteright}s history. This star-forming galaxy with a stellar mass of 400 million solar masses consists of three components: a highly compact core with a half-light radius of less than 100 pc, an actively star-forming disc with a radius of about 400 pc and a star-forming clump, all of which show distinctive star-formation histories. The central stellar mass density of this galaxy is within a factor of 2 of the most massive present-day ellipticals, while being globally 1,000 times less massive. The radial profile of the specific star-formation rate is rising towards the outskirts. This evidence suggests a detection of the inside-out growth of a galaxy as a proto-bulge and a star-forming disc in the epoch of reionization.",

author = "Baker, {William M.} and Sandro Tacchella and Johnson, {Benjamin D.} and Erica Nelson and Suess, {Katherine A.} and Francesco D{\textquoteright}Eugenio and Mirko Curti and {de Graaff}, Anna and Zhiyuan Ji and Roberto Maiolino and Brant Robertson and Jan Scholtz and Stacey Alberts and Santiago Arribas and Kristan Boyett and Bunker, {Andrew J.} and Stefano Carniani and Stephane Charlot and Zuyi Chen and Jacopo Chevallard and Emma Curtis-Lake and Danhaive, {A. Lola} and Christa DeCoursey and Eiichi Egami and Eisenstein, {Daniel J.} and Ryan Endsley and Ryan Hausen and Helton, {Jakob M.} and Nimisha Kumari and Looser, {Tobias J.} and Maseda, {Michael V.} and D{\'a}vid Pusk{\'a}s and Marcia Rieke and Lester Sandles and Fengwu Sun and Hannah {\"U}bler and Williams, {Christina C.} and Willmer, {Christopher N.A.} and Joris Witstok",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

year = "2025",

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doi = "10.1038/s41550-024-02384-8",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

AU - Baker, William M.

AU - Tacchella, Sandro

AU - Johnson, Benjamin D.

AU - Nelson, Erica

AU - Suess, Katherine A.

AU - D’Eugenio, Francesco

AU - Curti, Mirko

AU - de Graaff, Anna

AU - Ji, Zhiyuan

AU - Maiolino, Roberto

AU - Robertson, Brant

AU - Scholtz, Jan

AU - Alberts, Stacey

AU - Arribas, Santiago

AU - Boyett, Kristan

AU - Bunker, Andrew J.

AU - Carniani, Stefano

AU - Charlot, Stephane

AU - Chen, Zuyi

AU - Chevallard, Jacopo

AU - Curtis-Lake, Emma

AU - Danhaive, A. Lola

AU - DeCoursey, Christa

AU - Egami, Eiichi

AU - Eisenstein, Daniel J.

AU - Endsley, Ryan

AU - Hausen, Ryan

AU - Helton, Jakob M.

AU - Kumari, Nimisha

AU - Looser, Tobias J.

AU - Maseda, Michael V.

AU - Puskás, Dávid

AU - Rieke, Marcia

AU - Sandles, Lester

AU - Sun, Fengwu

AU - Übler, Hannah

AU - Williams, Christina C.

AU - Willmer, Christopher N.A.

AU - Witstok, Joris

PY - 2025/1

Y1 - 2025/1

N2 - The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe’s history. This star-forming galaxy with a stellar mass of 400 million solar masses consists of three components: a highly compact core with a half-light radius of less than 100 pc, an actively star-forming disc with a radius of about 400 pc and a star-forming clump, all of which show distinctive star-formation histories. The central stellar mass density of this galaxy is within a factor of 2 of the most massive present-day ellipticals, while being globally 1,000 times less massive. The radial profile of the specific star-formation rate is rising towards the outskirts. This evidence suggests a detection of the inside-out growth of a galaxy as a proto-bulge and a star-forming disc in the epoch of reionization.

AB - The physical processes that establish the morphological evolution and the structural diversity of galaxies are key unknowns in extragalactic astrophysics. Here we report the finding of the morphologically mature galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343−27.79097, which existed within the first 700 million years of the Universe’s history. This star-forming galaxy with a stellar mass of 400 million solar masses consists of three components: a highly compact core with a half-light radius of less than 100 pc, an actively star-forming disc with a radius of about 400 pc and a star-forming clump, all of which show distinctive star-formation histories. The central stellar mass density of this galaxy is within a factor of 2 of the most massive present-day ellipticals, while being globally 1,000 times less massive. The radial profile of the specific star-formation rate is rising towards the outskirts. This evidence suggests a detection of the inside-out growth of a galaxy as a proto-bulge and a star-forming disc in the epoch of reionization.

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JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

IS - 1

ER -

A core in a star-forming disc as evidence of inside-out growth in the early Universe

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