TY - JOUR
T1 - The Emergence of the Star Formation Main Sequence with Redshift Unfolded by JWST
AU - Rinaldi, P.
AU - Navarro-Carrera, R.
AU - Caputi, K. I.
AU - Iani, E.
AU - Östlin, G.
AU - Colina, L.
AU - Alberts, S.
AU - Álvarez-Márquez, J.
AU - Annunziatella, M.
AU - Boogaard, L.
AU - Costantin, L.
AU - Hjorth, J.
AU - Langeroodi, D.
AU - Melinder, J.
AU - Moutard, T.
AU - Walter, F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
PY - 2025/3/10
Y1 - 2025/3/10
N2 - We investigate the correlation between stellar mass (M⋆) and star formation rate (SFR) across the stellar mass range log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) ≈ 6 - 11 . We consider almost 50,000 star-forming galaxies at z ≈ 3-7, leveraging data from COSMOS/SMUVS, JADES/GOODS-S, and MIDIS/XDF. This is the first study spanning such a wide M⋆ range without relying on gravitational lensing effects. We locate our galaxies on the SFR-M⋆ plane to assess how the location of galaxies in the star formation main sequence (MS) and starburst (SB) region evolves with M⋆ and redshift. We find that the two star-forming modes tend to converge at log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) < 7 , with all galaxies found in the SB mode. However, deeper observations will be instrumental for reaching lower SFRs and M⋆ to further validate this scenario. By dissecting our galaxy sample in M⋆ and redshift, we show that the emergence of the star formation MS is M⋆ dependent: while in galaxies with log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) > 9 the MS is already well in place at z = 5-7, for galaxies with log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) ≈ 7 - 8 it only becomes significant at z < 4. Overall, our results are in line with previous findings that the SB mode dominates among low stellar-mass galaxies. The earlier emergence of the MS for massive galaxies is consistent with galaxy downsizing.
AB - We investigate the correlation between stellar mass (M⋆) and star formation rate (SFR) across the stellar mass range log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) ≈ 6 - 11 . We consider almost 50,000 star-forming galaxies at z ≈ 3-7, leveraging data from COSMOS/SMUVS, JADES/GOODS-S, and MIDIS/XDF. This is the first study spanning such a wide M⋆ range without relying on gravitational lensing effects. We locate our galaxies on the SFR-M⋆ plane to assess how the location of galaxies in the star formation main sequence (MS) and starburst (SB) region evolves with M⋆ and redshift. We find that the two star-forming modes tend to converge at log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) < 7 , with all galaxies found in the SB mode. However, deeper observations will be instrumental for reaching lower SFRs and M⋆ to further validate this scenario. By dissecting our galaxy sample in M⋆ and redshift, we show that the emergence of the star formation MS is M⋆ dependent: while in galaxies with log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) > 9 the MS is already well in place at z = 5-7, for galaxies with log 10 ( M ⋆ / M ⊙ ) ≈ 7 - 8 it only becomes significant at z < 4. Overall, our results are in line with previous findings that the SB mode dominates among low stellar-mass galaxies. The earlier emergence of the MS for massive galaxies is consistent with galaxy downsizing.
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U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/adb309
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/adb309
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:86000440563
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 981
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 161
ER -