Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0
We study the evolution of the bar fraction in disk galaxies between 0.5 < z < 4.0 using multiband colored images from JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These images were classified by citizen scientists in a new phase of the Galaxy Zoo (GZ) project called GZ CEERS....
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add7d0 |
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| author | Tobias Géron R. J. Smethurst Hugh Dickinson L. F. Fortson Izzy L. Garland Sandor Kruk Chris Lintott Jason Shingirai Makechemu Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha Karen L. Masters David O’Ryan Hayley Roberts B. D. Simmons Mike Walmsley Antonello Calabrò Rimpei Chiba Luca Costantin Maria R. Drout Francesca Fragkoudi Yuchen Guo B. W. Holwerda Shardha Jogee Anton M. Koekemoer Ray A. Lucas Fabio Pacucci |
| author_facet | Tobias Géron R. J. Smethurst Hugh Dickinson L. F. Fortson Izzy L. Garland Sandor Kruk Chris Lintott Jason Shingirai Makechemu Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha Karen L. Masters David O’Ryan Hayley Roberts B. D. Simmons Mike Walmsley Antonello Calabrò Rimpei Chiba Luca Costantin Maria R. Drout Francesca Fragkoudi Yuchen Guo B. W. Holwerda Shardha Jogee Anton M. Koekemoer Ray A. Lucas Fabio Pacucci |
| author_sort | Tobias Géron |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study the evolution of the bar fraction in disk galaxies between 0.5 < z < 4.0 using multiband colored images from JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These images were classified by citizen scientists in a new phase of the Galaxy Zoo (GZ) project called GZ CEERS. Citizen scientists were asked whether a strong or weak bar was visible in the host galaxy. After considering multiple corrections for observational biases, we find that the bar fraction decreases with redshift in our volume-limited sample ( n = 398); from $2{5}_{-4}^{+6}$ % at 0.5 < z < 1.0 to ${3}_{-1}^{+6}$ % at 3.0 < z < 4.0. However, we argue it is appropriate to interpret these fractions as lower limits. Disentangling real changes in the bar fraction from detection biases remains challenging. Nevertheless, we find a significant number of bars up to z = 2.5. This implies that disks are dynamically cool or baryon dominated, enabling them to host bars. This also suggests that bar-driven secular evolution likely plays an important role at higher redshifts. When we distinguish between strong and weak bars, we find that the weak bar fraction decreases with increasing redshift. In contrast, the strong bar fraction is constant between 0.5 < z < 2.5. This implies that the strong bars found in this work are robust long-lived structures, unless the rate of bar destruction is similar to the rate of bar formation. Finally, our results are consistent with disk instabilities being the dominant mode of bar formation at lower redshifts, while bar formation through interactions and mergers is more common at higher redshifts. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2ccc16bd9ad41e0bb65cb8bb8c6ed4c2025-08-20T02:38:38ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198717410.3847/1538-4357/add7d0Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0Tobias Géron0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6851-9613R. J. Smethurst1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6417-7196Hugh Dickinson2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0475-008XL. F. Fortson3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1067-8558Izzy L. Garland4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3887-6433Sandor Kruk5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8010-8879Chris Lintott6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5578-359XJason Shingirai Makechemu7https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6545-8710Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6016-300XKaren L. Masters9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0846-9578David O’Ryan10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1217-4617Hayley Roberts11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0046-9848B. D. Simmons12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5882-3323Mike Walmsley13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6408-4181Antonello Calabrò14https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2536-1614Rimpei Chiba15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3445-855XLuca Costantin16https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6820-0015Maria R. Drout17https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7081-0082Francesca Fragkoudi18https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0897-3013Yuchen Guo19https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4162-6523B. W. Holwerda20https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4884-6756Shardha Jogee21https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1590-0568Anton M. Koekemoer22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6610-2048Ray A. Lucas23https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1581-7825Fabio Pacucci24https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9879-7780Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada ; tobias.geron@utoronto.caOxford Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UKSchool of Physical Sciences, The Open University , Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USADepartment of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Kotlářská 2, Brno, 611 37, Czech RepublicEuropean Space Agency (ESA) , European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692, Villaneuva de la Cañada, Madrid, SpainOxford Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UKDepartment of Physics, Lancaster University , Lancaster, LA1 4YB, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Haverford College , 370 Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA 19041, USACentro de Astrobiología , INTA-CSIC, Camino Bajo del Castillo, s/n, 28692, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, SpainSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN 55455, USADepartment of Physics, Lancaster University , Lancaster, LA1 4YB, UKDunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada ; tobias.geron@utoronto.caINAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Rome, ItalyCanadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 60 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, CanadaCentro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra. de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, E-28850, Madrid, SpainDavid A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H4, CanadaInstitute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UKDepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville , Natural Science Building 102, Louisville, 40292 KY, USADepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USACenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Black Hole Initiative, Harvard University , 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAWe study the evolution of the bar fraction in disk galaxies between 0.5 < z < 4.0 using multiband colored images from JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS). These images were classified by citizen scientists in a new phase of the Galaxy Zoo (GZ) project called GZ CEERS. Citizen scientists were asked whether a strong or weak bar was visible in the host galaxy. After considering multiple corrections for observational biases, we find that the bar fraction decreases with redshift in our volume-limited sample ( n = 398); from $2{5}_{-4}^{+6}$ % at 0.5 < z < 1.0 to ${3}_{-1}^{+6}$ % at 3.0 < z < 4.0. However, we argue it is appropriate to interpret these fractions as lower limits. Disentangling real changes in the bar fraction from detection biases remains challenging. Nevertheless, we find a significant number of bars up to z = 2.5. This implies that disks are dynamically cool or baryon dominated, enabling them to host bars. This also suggests that bar-driven secular evolution likely plays an important role at higher redshifts. When we distinguish between strong and weak bars, we find that the weak bar fraction decreases with increasing redshift. In contrast, the strong bar fraction is constant between 0.5 < z < 2.5. This implies that the strong bars found in this work are robust long-lived structures, unless the rate of bar destruction is similar to the rate of bar formation. Finally, our results are consistent with disk instabilities being the dominant mode of bar formation at lower redshifts, while bar formation through interactions and mergers is more common at higher redshifts.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add7d0Galaxy barsGalaxy evolutionHigh-redshift galaxiesDisk galaxiesGalaxy classification systems |
| spellingShingle | Tobias Géron R. J. Smethurst Hugh Dickinson L. F. Fortson Izzy L. Garland Sandor Kruk Chris Lintott Jason Shingirai Makechemu Kameswara Bharadwaj Mantha Karen L. Masters David O’Ryan Hayley Roberts B. D. Simmons Mike Walmsley Antonello Calabrò Rimpei Chiba Luca Costantin Maria R. Drout Francesca Fragkoudi Yuchen Guo B. W. Holwerda Shardha Jogee Anton M. Koekemoer Ray A. Lucas Fabio Pacucci Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0 The Astrophysical Journal Galaxy bars Galaxy evolution High-redshift galaxies Disk galaxies Galaxy classification systems |
| title | Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0 |
| title_full | Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0 |
| title_fullStr | Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0 |
| title_short | Galaxy Zoo CEERS: Bar Fractions Up to z ∼ 4.0 |
| title_sort | galaxy zoo ceers bar fractions up to z ∼ 4 0 |
| topic | Galaxy bars Galaxy evolution High-redshift galaxies Disk galaxies Galaxy classification systems |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/add7d0 |
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