JWST galaxy morphologies

For small (large) and faint objects, JWST-based classifications tend to systematically present less bulge-dominated systems (peculiar galaxies) than HST-based ones, but the impact on the reported evolution of morphological fractions is less than ~10%. Using JWST-based morphologies at the same rest-frame wavelength (~0.8-1um), we confirm an increase in peculiar galaxies and a decrease in bulge-dominated galaxies with redshift, as reported in previous HST-based works, suggesting that the stellar mass distribution, in addition to light distribution, is more disturbed in the early universe.

However, we find that undisturbed disk-like systems already dominate the high-mass end of the late-type galaxy population (log M*/M_{sun}_>10.5) at z~5, and bulge-dominated galaxies also exist at these early epochs, confirming a rich and evolved morphological diversity of galaxies ~1Gyr after the Big Bang. Finally, we find that the morphology-quenching relation is already in place for massive galaxies at z>3, with massive quiescent galaxies (logM*/M_{sun}_>10.5) being predominantly bulge-dominated.