Prof Chris Lintott

Abstract:

The first JWST deep surveys have expanded our understanding of the morphological evolution of galaxies across cosmic time. The improved spatial resolution and near-infrared (NIR) coverage have revealed a population of morphologically evolved galaxies at very early epochs. However, all previous works are based on relatively small samples; this has prevented accurate probing of the morphological diversity at cosmic dawn. Leveraging the wide area coverage of the COSMOS-Web survey, we quantified the abundance of different morphological types from z∼7 with unprecedented statistics and established robust constraints on the epoch of emergence of the Hubble sequence. We measured the global morphologies (spheroids, disk-dominated, bulge-dominated, peculiar) and resolved morphologies (stellar bars) for about 400,000 galaxies down to F150W=27 using deep learning; this represents an increase of two orders of magnitude over previous studies. We provide reference stellar mass functions (SMFs) of different morphologies between z∼0.2 and z∼7 as well as best-fit parameters to inform models of galaxy formation. All catalogs and data are made publicly available. At redshift ( z > 4.5 ), the massive galaxy population (łog M_*/M_⊙>10) is dominated by disturbed morphologies (( ∼70% )), even in the optical rest frame, and very compact objects (( ∼30% )) with effective radii smaller than ( ∼500 pc ). This confirms that a significant fraction of the star formation at cosmic dawn occurs in very dense regions, although the stellar mass for these systems could be overestimated. Galaxies with Hubble-type morphologies, including bulge- and disk-dominated galaxies, arose rapidly around ( z ∼ 4 ) and dominate the morphological diversity of massive galaxies as early as ( z ∼ 3 ). Using stellar bars as a proxy, we speculate that stellar disks in massive galaxies might have been common ($>50%$) among the star-forming population since cosmic noon (( z ∼ 2 2.5 )) and formed as early as z∼7. Massive quenched galaxies are predominantly bulge-dominated from ( z ∼ 4 ) onward, suggesting that morphological transformations briefly precede or are simultaneous to quenching mechanisms at the high-mass end. Low-mass (łog M_*/M_⊙<10) quenched galaxies are typically disk-dominated, which points to different quenching routes at the two ends of the stellar mass spectrum from cosmic dawn.

Abstract:

With a new probabilistic technique for sampling interstellar object (ISO) orbits with high efficiency, we assess the observability of ISOs under a realistic cadence for the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Using the Ōtautahi–Oxford population model, we show that there will be complex on-sky structure in the pattern of direction and velocity revealed by the detected ISO population, with the expected enhanced northern flux complicating efforts to derive population parameters from the LSST’s predominately southern footprint. For reasonable luminosity functions with slopes of 2.5 ≤ qs ≤ 4.0, the most discoverable ISOs have Hr ≃ 14.6−20.7. The slope of the luminosity function of ISOs will be relatively quickly constrained by the characteristics of the LSST detected population, such as the distributions of perihelia, velocity at infinity, and discovery circumstances. Discoveries are evenly split around their perihelion passage and are biased to lower velocities. After their discovery by LSST, it will be rare for ISOs to be visible for less than a month; most will have mr ≤ 23 for months, and the window for spectroscopic characterization could be as long as 2 yr. While these probabilistic assessments are robust against model or spatial density refinements that change the absolute numbers of ISO discoveries, our simulations predict a yield of 6–51 asteroidal ISOs, which is similar to previous works and demonstrates the validity of our new methods.

Abstract:

The discovery of the third interstellar object (ISO), 3I/ATLAS (“3I”), provides a rare chance to directly observe a small body from another solar system. Studying its chemistry and dynamics will add to our understanding of how the processes of planetesimal formation and evolution happen across the Milky Way’s disk, and how such objects respond to the Milky Way’s potential. In this Letter, we present a first assessment of 3I in the context of the Ōtautahi–Oxford model, which uses data from Gaia in conjunction with models of protoplanetary disk chemistry and Galactic dynamics to predict the properties of the ISO population. The model shows that both the velocity and radiant of 3I are within the expected range. Its velocity predicts an age of over 7.6 Gyr and a high water mass fraction, which may become observable shortly. We also conclude that it is very unlikely that 3I shares an origin with either of the previous two ISO detections.

Abstract:

Upcoming surveys are likely to discover a new sample of interstellar objects (ISOs) within the solar system, but questions remain about the origin and distribution of this population within the Galaxy. ISOs are ejected from their host systems with a range of velocities, spreading out into tidal streams—analogous to the stellar streams routinely observed from the disruption of star clusters and dwarf galaxies. We create a simulation of ISO streams orbiting in the Galaxy, deriving a simple model for their density distribution over time. We then construct a population model to predict the properties of the streams in which the Sun is currently embedded. We find that the number of streams encountered by the Sun is quite large, ∼106 or more. However, the wide range of stream properties means that for reasonable future samples of ISOs observed in the solar system, we may see ISOs from the same star (“siblings”), and we are likely to see ISOs from the same star cluster (“cousins”). We also find that ISOs are typically not traceable to their parent star, though this may be possible for ISO siblings. Any ISOs observed with a common origin will come from younger, dynamically colder streams.