English

Mass--size evolution and the emerging passive--density relation revealed by JWST/NIRCam in the Spiderweb protocluster

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2026-07-13 v1

Abstract

We investigate how the environment affects galaxy structure in the Spiderweb protocluster at z=2.16z=2.16 using JWST/NIRCam F115W, F182M, and F410M imaging (rest-frame 3500\sim 3500{\AA} to 1.4μ1.4\,\mum). We perform homogeneous multi-wavelength parametric modelling of the single-S\'ersic and bulge--disc decomposition for the Spiderweb member sample of 103 galaxies within the JWST field of view (up to 2×R200\sim 2\times R_{200}). Star-forming galaxies follow a mass--size relation broadly consistent with the field, with a mildly steeper trend at the high-mass end within uncertainties. Passive galaxies exhibit a flatter mass--size relation, and their typical size (intercept at fixed stellar mass) lies between that of the coeval field and cluster passive populations, indicating an intermediate evolutionary stage. In both star-forming and passive systems, bulges are systematically more compact than discs. Galaxy sizes decrease slightly with increasing wavelength, whereas ALMA-detected dusty star-forming galaxies exhibit a much steeper wavelength dependence, consistent with centrally concentrated, obscured star formation. The passive fraction depends primarily on local density: it resembles the field at Σ100\Sigma \lesssim 100--200galMpc2200\,{\rm gal\,Mpc^{-2}} and rises to 60%\sim60\% at Σ1000galMpc2\Sigma \gtrsim 1000\,{\rm gal\,Mpc^{-2}}, although with relatively large uncertainties due to the small number of galaxies in the highest-density bins, with no significant additional dependence on clustercentric distance. We also find a weak but significant correlation between local density and S\'ersic index (strongest in F410M), but no clear correlation with effective radius or the star-formation rate surface density ΣSFR\Sigma_{\rm SFR}. These results support a picture in which quenching and structural transformation are already advanced, while the size growth is still ongoing.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.11448,
  title  = {Mass--size evolution and the emerging passive--density relation revealed by JWST/NIRCam in the Spiderweb protocluster},
  author = {J. Nadolny and J. M. Pérez-Martínez and H. Dannerbauer and B. Haussler and M. Huertas-Company and K. Daikuhara and T. Kodama and Y. Koyama and A. Naufal and P. G. Pérez-González and Y. H. Zhang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.11448},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

12 pages, 7 figures, accepted in A&A