Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Guzmán-Ortega, Alejandro, Bruzual, Gustavo, Rodriguez-Gomez, Vicente, Hernquist, Lars
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04780
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908635254226944
author Guzmán-Ortega, Alejandro
Bruzual, Gustavo
Rodriguez-Gomez, Vicente
Hernquist, Lars
author_facet Guzmán-Ortega, Alejandro
Bruzual, Gustavo
Rodriguez-Gomez, Vicente
Hernquist, Lars
contents We use the TNG50 cosmological simulation and three-dimensional radiative transfer post-processing to generate dust-aware synthetic observations of galaxies at $ 3 \leq z \leq 6 $ and $ \log_{10}(M_\ast/\mathrm{M}_\odot) \geq 8.5 $, tailored to match the depth and resolution of current deep JWST surveys (NGDEEP and JADES). We analyse the performance of spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting on the simulated sample, focusing on the recovery of photometric redshift and stellar mass. At $ z \leq 5 $, we find that 90 per cent of redshifts are recovered within $ \pm0.2 $, but performance declines at $ z = 6 $. Stellar masses are generally well-recovered within a factor of 2, but are systematically underestimated regardless of redshift, a trend that is more pronounced at the high-mass end $ ( \log_{10}(M_\ast/\mathrm{M}_\odot) \geq 10 ) $. In addition, we study the observer-frame colours of galaxies in this redshift range as well as the SED-inferred $UVJ$ diagram. We find that TNG50 galaxies broadly follow the tendencies marked by observations, but tend to be slightly redder at lower masses and bluer at higher masses, regardless of redshift. Finally, using a colour-based definition of quiescence, we determine the fraction of quiescent galaxies as a function of stellar mass at $ 3 \leq z \leq 6 $, which we find to be broadly consistent with observations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_04780
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Synthetic JWST galaxy images in the TNG50 simulation - I. Model validation and comparison to observations
Guzmán-Ortega, Alejandro
Bruzual, Gustavo
Rodriguez-Gomez, Vicente
Hernquist, Lars
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We use the TNG50 cosmological simulation and three-dimensional radiative transfer post-processing to generate dust-aware synthetic observations of galaxies at $ 3 \leq z \leq 6 $ and $ \log_{10}(M_\ast/\mathrm{M}_\odot) \geq 8.5 $, tailored to match the depth and resolution of current deep JWST surveys (NGDEEP and JADES). We analyse the performance of spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting on the simulated sample, focusing on the recovery of photometric redshift and stellar mass. At $ z \leq 5 $, we find that 90 per cent of redshifts are recovered within $ \pm0.2 $, but performance declines at $ z = 6 $. Stellar masses are generally well-recovered within a factor of 2, but are systematically underestimated regardless of redshift, a trend that is more pronounced at the high-mass end $ ( \log_{10}(M_\ast/\mathrm{M}_\odot) \geq 10 ) $. In addition, we study the observer-frame colours of galaxies in this redshift range as well as the SED-inferred $UVJ$ diagram. We find that TNG50 galaxies broadly follow the tendencies marked by observations, but tend to be slightly redder at lower masses and bluer at higher masses, regardless of redshift. Finally, using a colour-based definition of quiescence, we determine the fraction of quiescent galaxies as a function of stellar mass at $ 3 \leq z \leq 6 $, which we find to be broadly consistent with observations.
title Synthetic JWST galaxy images in the TNG50 simulation - I. Model validation and comparison to observations
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04780