A nuclear disc at Cosmic Noon: evidence of early bar-driven galaxy evolution
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| author | Conte, Zoe A. Le Gadotti, Dimitri A. Harvey, Thomas Ferreira, Leonardo Conselice, Christopher J. Kim, Taehyun de Sá-Freitas, Camila Fragkoudi, Francesca Neumann, Justus Athanassoula, E. |
| author_facet | Conte, Zoe A. Le Gadotti, Dimitri A. Harvey, Thomas Ferreira, Leonardo Conselice, Christopher J. Kim, Taehyun de Sá-Freitas, Camila Fragkoudi, Francesca Neumann, Justus Athanassoula, E. |
| contents | Recent studies have revealed that bars can form as early as a few billion years after the Big Bang, already displaying similar characteristics of evolved bars in the Local Universe. Bars redistribute angular momentum across the galaxy, regulating star formation, AGN activity, and building new stellar structures such as nuclear discs. However, the effects of bar-driven evolution on young galaxies are not yet known, as no evidence of bar-built stellar structures has ever been found beyond $z = 1$, until now. In this work, we show evidence of a bar-built, star-forming nuclear disc, already present at redshift $z = 1.5$. This is the first evidence of a bar-built stellar structure at Cosmic Noon. We find that this nuclear disc is actively forming stars and has the same size as some nuclear discs in nearby galaxies. This evidence solidifies the now emerging picture in which bars are fundamental not only in the late evolution of galaxies, but also in their early evolutionary stages. It changes the current paradigm by urging a revision of our picture of galaxy evolution beyond redshift one, to include new considerations on the role played by bars as early as a few billion years after the Big Bang. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_18871 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A nuclear disc at Cosmic Noon: evidence of early bar-driven galaxy evolution Conte, Zoe A. Le Gadotti, Dimitri A. Harvey, Thomas Ferreira, Leonardo Conselice, Christopher J. Kim, Taehyun de Sá-Freitas, Camila Fragkoudi, Francesca Neumann, Justus Athanassoula, E. Astrophysics of Galaxies Recent studies have revealed that bars can form as early as a few billion years after the Big Bang, already displaying similar characteristics of evolved bars in the Local Universe. Bars redistribute angular momentum across the galaxy, regulating star formation, AGN activity, and building new stellar structures such as nuclear discs. However, the effects of bar-driven evolution on young galaxies are not yet known, as no evidence of bar-built stellar structures has ever been found beyond $z = 1$, until now. In this work, we show evidence of a bar-built, star-forming nuclear disc, already present at redshift $z = 1.5$. This is the first evidence of a bar-built stellar structure at Cosmic Noon. We find that this nuclear disc is actively forming stars and has the same size as some nuclear discs in nearby galaxies. This evidence solidifies the now emerging picture in which bars are fundamental not only in the late evolution of galaxies, but also in their early evolutionary stages. It changes the current paradigm by urging a revision of our picture of galaxy evolution beyond redshift one, to include new considerations on the role played by bars as early as a few billion years after the Big Bang. |
| title | A nuclear disc at Cosmic Noon: evidence of early bar-driven galaxy evolution |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.18871 |