JWST’s PEARLS: A Clumpy Ring Galaxy at z = 4.0148
Journal article, 2026
Ring galaxies are an uncommon class of galaxies whose morphology is closely related to dynamical processes that govern galaxy evolution. Some ring galaxies, known as “collisional ring galaxies,” are thought to form as a consequence of head-on collisions between galaxies, and a number of high-redshift collisional ring galaxies have been discovered and/or studied in the era of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In this paper, we present Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys, JWST/NIRCam, and JWST/NIRSpec observations of a candidate ring galaxy at zspec = 4.0148, previously identified as a potential gravitational lens. The galaxy exhibits a complex morphology, including three bright clumps along an apparent ring with radius ≈0 (Formula presented) .″ 25 ≃ 1.8 kpc. It has a total star formation rate (Formula presented) =140−30+20M⊙ yr−1 and (Formula presented) log(M*/M⊙)=10.41−0.13+0.11, making it similar to other high-redshift collisional ring galaxies. Although we argue strongly in favor of the collisional ring explanation, we cannot entirely rule out a galaxy–galaxy strong lensing explanation for the system’s morphology, in which a foreground galaxy at z ≃ 1.7 lenses a galaxy at z ≃ 4.0 into an Einstein ring-like configuration; to confirm the nature of this source, we require kinematic information via high spectral resolution observations. We suggest that current and future gravitational lens surveys should consider high-redshift ring galaxies as possible but significant contaminants.
Ring galaxies (1400)
High-redshift galaxies (734)
Strong gravitational lensing (1643)
Galaxy evolution (594)
Author
David Vizgan
University of Illinois
Ming Yang Zhuang
University of Illinois
I. Smail
Durham University
Rogier A. Windhorst
Arizona State University
Gibson B. Bowling
Arizona State University
C. Cheng
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Seth H. Cohen
Arizona State University
C. Conselice
University of Manchester
Jose M. Diego
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
B. Frye
University of Arizona
Norman A. Grogin
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Rolf A. Jansen
Arizona State University
Patrick Kamieneski
Anton M. Koekemoer
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Rafael Ortiz
Arizona State University
Massimo Ricotti
University of Maryland
Bangzheng Sun
University of Missouri
Hayley Williams
Arizona State University
S. P. Willner
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Haojing Yan
University of Missouri
Aadya Agrawal
University of Illinois
Manuel Solimano
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
Zachary Stone
University of Illinois
Joaquin Vieira
Grainger College of Engineering
University of Illinois
Chentao Yang
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
Astrophysical Journal
0004-637X (ISSN) 1538-4357 (eISSN)
Vol. 1004 1 114Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
DOI
10.3847/1538-4357/ae7103