---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: diamond
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '21060'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "Compact, star-forming galaxies with high star formation rate surface densities
    (ΣSFR) are often efficient Lyman continuum (LyC) emitters at z ≤ 4.5, likely because
    intense stellar feedback creates low-density channels that allow photons to escape.
    Irregular or disturbed morphologies, such as those resulting from mergers, can
    also facilitate LyC escape by creating anisotropic gas distributions. We investigated
    the influence of galaxy morphology on LyC production and escape at redshifts 5
    ≤ z ≤ 7 using observations from various James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) surveys.
    Our sample consists of 436 sources, which are predominantly low-mass (∼10^8.15
    M\f), star-forming galaxies with ionizing photon efficiency (ξion) values consistent
    with canonical expectations. Since direct measurements of fesc are not possible
    during the Epoch of  Reionization (EoR), we predicted fesc for high-redshift galaxies
    by applying survival analysis to a subsample of LyC emitters from the Low-Redshift
    Lyman Continuum Survey (LzLCS), selected to be direct analogs of reionization-era
    galaxies. We find that these galaxies exhibit, on average, modest predicted escape
    fractions (∼0.04). In addition, we evaluated the correlation between morphological
    features and LyC emission. Our findings indicate that neither ξion nor the predicted
    fesc values show a significant correlation with the presence of merger signatures.
    This suggests that in low-mass galaxies at z ≥ 5, strong morphological disturbances
    are not the primary mechanism driving LyC emission and leakage. Instead, compactness
    and star formation activity likely play a more pivotal role in regulating LyC
    escape. "
acknowledgement: This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James
  Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space
  Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association
  of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127
  for JWST. These observations are associated with programs GTO 1243, ERS 1345, DDT
  2750, and GTO 1180, 1181, 3215, 1210, 1286. Funded by the European Union (ERC, AGENTS,
  101076224). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only
  and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research
  Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible
  for them. We acknowledge support from the INAF Large Grant 2022 “Extragalactic Surveys
  with JWST” (PI Pentericci). We acknowledge support from INAF Mini-grant “Reionization
  and Fundamental Cosmology with High-Redshift Galaxies” and from PRIN 2022 MUR project
  2022CB3PJ3 - First Light And Galaxy aSsembly (FLAGS) funded by the European Union
  – Next Generation EU. RA acknowledges support of Grant PID2023-147386NB-I00 funded
  by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF/EU, and the Severo Ochoa grant CEX2021-001131-S
  funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103. The project that gave rise to these results
  received the support of a fellowship from the “la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434).
  The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/PR24/12050015. LC acknowledges support from grants
  PID2022-139567NB-I00 and PIB2021-127718NB-I00 funded by the Spanish Ministry of
  Science and Innovation/State Agency of Research MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and
  by “ERDF A way of making Europe”.
article_number: A122
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Sara
  full_name: Mascia, Sara
  id: edaf889c-c7cd-11ef-ab1b-bb28c431bd29
  last_name: Mascia
- first_name: L.
  full_name: Pentericci, L.
  last_name: Pentericci
- first_name: M.
  full_name: Llerena, M.
  last_name: Llerena
- first_name: A.
  full_name: Calabrò, A.
  last_name: Calabrò
- first_name: Jorryt J
  full_name: Matthee, Jorryt J
  id: 7439a258-f3c0-11ec-9501-9df22fe06720
  last_name: Matthee
  orcid: 0000-0003-2871-127X
- first_name: S.
  full_name: Flury, S.
  last_name: Flury
- first_name: F.
  full_name: Pacucci, F.
  last_name: Pacucci
- first_name: A.
  full_name: Jaskot, A.
  last_name: Jaskot
- first_name: R. O.
  full_name: Amorín, R. O.
  last_name: Amorín
- first_name: R.
  full_name: Bhatawdekar, R.
  last_name: Bhatawdekar
- first_name: M.
  full_name: Castellano, M.
  last_name: Castellano
- first_name: N.
  full_name: Cleri, N.
  last_name: Cleri
- first_name: L.
  full_name: Costantin, L.
  last_name: Costantin
- first_name: K.
  full_name: Davis, K.
  last_name: Davis
- first_name: Claudia
  full_name: Di Cesare, Claudia
  id: 2d002343-372f-11ef-98ec-a164d20427cb
  last_name: Di Cesare
- first_name: M.
  full_name: Dickinson, M.
  last_name: Dickinson
- first_name: A.
  full_name: Fontana, A.
  last_name: Fontana
- first_name: Y.
  full_name: Guo, Y.
  last_name: Guo
- first_name: M.
  full_name: Giavalisco, M.
  last_name: Giavalisco
- first_name: B. W.
  full_name: Holwerda, B. W.
  last_name: Holwerda
- first_name: W.
  full_name: Hu, W.
  last_name: Hu
- first_name: M.
  full_name: Huertas-Company, M.
  last_name: Huertas-Company
- first_name: Intae
  full_name: Jung, Intae
  last_name: Jung
- first_name: J.
  full_name: Kartaltepe, J.
  last_name: Kartaltepe
- first_name: D.
  full_name: Kashino, D.
  last_name: Kashino
- first_name: A. M.
  full_name: Koekemoer, A. M.
  last_name: Koekemoer
- first_name: R. A.
  full_name: Lucas, R. A.
  last_name: Lucas
- first_name: J.
  full_name: Lotz, J.
  last_name: Lotz
- first_name: L.
  full_name: Napolitano, L.
  last_name: Napolitano
- first_name: S.
  full_name: Jogee, S.
  last_name: Jogee
- first_name: S.
  full_name: Wilkins, S.
  last_name: Wilkins
citation:
  ama: Mascia S, Pentericci L, Llerena M, et al. Little impact of mergers and galaxy
    morphology on the production and escape of ionizing photons in the early Universe.
    <i>Astronomy &#38; Astrophysics</i>. 2025;701. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553760">10.1051/0004-6361/202553760</a>
  apa: Mascia, S., Pentericci, L., Llerena, M., Calabrò, A., Matthee, J. J., Flury,
    S., … Wilkins, S. (2025). Little impact of mergers and galaxy morphology on the
    production and escape of ionizing photons in the early Universe. <i>Astronomy
    &#38; Astrophysics</i>. EDP Sciences. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553760">https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553760</a>
  chicago: Mascia, Sara, L. Pentericci, M. Llerena, A. Calabrò, Jorryt J Matthee,
    S. Flury, F. Pacucci, et al. “Little Impact of Mergers and Galaxy Morphology on
    the Production and Escape of Ionizing Photons in the Early Universe.” <i>Astronomy
    &#38; Astrophysics</i>. EDP Sciences, 2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553760">https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553760</a>.
  ieee: S. Mascia <i>et al.</i>, “Little impact of mergers and galaxy morphology on
    the production and escape of ionizing photons in the early Universe,” <i>Astronomy
    &#38; Astrophysics</i>, vol. 701. EDP Sciences, 2025.
  ista: Mascia S, Pentericci L, Llerena M, Calabrò A, Matthee JJ, Flury S, Pacucci
    F, Jaskot A, Amorín RO, Bhatawdekar R, Castellano M, Cleri N, Costantin L, Davis
    K, Di Cesare C, Dickinson M, Fontana A, Guo Y, Giavalisco M, Holwerda BW, Hu W,
    Huertas-Company M, Jung I, Kartaltepe J, Kashino D, Koekemoer AM, Lucas RA, Lotz
    J, Napolitano L, Jogee S, Wilkins S. 2025. Little impact of mergers and galaxy
    morphology on the production and escape of ionizing photons in the early Universe.
    Astronomy &#38; Astrophysics. 701, A122.
  mla: Mascia, Sara, et al. “Little Impact of Mergers and Galaxy Morphology on the
    Production and Escape of Ionizing Photons in the Early Universe.” <i>Astronomy
    &#38; Astrophysics</i>, vol. 701, A122, EDP Sciences, 2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202553760">10.1051/0004-6361/202553760</a>.
  short: S. Mascia, L. Pentericci, M. Llerena, A. Calabrò, J.J. Matthee, S. Flury,
    F. Pacucci, A. Jaskot, R.O. Amorín, R. Bhatawdekar, M. Castellano, N. Cleri, L.
    Costantin, K. Davis, C. Di Cesare, M. Dickinson, A. Fontana, Y. Guo, M. Giavalisco,
    B.W. Holwerda, W. Hu, M. Huertas-Company, I. Jung, J. Kartaltepe, D. Kashino,
    A.M. Koekemoer, R.A. Lucas, J. Lotz, L. Napolitano, S. Jogee, S. Wilkins, Astronomy
    &#38; Astrophysics 701 (2025).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2026-01-28T15:24:24Z
date_published: 2025-09-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-02-09T07:33:46Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '520'
department:
- _id: JoMa
doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202553760
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2501.08268'
file:
- access_level: open_access
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  date_created: 2026-02-09T07:28:08Z
  date_updated: 2026-02-09T07:28:08Z
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file_date_updated: 2026-02-09T07:28:08Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '       701'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: bd9b2118-d553-11ed-ba76-db24564edfea
  grant_number: '101076224'
  name: Young galaxies as tracers and agents of cosmic reionization
publication: Astronomy & Astrophysics
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1432-0746
  issn:
  - 0004-6361
publication_status: published
publisher: EDP Sciences
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Little impact of mergers and galaxy morphology on the production and escape
  of ionizing photons in the early Universe
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 701
year: '2025'
...