When relics were made: vigorous stellar rotation and low dark matter content in the massive ultra-compact galaxy GS-9209 at z = 4.66

Journal article

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) uncovered a large number of massive quiescent galaxies (MQGs) at , which theoretical models struggle to reproduce. Explaining the number density of such objects requires extremely high conversion efficiency of baryons into stars in early dark matter haloes. Using stellar kinematics, we can investigate the processes shaping the mass assembly histories of MQGs. We present high-resolution JWST/NIRSpec integral field spectroscopy of GS-9209, a massive compact quiescent galaxy at (, pc). Full spectral fitting of the spatially resolved stellar continuum reveals a clear rotational pattern, yielding a spin parameter of . This study suggests that at least a fraction of the earliest quiescent galaxies were fast rotators and that quenching was a dynamically gentle process, preserving the stellar disc even in highly compact objects. Using Jeans anisotropic modelling and assuming a Navarro–Frenk–White profile, we measure a dark matter fraction of . Our findings use stellar kinematics to confirm the massive nature of early quiescent galaxies, previously inferred from stellar population modelling. We suggest that GS-9209 has a similar structure to low-redshift ‘relic’ galaxies. However, unlike relic galaxies, which have bottom-heavy initial mass functions (IMF), the dynamically inferred stellar mass-to-light ratio of GS-9209 is consistent with a Milky Way-like IMF. The kinematical properties of GS-9209 are different from those of early-type galaxies and more similar to those of recently quenched post-starburst galaxies at .

Authors: Pascalau, RG; D’Eugenio, F; Tacchella, S; Maiolino, R; Cappellari, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Volume: 547
• Issue: 1
• Pages: stag210
• Article number: stag210
• Publication date: 2026-01-30
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-28
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stag210
• EISSN: 1365-2966
• ISSN: 0035-8711
• Language: English
• Keywords: galaxies: formation; galaxies: kinematics and dynamics; galaxies: structure; galaxies: evolution