statmorph-lsst: Quantifying and correcting morphological biases in galaxy surveys
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo
- Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6245-5121
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo
- Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo
- ORCID iD: 0009-0009-2522-3685
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo
- Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo
- ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4849-9536
- Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad de La Serena
- ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2139-0944
- Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental
- Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6800-3329
- National Centre for Nuclear Research
- ORCID iD: 0009-0004-1910-4990
- National Centre for Nuclear Research
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5341-2162
- Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology
- ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6496-9414
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9601-7779
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville
- ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4884-6756
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology
- Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, Rochester Institute of Technology
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9187-3605
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham
- ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2939-8668
- National Center for Nuclear Research
- ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7300-2213
- Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
- ORCID iD: 0009-0000-6680-523X
- Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9495-0079
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Minnesota State University, Mankato
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7016-5220
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8694-1204
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
- ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8156-6281
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Staten Island
- ORCID iD: 0009-0007-4440-2000
Abstract
Quantitative morphology provides a key probe of galaxy evolution across cosmic time and environments. However, these metrics can be biased by changes in imaging quality - resolution and depth - either across the survey area or the sample. To prepare for the upcoming Rubin LSST data, we investigate this bias for all metrics measured by statmorph and single-component Sérsic fitting with Galfit. We find that geometrical measurements (centroid, ellipticity, axis ratio, Petrosian radius, and effective radius) are robust within 10% at most depths and resolutions. Light concentration measurements (\(C\), Gini, \(M_{20}\)) systematically decrease with resolution, leading low-mass or high-redshift bulge-dominated sources to appear indistinguishable from disks. Sérsic index \(n\), while unbiased, suffers from a 20-40% uncertainty due to degeneracies in the Sérsic fit. Disturbance measurements (\(A\), \(A_S\), \(D\)) depend on signal-to-noise ratio and are thus affected by noise and surface-brightness dimming. We quantify this dependence for each parameter, offer empirical correction functions, and show that the evolution in \(C\) observed in JWST galaxies can be explained purely by observational biases. We propose two new measurements - isophotal asymmetry \(A_X\) and substructure \(St\) - that aim to resolve some of these biases. Finally, we provide a Python package statmorph-lsst implementing these changes and a full dataset that enables tests of custom functions (see text for links).
