arXiv subjects

Alexie Leauthaud

Publications and source records attributed to Alexie Leauthaud.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Cluster finding with outskirt stellar masses and percolation

The abundance of galaxy clusters is a powerful cosmological probe, but optical cluster cosmology is limited by selection systematics, in particular the projection effects that affect cluster finders based on galaxy populations such as the red sequence. The outer stellar mass ($M_\mathrm{out}$) of cluster central galaxies -- e.g., the stellar mass in a 50-100 kpc annulus -- offers an alternative selection that relies only on the central galaxy and is therefore largely free from projection effects. Its primary systematic is instead satellite contamination, since massive clusters can host more than one galaxy with high outer stellar mass. Using the IllustrisTNG300 simulation at $z=0.4$, we quantify this contamination and investigate a simple, proximity-based percolation method to mitigate it, in which galaxies with lower outer stellar mass lying within a given radius of a more massive galaxy are removed from the sample. We find that the satellite fraction defined by the friends-of-friends (FoF) algorithm is modest even without percolation ($\leq 15\%$ for $M_\mathrm{out} > 10^{10}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ and $<10\%$ for $M_\mathrm{out} > 10^{11}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$), and that percolation reduces it further, with the improvement increasing for percolation radii up to $3.0\,R_{200c}$. For a moderately high outer stellar mass cut ($\sim 4\times10^{10}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$) and percolation radius ($\sim 2.0\,R_{200c}$), we recover a cluster sample that is both highly complete and pure for halo masses $\gtrsim 10^{14}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$. These results indicate that outer stellar mass, combined with simple percolation, has the potential to provide a clean and readily calibratable selection of massive galaxy clusters.

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arXiv2026

An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter

Ordinary matter-including particles such as protons and neutrons-accounts for only about one sixth of all matter in the Universe. The rest is dark matter, which does not emit or absorb light but plays a fundamental role in galaxy and structure evolution. Because it interacts only through gravity, one of the most direct probes is weak gravitational lensing: the deflection of light from distant galaxies by intervening mass. Here we present an extremely detailed, wide-area weak-lensing mass map, covering 0.77 deg x 0.70 deg, using high-resolution imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as part of the COSMOS-Web survey. By measuring the shapes of 129 galaxies per square arcminute-many independently in the F115W and F150W bands-we achieve an angular resolution of 1.00 +/- 0.01 arcmin. Our map has more than twice the resolution of earlier Hubble Space Telescope maps, revealing how dark and luminous matter co-evolve across filaments, clusters, and under-densities. It traces mass features out to z ~ 2, including the most distant structure at z ~ 1.1. The sensitivity to high-redshift lensing constrains galaxy environments at the peak of cosmic star formation and sets a high-resolution benchmark for testing theories about the nature of dark matter and the formation of large-scale cosmic structure

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arXiv2026

The DESI Transients Survey: Legacy Classifications and Methodology

We present the first systematic spectroscopic observations of extragalactic transients from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), as part of the DESI Transients Survey program. With 5,000 fibers and an ${\sim} 8$ deg$^2$ field of view, we exploit DESI as a machine for the discovery and classification of transients. We present transient classifications from archival DESI data in Data Releases 1 and 2, relying on a combination of a secondary target program and serendipitous observations. We also present observations from the first 6 months of the DESI spare fiber program dedicated to transients. The program is run in coordination with a dedicated DECam time-domain survey, serving as a pathfinder for what we will be able to achieve in conjunction with the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). We classify over 250 transients, of which the majority were previously unclassified. The sample comprises thermonuclear and core-collapse supernovae and tidal disruption events (TDEs), including a TDE observed before its discovery in imaging. We demonstrate DESI's ability to classify a population of faint transients down to $r\sim 22.5$ mag during main survey operations, with negligible impacts on DESI's main observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Cosmological Constraints from Full-Scale Clustering and Galaxy-Galaxy Lensing with DESI DR1

We present constraints on cosmic structure growth from the analysis of galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing with galaxies from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Data Release 1. We analyze four samples drawn from the Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) and the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) target classes. Projected galaxy clustering measurements from DESI are supplemented with lensing measurements from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS), and the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey around the same targets. Our method relies on a simulation-based modeling framework using the AbacusSummit simulations and a complex halo occupation distribution model that incorporates assembly bias. We analyze scales down to $0.4 \, h^{-1} \, \mathrm{Mpc}$ for clustering and $2.5 \, h^{-1} \, \mathrm{Mpc}$ for lensing, leading to stringent constraints on $S_8 = \sigma_8 \sqrt{\Omega_\mathrm{m} / 0.3}$ and $\Omega_\mathrm{m}$ when fixing other cosmological parameters to those preferred by the CMB. We find $S_8 = 0.794 \pm 0.023$ and $\Omega_\mathrm{m} = 0.295 \pm 0.012$ when using lensing measurements from DES and KiDS. Similarly, for HSC, we find $S_8 = 0.793 \pm 0.017$ and $\Omega_\mathrm{m} = 0.303 \pm 0.010$ when assuming the best-fit photometric redshift offset suggested by the HSC collaboration. Overall, our results are in good agreement with other results in the literature while continuing to highlight the constraining power of non-linear scales.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

The Power of DESI for Photometric Redshift Calibration: A Case Study with KiDS-1000

Accurate redshift estimates are a critical requirement for weak lensing surveys and one of the main uncertainties in constraints on dark energy and large-scale cosmic structure. In this paper, we study the potential to calibrate photometric redshift (photo-z) distributions for gravitational lensing using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Since beginning its science operations in 2021, DESI has collected more than 50 million redshifts, adding about one million monthly. In addition to its large-scale structure samples, DESI has also acquired over 256k high-quality spectroscopic redshifts (spec-zs) in the COSMOS and XMM and VVDS fields. This is already a factor of 3 larger than previous spec-z calibration compilations in these two regions. Here, we explore calibrating photo-zs for the subset of KiDS-1000 galaxies that fall into joint self-organizing map (SOM) cells overlapping the DESI COSMOS footprint using the DESI COSMOS observations. Estimating the redshift distribution in KiDS-1000 with the new DESI data, we find broad consistency with previously published results while also detecting differences in the mean redshift in some tomographic bins with an average shifts of Delta Mean(z) = -0.028 in the mean and Delta Median(z) = +0.011 in the median across tomographic bins. However, we also find that incompleteness per SOM cell, i.e., groups of galaxies with similar colors and magnitudes, can modify n(z) distributions. Finally, we comment on the fact that larger photometric catalogs, aligned with the DESI COSMOS and DESI XMM and VVDS footprints, would be needed to fully exploit the DESI dataset and would extend the coverage to nearly eight times the area of existing 9-band photometry.

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arXiv2025

The Merian Survey: A Statistical Census of Bright Satellites of Milky Way Analogs

We present a statistical census of bright, star-forming satellite galaxies around Milky Way (MW) analogs using the first data release of the Merian Survey. Our sample consists of 393 MW analogs with stellar masses $10^{10.5} < M_{\star, \rm host} < 10^{10.9} M_\odot$ at redshifts $0.07 < z < 0.09$, all central galaxies of their own dark matter halos. Using photometric selection -- including magnitude, color, angular size, photometric redshift, and size-mass cuts -- we identify 793 satellite candidates around these 393 hosts. Our selection leverages two medium-band filters targeting H$\alpha$ and [O \textsc{iii}] emission, enabling a nearly complete sample of star-forming, Magellanic Clouds-like satellites with $M_{\star, \rm sat} \gtrsim 10^{8} M_\odot$. We find that $\sim80\%$ of hosts have 0-3 massive satellites, and $13\pm4\%$ have two satellites (similar to the MW). Satellite abundance correlates with total stellar mass, and we provide significantly improved statistics for the most massive satellites at $\log_{10}[M_{\star, \rm sat}/M_{\odot}] \gtrsim 10$. The completeness-corrected radial distribution is less centrally concentrated than an NFW profile. In contrast, the Milky Way satellites are more centrally concentrated than the 50\% richest Merian systems, but are broadly consistent with the 50\% most centrally concentrated Merian systems. Our results highlight the power of medium-band photometry for satellite identification and provide a key benchmark for studying satellite quenching, environmental effects, and hierarchical galaxy formation.

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arXiv2025

Reaching for the Edge II: Stellar Halos out to Large Radii as a Tracer of Dark Matter Halo Mass

The diffuse outskirts of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) encode valuable information about the assembly history and mass of their host dark matter halos. However, the low surface brightness of these stellar halos has historically made them difficult to observe. Recent deep imaging, particularly with Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), has shown that the stellar mass within relatively large projected annuli, such as within $50$ and $100$ kpc, is a promising proxy for halo mass. However, the optimal radial definition of this "outskirt mass" remains uncertain. We construct an HSC-like mock observing pipeline to measure the stellar mass density profiles of BCGs in the IllustrisTNG simulations. Our mock observations closely reproduce HSC profiles across six orders of magnitude in surface density. We then systematically measure stellar masses within different annuli and how tightly they are connected to halo mass. We find that stellar masses measured within simple apertures exhibit considerably more scatter in the stellar mass-halo mass relation than those measured within projected ellipsoidal annuli. We identify an optimal range of definitions, with inner radii between $\sim 70$-$200$ kpc and outer radii between $\sim 125$-$500$ kpc. We also introduce two halo-mass-dependent S\'ersic models for the average stellar halo profiles. We present a S\'ersic-based fitting function that describes the profiles as a function of the halo mass, $M_{\rm vir}$, with a median error of $54\%$. Adding the central stellar mass of the BCG as a second parameter slightly improves the accuracy to a median error of $39\%$. Together, these results provide fitting functions for BCG stellar halos that can be applied to future wide-field surveys to infer halo masses from deep imaging data.

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arXiv2025

A Unified Photometric Redshift Calibration for Weak Lensing Surveys using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

The effective redshift distribution $n(z)$ of galaxies is a critical component in the study of weak gravitational lensing. Here, we introduce a new method for determining $n(z)$ for weak lensing surveys based on high-quality redshifts and neural network-based importance weights. Additionally, we present the first unified photometric redshift calibration of the three leading stage-III weak lensing surveys, the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey and the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS), with state-of-the-art spectroscopic data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We verify our method using a new, data-driven approach and obtain $n(z)$ constraints with statistical uncertainties of order $\sigma_{\bar z} \sim 0.01$ and smaller. Our analysis is largely independent of previous photometric redshift calibrations and, thus, provides an important cross-check in light of recent cosmological tensions. Overall, we find excellent agreement with previously published results on the DES Y3 and HSC Y1 data sets while there are some differences on the mean redshift with respect to the previously published KiDS-1000 results. We attribute the latter to mismatches in photometric noise properties in the COSMOS field compared to the wider KiDS SOM-gold catalog. At the same time, the new $n(z)$ estimates for KiDS do not significantly change estimates of cosmic structure growth from cosmic shear. Finally, we discuss how our method can be applied to future weak lensing calibrations with DESI data.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Testing the Stellar Feedback-driven Breathing Mode in Low-mass Galaxies with Gas Kinematics

Hydrodynamic simulations have proposed that stellar feedback and bursty star-formation can produce dark matter cores in low-mass galaxies. A key prediction is that feedback-driven gas outflow and inflow cycles can lead to ``breathing modes'' (rapid fluctuations in the global gravitational potential) which drive correlated variations in galaxy size, kinematics, and star-formation rate. In this paper, we test the dynamical effects of feedback-driven breathing modes using a sample of 103 star-forming low-mass galaxies with stellar masses between $7.9<\rm \log M_*/M_\odot<9.6$ and $0.02<z<0.19$. We measure ionized gas velocity dispersions from H$\alpha$ emission lines and compare them to mock observations from the FIRE-2 simulations. We compare gas velocity dispersions ($\rm \sigma_{gas}$), stellar masses, and specific star-formation rates (sSFR). We find a positive correlation between gas velocity dispersion residuals at fixed stellar masses ($\rm \Delta\sigma_{gas}$) and sSFR in both data and simulations. However, the relation is tighter in FIRE-2 compared to the data. FIRE-2 produces more low-sSFR galaxies compared to our observational sample, however, the sSFR distributions agree after limiting both samples to a minimum sSFR. A deeper and more complete photometric sample further indicates that observed low-mass galaxies could span the full range of sSFR predicted in the FIRE-2 simulations. Our results support the existence of short-timescale dynamical effects driven by gas outflow and inflow cycles in low-mass galaxies and motivate additional tests of the breathing mode.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Looking beyond lambda

Widening cracks are appearing in the $\Lambda$CDM model and it is becoming increasingly clear that the standard cosmological model struggles to describe the full expansion history of the Universe as revealed by the Cosmic Microwave Background, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation measurements, and locally calibrated Type Ia supernovae. Taken at face value, recent results suggest a dark sector that may be more complex than commonly assumed. We must prepare for the possibility of moving beyond the $\Lambda$CDM era, where merely testing $w=-1$ is no longer sufficient, and embrace the challenge of unraveling the physics of dark matter, dark energy and gravity on cosmic scales. Guided by increasingly robust data - secured through considerable investment - we should pursue deeper understanding while being open to complexity in the dark sector, rather than settling for the simplest phenomenology. New data from new facilities and a new dark energy task force could help illuminate the path forward while changes to our scientific practices will be essential to navigate the potentially rocky road ahead.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Dynamical Dark Energy in light of the DESI DR2 Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations Measurements

Understanding whether cosmic acceleration arises from a cosmological constant or a dynamical component is a central goal of cosmology, and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) enables stringent tests with high-precision distance measurements. We analyze baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements from DESI Data Release 1 (DR1) and Data Release 2 (DR2), combined with Type Ia supernovae and a cosmic microwave background (CMB) distance prior. With the larger statistical power and wider redshift coverage of DR2, the preference for dynamical dark energy does not diminish relative to DR1. Using both a shape-function reconstruction and non-parametric approaches with a Horndeski-motivated correlation prior, we find that the dark-energy equation of state $w(z)$ varies with redshift. BAO data alone yield modest constraints, but in combination with independent supernova compilations and the CMB prior they strengthen the evidence for dynamics. Bayesian model comparison shows moderate support for departures from $\Lambda$CDM when multiple degrees of freedom in $w(z)$ are allowed, corresponding to $\approx3\sigma$ tension with $\Lambda$CDM (and higher for some data sets). Despite methodological differences, our results are consistent with companion DESI papers, underscoring the complementarity of approaches. Possible systematics remain under study; forthcoming DESI, \emph{Euclid}, and next-generation CMB data will provide decisive tests.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

The Spectroscopic Stage-5 Experiment

The existence, properties, and dynamics of the dark sectors of our universe pose fundamental challenges to our current model of physics, and large-scale astronomical surveys may be our only hope to unravel these long-standing mysteries. In this white paper, we describe the science motivation, instrumentation, and survey plan for the next-generation spectroscopic observatory, the Stage-5 Spectroscopic Experiment (Spec-S5). Spec-S5 is a new all-sky spectroscopic instrument optimized to efficiently carry out cosmological surveys of unprecedented scale and precision. The baseline plan for Spec-S5 involves upgrading two existing 4-m telescopes to new 6-m wide-field facilities, each with a highly multiplexed spectroscopic instrument capable of simultaneously measuring the spectra of 13,000 astronomical targets. Spec-S5, which builds and improves on the hardware used for previous cosmology experiments, represents a cost-effective and rapid approach to realizing a more than 10$\times$ gain in spectroscopic capability compared to the current state-of-the-art represented by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project (DESI). Spec-S5 will provide a critical scientific capability in the post-Rubin and post-DESI era for advancing cosmology, fundamental physics, and astrophysics in the 2030s.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Relationship between 2D and 3D Galaxy Stellar Mass and Correlations with Halo Mass

Recent studies suggest that the stars in the outer regions of massive galaxies trace halo mass better than the inner regions and that an annular stellar mass provides a low scatter method of selecting galaxy clusters. However, we can only observe galaxies as projected two-dimensional objects on the sky. In this paper, we use a sample of simulated galaxies to study how well galaxy stellar mass profiles in three dimensions correlate with halo mass, and what effects arise when observationally projecting stellar profiles into two dimensions. We compare 2D and 3D outer stellar mass selections and find that they have similar performance as halo mass proxies and that, surprisingly, a 2D selection sometimes has marginally better performance. We also investigate whether the weak lensing profiles around galaxies selected by 2D outer stellar mass suffer from projection effects. We find that the lensing profiles of samples selected by 2D and 3D definitions are nearly identical, suggesting that the 2D selection does not create a bias. These findings underscore the promise of using outer stellar mass as a tool for identifying galaxy clusters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Dwarf Galaxies in the TNG50 Field: connecting their Star-formation Rates with their Environments

The dwarf galaxies comparable to the LMC and SMC, with stellar masses $7.5 <{\rm log}(M_{\ast}/M_{\odot})<9.5$, are found in a diversity of environments and have long quenching timescales. We need to understand how this phenomenon is connected to the dwarfs' halo properties and their locations in the large-scale structure of the universe. We study the star-formation rates of dwarfs in the TNG50 simulation of the IllustrisTNG project across different environments, focusing on field dwarfs in host halos with virial masses of $9 < {\rm log}(M_{200}/M_{\odot}) < 11.5$, in contrast to dwarf satellites in hosts with ${\rm log}(M_{200}/M_{\odot}) \geq 11.5$. Our field dwarf sample is heterogeneous, consisting of primary (central) galaxies, with smaller numbers of secondaries and dwarf galaxies that are on backsplash orbits around massive galaxies. We study how the quenched fraction and star-formation histories depend on the dwarfs' large-scale environment and find that only $\sim 1\%$ of the most isolated dwarfs are quenched. The vast majority of the quenched field dwarfs are backsplash dwarfs located in the neighborhood of cluster-scale halos. We discover a two-halo galactic conformity signal that arises from the tendency of the quenched dwarfs, particularly the backsplash sample, to have a quenched massive galaxy as a neighbor. We attribute the low quenched fractions of the simulated LMC/SMC analogs in the field to the locations of their low-mass hosts in the sparse large-scale environment, which predominate over the relatively small number of backsplash and quenched primary dwarfs in denser environments.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The Outskirt Stellar Mass of Low-Redshift Massive Galaxies is an Excellent Halo Mass Proxy in Illustris/IllustrisTNG Simulations

Recent observations suggest that the extended stellar halos of low-redshift massive galaxies are tightly connected to the assembly of their dark matter halos. In this paper, we use the Illustris, IllustrisTNG100, and IllustrisTNG300 simulations to compare how different stellar aperture masses trace halo mass. For massive central galaxies ($M_\star\geq 10^{11.2}M_\odot$), we find that a 2D outskirt stellar mass measured between 50 to 100 kpc ($M_{\star,[50,100]}$) consistently outperforms other aperture-based stellar masses. We further show that $M_{\star,[50,100]}$ correlates better with halo mass than the total amount of accreted stars (the ex situ mass), which suggests that not all accreted stars connect to halo assembly equally. While the galaxy formation recipes are different between Illustris and IllustrisTNG100, the two simulations yield consistent ex situ outskirt fractions for massive galaxies (about 70% in $M_{\star,[50,100]}$). These results demonstrate the potential of using the outskirt stellar mass to deepen our understanding of galaxy-halo connection in massive dark matter halos and trace dark matter halos better.

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arXiv2024

Improving Galaxy Cluster Selection with the Outskirt Stellar Mass of Galaxies

The number density and redshift evolution of optically selected galaxy clusters offer an independent measurement of the amplitude of matter fluctuations, $S_8$. However, recent results have shown that clusters chosen by the redMaPPer algorithm show richness-dependent biases that affect the weak lensing signals and number densities of clusters, increasing uncertainty in the cluster mass calibration and reducing their constraining power. In this work, we evaluate an alternative cluster proxy, outskirt stellar mass, $M_{\textrm{out}}$, defined as the total stellar mass within a $[50,100]$ kpc envelope centered on a massive galaxy. This proxy exhibits scatter comparable to redMaPPer richness, $\lambda$, but is less likely to be subject to projection effects. We compare the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 redMaPPer cluster catalog with a $M_{\textrm{out}}$ selected cluster sample from the Hyper-Suprime Camera survey. We use weak lensing measurements to quantify and compare the scatter of $M_{\textrm{out}}$ and $\lambda$ with halo mass. Our results show $M_{\textrm{out}}$ has a scatter consistent with $\lambda$, with a similar halo mass dependence, and that both proxies contain unique information about the underlying halo mass. We find $\lambda$-selected samples introduce features into the measured $\Delta \Sigma$ signal that are not well fit by a log-normal scatter only model, absent in $M_{\textrm{out}}$ selected samples. Our findings suggest that $M_{\textrm{out}}$ offers an alternative for cluster selection with more easily calibrated selection biases, at least at the generally lower richnesses probed here. Combining both proxies may yield a mass proxy with a lower scatter and more tractable selection biases, enabling the use of lower mass clusters in cosmology. Finally, we find the scatter and slope in the $\lambda-M_{\textrm{out}}$ scaling relation to be $0.49 \pm 0.02$ and $0.38 \pm 0.09$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Merian: A Wide-Field Imaging Survey of Dwarf Galaxies at z~0.06-0.10

We present the Merian Survey, an optical imaging survey optimized for studying the physical properties of bright star-forming dwarf galaxies. Merian is carried out with two medium-band filters ($N708$ and $N540$, centered at $708$ and $540$ nm), custom-built for the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco telescope. Merian covers $\sim 750\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ of equatorial fields, overlapping with the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) wide, deep, and ultra-deep fields. When combined with the HSC-SSP imaging data ($grizy$), the new Merian DECam medium-band imaging allows for photometric redshift measurements via the detection of H$\rm\alpha$ and [OIII] line emission flux excess in the $N708$ and $N540$ filters, respectively, at $0.06<z<0.10$. We present an overview of the survey design, observations taken to date, data reduction using the LSST Science Pipelines, including aperture-matched photometry for accurate galaxy colors, and a description of the data included in the first data release (DR1). The key science goals of Merian include: probing the dark matter halos of dwarf galaxies out to their virial radii using high signal-to-noise weak lensing profile measurements, decoupling the effects of baryonic processes from dark matter, and understanding the role of black holes in dwarf galaxy evolution. This rich dataset will also offer unique opportunities for studying extremely metal-poor galaxies via their strong [OIII] emission and H$\rm\alpha$ lines, as well as [OIII] emitters at $z\sim 0.4$, and Ly$\rm\alpha$ emitters at $z\sim 3.3$ and $z\sim 4.8$. Merian showcases the power of utilizing narrow and medium-band filters alongside broad-band filters for sky imaging, demonstrating their synergistic capacity to unveil astrophysical insights across diverse astrophysical phenomena.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

A Nonparametric Morphological Analysis of H$\alpha$ Emission in Bright Dwarfs Using the Merian Survey

Using medium-band imaging from the newly released Merian Survey, we conduct a nonparametric morphological analysis of H$\alpha$ emission maps and stellar continua for a sample of galaxies with $8\lesssim\log (M_\star/M_\odot) < 10.3$ at $0.064<z<0.1$. We present a novel method for estimating the stellar continuum emission through the Merian Survey's N708 medium-band filter, which we use to measure H$\alpha$ emission and produce H$\alpha$ maps for our sample of galaxies with seven-band Merian photometry and available spectroscopy. We measure nonparametric morphological statistics for the H$\alpha$ and stellar continuum images, explore how the morphology of the H$\alpha$ differs from the continuum, and investigate how the parameters evolve with the galaxies' physical properties. In agreement with previous results for more massive galaxies, we find that the asymmetry of the stellar continuum increases with specific star formation rate (SSFR) and we extend the trend to lower masses, also showing that it holds for the asymmetry of the H$\alpha$ emission. We find that the lowest-mass galaxies with the highest SSFR have H$\alpha$ emission that is consistently heterogeneous and compact, while the less active galaxies in this mass range have H$\alpha$ emission that appears diffuse. At higher masses, our data do not span a sufficient range in SSFR to evaluate whether similar trends apply. We conclude that high SSFRs in low-mass galaxies likely result from dynamical instabilities that compress a galaxy's molecular gas to a dense region near the center.

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