A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Euclid preparation: LXXXI. The impact of nonparametric star formation histories on spatially resolved galaxy property estimation using synthetic Euclid images; 
Authors: Nersesian, A.; Abdurro’uf; Baes, M.; Tortora, C.; Kovačić, I.; Bisigello, L.; Corcho-Caballero, P.; Durán-Camacho, E.; Hunt, L. K.; Iglesias-Navarro, P.; Ragusa, R.; Román, J.; Shankar, F.; Siudek, M.; Sorce, J. G.; Marleau, F. R.; Aghanim, N.; Andreon, S.; Auricchio, N.; Baccigalupi, C.; Baldi, M.; Bardelli, S.; Biviano, A.; Branchini, E.; Brescia, M.; Camera, S.; Cañas-Herrera, G.; Capobianco, V.; Carbone, C.; Carretero, J.; Casas, S.; Castellano, M.; Castignani, G.; Cavuoti, S.; Cimatti, A.; Colodro-Conde, C.; Congedo, G.; Conselice, C. J.; Conversi, L.; Copin, Y.; Courbin, F.; Courtois, H. M.; Da Silva, A.; Degaudenzi, H.; De Lucia, G.; Dole, H.; Douspis, M.; Dubath, F.; Dupac, X.; Dusini, S.; Farina, M.; Farinelli, R.; Faustini, F.; Ferriol, S.; Finelli, F.; Fourmanoit, N.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Fumana, M.; Galeotta, S.; George, K.; Gillis, B.; Giocoli, C.; Gracia-Carpio, J.; Grazian, A.; Grupp, F.; Haugan, S. V. H.; Holmes, W.; Hormuth, F.; Hornstrup, A.; Jahnke, K.; Jhabvala, M.; Keihänen, E.; Kermiche, S.; Kilbinger, M.; Kubik, B.; Kümmel, M.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Le Brun, A. M. C.; Ligori, S.; Lilje, P. B.; Lindholm, V.; Lloro, I.; Mainetti, G.; Maino, D.; Maiorano, E.; Mansutti, O.; Marggraf, O.; Martinelli, M.; Martinet, N.; Marulli, F.; Massey, R. J.; Medinaceli, E.; Mei, S.; Melchior, M.; Mellier, Y.; Meneghetti, M.; Merlin, E.; Meylan, G.; Mora, A.; Moresco, M.; Moscardini, L.; Neissner, C.; Niemi, S. M.; Padilla, C.; Paltani, S.; Pasian, F.; Pedersen, K.; Pettorino, V.; Pires, S.; Polenta, G.; Poncet, M.; Popa, L. A.; Pozzetti, L.; Renzi, A.; Rhodes, J.; Riccio, G.; Romelli, E.; Roncarelli, M.; Saglia, R.; Sakr, Z.; Sapone, D.; Sartoris, B.; Schneider, P.; Schrabback, T.; Secroun, A.; Seidel, G.; Seiffert, M.; Serrano, S.; Simon, P.; Sirignano, C.; Sirri, G.; Stanco, L.; Steinwagner, J.; Tallada-Crespí, P.; Taylor, A. N.; Tereno, I.; Toft, S.; Toledo-Moreo, R.; Torradeflot, F.; Tutusaus, I.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Vassallo, T.; Verdoes Kleijn, G.; Veropalumbo, A.; Wang, Y.; Weller, J.; Zamorani, G.; Zerbi, F. M.; Zinchenko, I. A.; Zucca, E.; Allevato, V.; Bolzonella, M.; Bozzo, E.; Burigana, C.; Cabanac, R.; Calabrese, M.; Cappi, A.; Escartin Vigo, J. A.; Gabarra, L.; Martín-Fleitas, J.; Matthew, S.; Mauri, N.; Metcalf, R. B.; Nucita, A. A.; Pezzotta, A.; Pöntinen, M.; Porciani, C.; Risso, I.; Scottez, V.; Sereno, M.; Tenti, M.; Viel, M.; Wiesmann, M.; Akrami, Y.; Andika, I. T.; Anselmi, S.; Archidiacono, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Bertacca, D.; Bethermin, M.; Blanchard, A.; Blot, L.; Borgani, S.; Brown, M. L.; Bruton, S.; Calabro, A.; Camacho Quevedo, B.; Caro, F.; Carvalho, C. S.; Castro, T.; Cogato, F.; Conseil, S.; Cooray, A. R.; Cucciati, O.; Davini, S.; De Paolis, F.; Desprez, G.; Díaz-Sánchez, A.; Diaz, J. J.; Di Domizio, S.; Diego, J. M.; Duc, P. A.; Enia, A.; Fang, Y.; Ferrari, A. G.; Finoguenov, A.; Fontana, A.; Fontanot, F.; Franco, A.; Ganga, K.; García-Bellido, J.; Gasparetto, T.; Gautard, V.; Gaztanaga, E.; Giacomini, F.; Gianotti, F.; Gozaliasl, G.; Gutierrez, C. M.; Hall, A.; Hemmati, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Hildebrandt, H.; Hjorth, J.; Kajava, J. J. E.; Kang, Y.; Kansal, V.; Karagiannis, D.; Kiiveri, K.; Kirkpatrick, C. C.; Kruk, S.; Legrand, L.; Lepori, F.; Leroy, G.; Lesci, G. F.; Lesgourgues, J.; Leuzzi, L.; Liaudat, T. I.; Loureiro, A.; Macias-Perez, J.; Maggio, G.; Magliocchetti, M.; Mannucci, F.; Maoli, R.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Maurin, L.; Monaco, P.; Moretti, C.; Morgante, G.; Naidoo, K.; Navarro-Alsina, A.; Passalacqua, F.; Paterson, K.; Patrizii, L.; Pisani, A.; Potter, D.; Quai, S.; Radovich, M.; Rocci, P. F.; Rodighiero, G.; Sacquegna, S.; Sahlén, M.; Sanders, D. B.; Sarpa, E.; Schneider, A.; Schultheis, M.; Sciotti, D.; Sellentin, E.; Smith, L. C.; Tanidis, K.; Tao, C.; Testera, G.; Teyssier, R.; Tosi, S.; Troja, A.; Tucci, M.; Valieri, C.; Venhola, A.; Vergani, D.; Verza, G.; Vielzeuf, P.; Walton, N. A.; Knapen, J. H.; Euclid Collaboration
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Article number: A231
Volume: 707
ISSN: 0004-6361
eISSN: 1432-0746
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202556464
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202556464
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/523413731
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Aims. We analyzed the spatially resolved and global star formation histories (SFHs) for a sample of 25 TNG50-SKIRT Atlas galaxies to assess the feasibility of reconstructing accurate SFHs from Euclid-like data. This study provides a proof of concept for extracting the spatially resolved SFHs of local galaxies with Euclid, highlighting the strengths and limitations of SFH modeling in the context of next-generation galaxy surveys.
Methods. We used the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code Prospector to model both spatially resolved and global SFHs using parametric and nonparametric configurations. The input consisted of mock ultraviolet near-infrared photometry derived from the TNG50 cosmological simulation and processed with the radiative transfer code SKIRT.
Results. We show that nonparametric SFHs provide a more effective approach to mitigating the outshining effect by recent star formation, offering improved accuracy in the determination of galaxy stellar properties. Also, we find that the nonparametric SFH model at resolved scales closely recovers the stellar mass formation times (within 0.1 dex) and the ground truth values from TNG50, with an absolute average bias of 0.03 dex in stellar mass and 0.01 dex in both specific star formation rate and mass-weighted age. In contrast, larger offsets are estimated for all stellar properties and formation times when using a simple -model SFH, at both resolved and global scales, highlighting its limitations.
Conclusions. These results emphasize the critical role of nonparametric SFHs in both global and spatially resolved analyses, as they better capture the complex evolutionary pathways of galaxies and avoid the biases inherent in simple parametric models.
Keywords:
galaxies: stellar content
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We thank the anonymous referee for the valuable remarks and suggestions that helped us improve the paper. AN gratefully acknowledges the support of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) for the provision of financial support in the framework of the PRODEX Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) under contract number 4000143347. EDC acknowledges funding from the European Union grant WIDERA ExGal-Twin, GA 101158446. This research makes use of ESA Datalabs (datalabs.esa.int/), an initiative by ESA’s Data Science and Archives Division in the Science and Operations Department, Directorate of Science. The Euclid Consortium acknowledges the European Space Agency and a number of agencies and institutes that have supported the development of Euclid, in particular the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, the Austrian Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft funded through BMK, the Belgian Science Policy, the Canadian Euclid Consortium, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, the DTU Space and the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the Netherlandse Onderzoekschool Voor Astronomie, the Norwegian Space Agency, the Research Council of Finland, the Romanian Space Agency, the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) at the Swiss Space Office (SSO), and the United Kingdom Space Agency. A complete and detailed list is available on the Euclid web site (www.euclid-ec.org). This work has made use of CosmoHub, developed by PIC (maintained by IFAE and CIEMAT) in collaboration with ICE-CSIC. CosmoHub received funding from the Spanish government (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), the EU NextGeneration/PRTR (PRTR-C17.I1), and the Generalitat de Catalunya.
