A Comparison of the Galaxy Populations in the Coma and Distant Clusters: The Evolution of k+a Galaxies and the Role of the Intracluster Medium

By B. Poggianti, T. Bridges, Y. Komiyama, M. Yagi, D. Carter, B. Mobasher, S. Okamura, N. Kashikawa. 2003

164 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The spectroscopic properties of galaxies in the Coma Cluster are compared with those of galaxies in rich clusters at z ~ 0.5, to investigate the evolution of the star formation history in clusters. Luminous galaxies with MV ≤ -20 and poststarburst/post-star-forming (k+a) spectra that constitute a significant fraction of galaxies in distant cluster samples are absent in Coma, where spectacular cases of k+a spectra are found instead at MV > -18.5 and represent a significant proportion of the cluster dwarf galaxy population. A simple inspection of their positions on the sky indicates that this type of galaxy does not show a preferential location within the cluster, but the bluest and strongest lined group of k+a galaxies lie in projection toward the central 1.4 Mpc of Coma and have radial velocities significantly higher than the cluster mean. We find a striking correlation between the positions of these young and strong poststarburst galaxies and substructure in the hot intracluster medium (ICM) identified from XMM-Newton data, with these galaxies lying close to the edges of two infalling substructures. This result strongly suggests that the interaction with the dense ICM could be responsible for the quenching of the star formation (thus creating the k+a spectrum) and, possibly, for any previous starburst. The evolution with redshift of the luminosity distribution of k+a galaxies can be explained by a "downsizing effect," with the maximum luminosity/mass of actively star-forming galaxies infalling onto clusters decreasing at lower redshift. We discuss the possible physical origin of this downsizing effect and the implications of our results for current scenarios of environmental effects on the star formation in galaxies.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9c8ddf559c501b609e801d8f37fc2b939f1bd523

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Citations in the corpus

The Evolution of the Star Formation Activity in Galaxies and Its Dependence on Environment (2005, background): “…has been quenched when they were accreted into the dense environment (Dressler & Gunn 1983, 1992, Couch & Sharples 1987, Balogh et al. 1997, Poggianti et al. 1999, Ellingson et al. 2001, Kodama & Bower 2001, van Dokkum & Franx 2001, Tran et al. 2003, Poggianti et al. 2004, Wilman et al. 2005b).”
A DOZEN NEW GALAXIES CAUGHT IN THE ACT: GAS STRIPPING AND EXTENDED EMISSION LINE REGIONS IN THE COMA CLUSTER (2010, background): “The eleven redshifted parents could be part of a group falling into the cluster (Poggianti et al. 2004).”
CAIRNS: The Cluster and Infall Region Nearby Survey. I. Redshifts and Mass Profiles (2003, background): “However, other investigators have found that Coma contains no bright post-starburst/post-star-forming galaxies, unlike clusters at moderate redshift (Caldwell & Rose 1997; Poggianti et al. 2004), although Coma does contain some faint poststarburst galaxies (Caldwell et al. 1996).”
NOAO Fundamental Plane Survey. II. Age and Metallicity along the Red Sequence from Line-Strength Data (2005, background): “Furthermore, in Poggianti et al. (2004), the authors noted that post-starburst k+a spectra were identified in dwarf galaxy spectra, with luminosities L ∼< 0.1L∗.”
A Wide-Field Survey of Two z ~ 0.5 Galaxy Clusters: Identifying the Physical Processes Responsible for the Observed Transformation of Spirals into S0s (2007, background): “…and still-assembling clusters could, for example, explain why some clusters, like Coma, reveal few signs of evolution in their massive galaxies (Poggianti et al. 2004), while others, like Virgo, have a rich population of passive spirals and galaxies with other signsof recent evolution (e.g.,…”
Physical properties and environments of nearby galaxies (2009, methodology): “Poggianti et al. (2004) claim that in the Coma cluster there is a population of low luminosity (MV > −18.5) K+A galaxies associated with dense areas in the hot intracluster medium.”
Ultraviolet tails and trails in cluster galaxies: a sample of candidate gaseous stripping events in Coma (2010, background): “This possibility is reminiscent of the claim by Poggianti et al. (2004) that young post-starburst galaxies in Coma are related to local features in the ICM, indeed including the same Neumann et al. western structure.”
GALAXY CLUSTER BARYON FRACTIONS REVISITED (2013, background): “The overall impact of this population is expected to be small given the rarity of post-starburst galaxies in local clusters (e.g., Couch et al. 2001; Poggianti et al. 2004).”
Bursty stellar populations and obscured active galactic nuclei in galaxy bulges (2007, background): “…1983; Dressler et al. 2004; Nolan, Raychaudhury & Kaban 2007), recent truncation of star formation caused by stripping of gas in cluster environments (Poggianti et al. 1999, 2004), or simply obscuration of younger, hotter stars by dust (Smail et al. 1999; Poggianti & Wu 2000; Miller & Owen 2001).”
GAS STRIPPING IN SIMULATED GALAXIES WITH A MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM (2009, background): “In Coma, Poggianti et al (2004) found that post-starburst or post-star-forming galaxies were found at the edge of ICM substructure, which seems to follow our claim that starbursts will occur outside of the densest ICM, while high ram pressure will quench star formation.”
On the influence of ram-pressure stripping on the star formation of simulated spiral galaxies (2008, background): “…by cluster mergers (e.g. Coma: Caldwellet al. 1993 – A3562: Bardelli et al. 1998; Miller 2005 – A2125: Dwarakanath & Owen 1999; Owen et al. 2005 – A2255: Miller & Owen 2003), or quenched after a starburst phase, leaving young and strong poststarburst galaxies (e.g. Coma: Poggianti et al. 2004).”
The STAGES view of red spirals and dusty red galaxies: Mass-dependent quenching of star formation in cluster infall (2008, background): “Furthermore, Poggianti et al. (1999, 2004) and Goto et al. (2003) found spirals without optical signs of SF in outskirts of clusters, and dubbed them ‘optically passive spirals’.”
266 E+A galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 2: the origin of E+A galaxies (2005, background): “…cluster regions at first, both in low redshift clusters (Caldwell et al. 1993, 1996; Caldwell & Rose 1997; Castander et al. 2001; Rose et al. 2001; Poggianti et al. 2004) and high redshift clusters (Sharples et al. 1985; Lavery & Henry 1986; Couch & Sharples 1987; Fabricant, McClintock, & Bautz…”
Environmental Effects on Late‐Type Galaxies in Nearby Clusters (2006, methodology): “These H-band imaging data, in addition to having better photometric quality due to the linear response of the NICMOS3 detectors compared to the photographic plates of Dressler (1980), have the advantage of being free from dust obscuration and from relatively recent episodes of star formation, which ”