ABSTRACT We present a study of the spatial distribution and kinematics of star-forming galaxies in 30 massive clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.30, combining wide-field Spitzer 24 m and GALEX near-ultraviolet ...imaging with highly complete spectroscopy of cluster members. The fraction (fSF) of star-forming cluster galaxies rises steadily with cluster-centric radius, increasing fivefold by 2r200, but remains well below field values even at 3r200. This suppression of star formation at large radii cannot be reproduced by models in which star formation is quenched in infalling field galaxies only once they pass within r200 of the cluster, but is consistent with some of them being first pre-processed within galaxy groups. Despite the increasing fSF-radius trend, the surface density of star-forming galaxies actually declines steadily with radius, falling ∼15× from the core to 2r200. This requires star formation to survive within recently accreted spirals for 2-3 Gyr to build up the apparent over-density of star-forming galaxies within clusters. The velocity dispersion profile of the star-forming galaxy population shows a sharp peak of 1.44 at 0.3r500, and is 10%-35% higher than that of the inactive cluster members at all cluster-centric radii, while their velocity distribution shows a flat, top-hat profile within r500. All of these results are consistent with star-forming cluster galaxies being an infalling population, but one that must also survive ∼0.5-2 Gyr beyond passing within r200. By comparing the observed distribution of star-forming galaxies in the stacked caustic diagram with predictions from the Millennium simulation, we obtain a best-fit model in which star formation rates decline exponentially on quenching timescales of 1.73 0.25 Gyr upon accretion into the cluster.
Abstract
We report direct evidence of pre-processing of the galaxies residing in galaxy groups falling into galaxy clusters drawn from the Local Cluster Substructure Survey (LoCuSS). 34 groups have ...been identified via their X-ray emission in the infall regions of 23 massive (〈M200〉 = 1015 M⊙) clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.3. Highly complete spectroscopic coverage combined with 24 μm imaging from Spitzer allows us to make a consistent and robust selection of cluster and group members including star-forming galaxies down to a stellar mass limit of M⋆ = 2 × 1010 M⊙. The fraction fSF of star-forming galaxies in infalling groups is lower and with a flatter trend with respect to clustercentric radius when compared to the rest of the cluster galaxy population. At R ≈ 1.3 r200, the fraction of star-forming galaxies in infalling groups is half that in the cluster galaxy population. This is direct evidence that star-formation quenching is effective in galaxies already prior to them settling in the cluster potential, and that groups are favourable locations for this process.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal degenerative motor neuron disorder. Ten percent of cases are inherited; most involve unidentified genes. We report here 13 mutations in the fused in ...sarcoma/translated in liposarcoma (FUS/TLS) gene on chromosome 16 that were specific for familial ALS. The FUS/TLS protein binds to RNA, functions in diverse processes, and is normally located predominantly in the nucleus. In contrast, the mutant forms of FUS/TLS accumulated in the cytoplasm of neurons, a pathology that is similar to that of the gene TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP43), whose mutations also cause ALS. Neuronal cytoplasmic protein aggregation and defective RNA metabolism thus appear to be common pathogenic mechanisms involved in ALS and possibly in other neurodegenerative disorders.
We study the case of a bright (L > L
) barred spiral galaxy from the rich cluster A3558 in the Shapley supercluster core (z = 0.05) undergoing ram-pressure stripping. Integral-field spectroscopy with ...Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) at the 2.3-m Australian National University telescope, complemented by imaging in ultraviolet (GALEX), B and R European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2.2-m WFI, Hα (Magellan), K (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope), 24 and 70 μm (Spitzer), allows us to reveal the impact of ram pressure on the interstellar medium. With these data we study in detail the kinematics and the physical conditions of the ionized gas and the properties of the stellar populations. We observe one-sided extraplanar ionized gas along the full extent of the galaxy disc, extending ∼13 kpc in projection from it. Narrow-band Hα imaging resolves this outflow into a complex of knots and filaments, similar to those seen in other cluster galaxies undergoing ram-pressure stripping. The gas velocity field is complex with the extraplanar gas showing signature of rotation, while the stellar velocity field is regular and the K-band image shows a symmetric stellar distribution. We use line-ratio diagnostics to ascertain the origin of the observed emission. In all parts of the galaxy, we find a significant contribution from shock excitation, as well as emission powered by star formation. Shock-ionized gas is associated with the turbulent gas outflow and highly attenuated by dust (A
v
= 1.5-2.3 mag). All these findings cover the whole phenomenology of early-stage ram-pressure stripping. Intense, highly obscured star formation is taking place in the nucleus, probably related to the bar, and in a region 12 kpc south-west (SW) from the centre. These two regions account for half of the total star formation in the galaxy, which overall amounts to 7.2 ± 2.2 M yr−1. In the SW region we identify a starburst characterized by a ∼5× increase in the star formation rate over the last ∼100 Myr, possibly related to the compression of the interstellar gas by the ram pressure. The scenario suggested by the observations is supported and refined by ad hoc N-body/hydrodynamical simulations which identify a rather narrow temporal range for the onset of ram-pressure stripping around t ∼ 60 Myr ago, and an angle between the galaxy rotation axis and the intracluster medium wind of ∼45°. The ram pressure is therefore acting at an intermediate angle between face-on and edge-on. Taking into account that the galaxy is found ∼1 Mpc from the cluster centre in a relatively low density region, this study shows that ram-pressure stripping still acts efficiently on massive galaxies well outside the cluster cores, as also recently observed in the Virgo cluster.
We present an analysis of optical spectroscopically identified active galactic nuclei (AGN) down to a cluster magnitude of M
+ 1 in a sample of six self-similar Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxy ...clusters at z ∼ 0.07. These clusters are specifically selected to lack significant substructure at bright limits in their central regions so that we are largely able to eliminate the local action of merging clusters on the frequency of AGN. We demonstrate that the AGN fraction increases significantly from the cluster centre to 1.5R
virial, but tails off at larger radii. If only comparing the cluster core region to regions at ∼ 2R
virial, no significant variation would be found. We compute the AGN fraction by mass and show that massive galaxies (log (stellarmass) > 10.7) are host to a systematically higher fraction of AGN than lower mass galaxies at all radii from the cluster centre. We attribute this deficit of AGN in the cluster centre to the changing mix of galaxy types with radius. We use the WHAN diagnostic to separate weak AGN from 'retired' galaxies in which the main ionization mechanism comes from old stellar populations. These retired AGN are found at all radii, while the mass effect is much more pronounced: we find that massive galaxies are more likely to be in the retired class. Further, we show that our AGN have no special position inside galaxy clusters - they are neither preferentially located in the infall regions nor situated at local maxima of galaxy density as measured with Σ5. However, we find that the most powerful AGN (with O iii equivalent widths <−10 Å) reside at significant velocity offsets in the cluster, and this brings our analysis into agreement with previous work on X-ray-selected AGN. Our results suggest that if interactions with other galaxies are responsible for triggering AGN activity, the time lag between trigger and AGN enhancement must be sufficiently long to obfuscate the encounter site and wipe out the local galaxy density signal.
Aims.
We strive to explore the differences in the properties and quenching processes of satellite galaxies in a sample of massive clusters with passive and star-forming (SF) brightest cluster ...galaxies (BCGs). One aim is to investigate galactic conformity effects, manifested in a correlation between the fraction of satellite galaxies that halted star formation and the state of star formation in the central galaxy.
Methods.
We explored 18 clusters from the Local Cluster Substructure Survey at 0.15 <
z
< 0.26, using spectra from the Arizona Cluster Redshift Survey Hectospec survey of about 1800 cluster members at
R
<
R
200
in a mass-complete sample. Nine clusters have a SF BCG and nine have a passive BCG, which enable the exploration of galactic conformity effects. We measured the fluxes of emission lines of cluster members, allowing us to derive O/H gas metallicities and to identify active galactic nuclei (AGN). We compared our cluster galaxy sample with a control field sample of about 1300 galaxies with similar masses and at similar redshifts observed with Hectospec as part of the same survey. We used the location of SF galaxies, recently quenched galaxies (RQGs) and AGN in the projected velocity versus the position phase-space (phase-space diagram) to identify objects in the inner regions of the clusters and to compare their fractions in clusters with SF and passive BCGs.
Results.
The metallicities of log(
M
/
M
⊙
)≥10 SF cluster galaxies with
R
<
R
200
were found to be enhanced with respect to the mass-metallicity relation obtained for our sample of coeval field SF galaxies. This metallicity enhancement among SF cluster galaxies is limited to lower-mass satellites (10 < log(
M
/
M
⊙
) < 10.7) of the nine clusters with a passive BCG, with no metallicity enhancement seen for SF galaxies in clusters with active BCGs. Many of the SF galaxies with enhanced metallicities are found in the core regions of the phase-space diagram expected for virialized populations. We find a higher fraction of log(
M
/
M
⊙
)≥10.7 SF galaxies at
R
<
R
500
in clusters with active BCGs as compared to clusters with passive BCGs, which stands as a signal of galactic conformity. In contrast, much higher fractions at
R
<
R
500
of AGN and, particularly of RQGs, are found in clusters with passive BCGs in comparison to clusters with active BCGs.
Conclusions.
We deduce that strangulation is initiated in clusters with passive BCGs when SF satellite galaxies pass
R
200
, by stopping the pristine gas inflow that would otherwise dilute the interstellar medium and would keep their metallicities at the level of values similar to those of field galaxies at similar redshifts. These satellite galaxies continue to form stars by consuming the available gas in the disk. For galaxies with massses above log(
M
/
M
⊙
)∼10.7 that manage to survive and remain SF when traveling to
R
<
R
500
of clusters with passive BCGs, we assume that they suffer a rapid quenching of star formation, likely due to AGN triggered by the increasing ram pressure stripping toward the cluster center, which can compress the gas and fuel AGN. These AGN can rapidly quench and maintain quenched satellite galaxies. On the other hand, we found that surviving SF massive satellite galaxies around active BCGs are less affected by environment when they enter
R
<
R
500
, since we observe
R
<
R
500
SF galaxies with masses up to
M
∼ 10
11
M
⊙
and with metallicities typical of coeval field galaxies. This observed galactic conformity implies that active BCGs must maintain their activity over timescales of at least ∼1 Gyr.
We present a study of the distribution of X-ray active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in a representative sample of 26 massive clusters at 0.15 < z < 0.30, combining Chandra observations sensitive to X-ray ...point sources of luminosity L sub(X) ~ 10 super(42) erg s super(-1) at the cluster redshift with extensive and highly complete spectroscopy of cluster members down to ~M* sub(K)+2. In the stacked caustic diagram that shows (v sub(los) - )/sigma sub(v) versus r sub(proj)/r sub(500), the X-ray AGN appear to preferentially lie along the caustics, suggestive of an infalling population. Overall, our results provide the strongest observational evidence to date that X-ray AGNs found in massive clusters are an infalling population, and that the cluster environment very effectively suppresses radiatively efficient nuclear activity in its member galaxies. These results are consistent with the view that for galaxies to host an X-ray AGN they should be the central galaxy within their dark matter halo and have a ready supply of cold gas.
Aims. As large-scale structures in the Universe develop with time, environmental effects become more and more important as a star formation quenching mechanism. Since the effects of environmental ...quenching are more pronounced in denser structures that form at later times, we seek to constrain environmental quenching processes using cluster galaxies at z < 0.3. Methods. We explored seven clusters from the Local Cluster Substructure Survey (LoCuSS) at 0.15 < z < 0.26 with spectra of 1965 cluster members in a mass-complete sample from the ACReS (Arizona Cluster Redshift Survey) Hectospec survey covering a region that corresponds to about three virial radii for each cluster. We measured fluxes of O II λ 3727, Hβ, O III λ 5007, Hα, and N II λ 6584 emission lines of cluster members, enabling us to unambiguously derive O/H gas metallicities. We also measured star formation rates (SFRs) from extinction-corrected Hα fluxes. We compared our cluster galaxy sample with a field sample of 705 galaxies at similar redshifts observed with Hectospec as part of the same survey. Results. We find that star-forming cluster and field galaxies show similar median specific SFRs in a given mass bin of 1 − 3.2 × 1010 M⊙ and 3.2 − 10 × 1010 M⊙, respectively. But their O/H values are displaced, in the lower mass bin, to higher values (significance 2.4σ) at projected radii of R < R200 compared with galaxies at larger radii and in the field. The comparison with metallicity-SFR-mass model predictions with inflowing gas indicates a slow-quenching scenario in which strangulation is initiated when galaxies pass R ∼ R200 by stopping the inflow of gas. We find tentative evidence that the metallicities of cluster members inside R200 are thereby increasing, but their SFRs are hardly affected for a period of time because these galaxies consume available disk gas. We use the observed fraction of star-forming cluster galaxies as a function of clustercentric radius compared to predictions from the Millennium simulation to constrain quenching timescales to be 1−2 Gyr, which is defined as the time between the moment the galaxy passes R200 until complete quenching of star formation. This is consistent with a slow-then-rapid quenching scenario. Slow quenching (strangulation) starts when the gas inflow is stopped when the galaxy passes R200 with a phase in which cluster galaxies are still star forming, but they show elevated metallicities tracing the ongoing quenching. This phase lasts for 1−2 Gyr, and meanwhile the galaxies travel to denser inner regions of the cluster. This is followed by a “rapid” phase, i.e., a rapid complete quenching of star formation due to the increasing ram pressure toward the cluster center that can also strip the cold gas in massive galaxies.
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