ABSTRACT Galaxies that are being stripped of their gas can sometimes be recognized from their optical appearance. Extreme examples of stripped galaxies are the so-called "jellyfish galaxies" that ...exhibit tentacles of debris material with a characteristic jellyfish morphology. We have conducted the first systematic search for galaxies that are being stripped of their gas at low-z (z = 0.04−0.07) in different environments, selecting galaxies with varying degrees of morphological evidence for stripping. We have visually inspected B- and V-band images and identified 344 candidates in 71 galaxy clusters of the OMEGAWINGS+WINGS sample and 75 candidates in groups and lower mass structures in the PM2GC sample. We present the atlas of stripping candidates and a first analysis of their environment and their basic properties, such as morphologies, star formation rates and galaxy stellar masses. Candidates are found in all clusters and at all clustercentric radii, and their number does not correlate with the cluster velocity dispersion or X-ray luminosity LX. Interestingly, convincing cases of candidates are also found in groups and lower mass halos (1011−1014M ), although the physical mechanism at work needs to be securely identified. All the candidates are disky, have stellar masses ranging from log M/M < 9 to > 11.5 and the majority of them form stars at a rate that is on average a factor of 2 higher (2.5 ) compared to non-stripped galaxies of similar mass. The few post-starburst and passive candidates have weak stripping evidence. We conclude that disturbed morphologies suggestive of stripping phenomena are ubiquitous in clusters and could be present even in groups and low mass halos. Further studies will reveal the physics of the gas stripping and clarify the mechanisms at work.
This paper presents a spatially resolved kinematic study of the jellyfish galaxy JO201, one of the most spectacular cases of ram-pressure stripping (RPS) in the GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies ...with MUSE (GASP) survey. By studying the environment of JO201, we find that it is moving through the dense intracluster medium of Abell 85 at supersonic speeds along our line of sight, and that it is likely accompanied by a small group of galaxies. Given the density of the intracluster medium and the galaxy's mass, projected position, and velocity within the cluster, we estimate that JO201 must so far have lost ∼50% of its gas during infall via RPS. The MUSE data indeed reveal a smooth stellar disk accompanied by large projected tails of ionized ( ) gas, composed of kinematically cold (velocity dispersion <40 km s−1) star-forming knots and very warm (>100 km s−1) diffuse emission, that extend out to at least from the galaxy center. The ionized -emitting gas in the disk rotates with the stars out to ∼6 kpc; but, in the disk outskirts, it becomes increasingly redshifted with respect to the (undisturbed) stellar disk. The observed disturbances are consistent with the presence of gas trailing behind the stellar component resulting from intense face-on RPS along the line of sight. Our kinematic analysis is consistent with the estimated fraction of lost gas and reveals that stripping of the disk happens outside-in, causing shock heating and gas compression in the stripped tails.
Context. The relation between a cosmological halo concentration and its mass (cMr) is a powerful tool to constrain cosmological models of halo formation and evolution. Aims. On the scale of galaxy ...clusters the cMr has so far been determined mostly with X-ray and gravitational lensing data. The use of independent techniques is helpful in assessing possible systematics. Here we provide one of the few determinations of the cMr by the dynamical analysis of the projected-phase-space distribution of cluster members. Methods. Based on the WINGS and OmegaWINGS data sets, we used the Jeans analysis with the MAMPOSSt technique to determine masses and concentrations for 49 nearby clusters, each of which has ≳60 spectroscopic members within the virial region, after removal of substructures. Results. Our cMr is in statistical agreement with theoretical predictions based on ΛCDM cosmological simulations. Our cMr is different from most previous observational determinations because of its flatter slope and lower normalization. It is however in agreement with two recent cMr obtained using the lensing technique on the CLASH and LoCuSS cluster data sets. Conclusions. The dynamical study of the projected-phase-space of cluster members is an independent and valid technique to determine the cMr of galaxy clusters. Our cMr shows no tension with theoretical predictions from ΛCDM cosmological simulations for low-redshift, massive galaxy clusters. In the future we will extend our analysis to galaxy systems of lower mass and at higher redshifts.
Context. Studies of the properties of low-redshift cluster galaxies suffer, in general, from small spatial coverage of the cluster area. WINGS, the most homogeneous and complete study of galaxies in ...dense environments to date, obtained spectroscopic redshifts for 48 clusters at a median redshift of 0.05, out to an average distance of approximately 0.5 cluster virial radii. The WINGS photometric survey was recently extended by the VST survey OmegaWINGS to cover the outskirts of a subset of the original cluster sample. Aims. In this work, we present the spectroscopic follow-up of 33 of the 46 clusters of galaxies observed with VST over 1 square degree. The aim of this spectroscopic survey is to enlarge the number of cluster members and study the galaxy characteristics and the cluster dynamical properties out to large radii, reaching the virial radius and beyond. Methods. We used the AAOmega spectrograph at AAT to obtain fiber-integrated spectra covering the wavelength region between 3800 and 9000 Å with a spectral resolution of 3.5−6 Å full width at half maximum (FWHM). Observations were performed using two different configurations and exposure times per cluster. We measured redshifts using both absorption and emission lines and used them to derive the cluster redshifts and velocity dispersions. Results. We present here the redshift measurements for 17 985 galaxies, 7497 of which turned out to be cluster members. The sample magnitude completeness is 80% at V = 20. Thanks to the observing strategy, the radial completeness turned out to be relatively constant (90%) within the AAOmega field of view. The success rate in measuring redshifts is 95%, at all radii. Conclusions. We provide redshifts for the full sample of galaxies in OmegaWINGS clusters together with updated and robust cluster redshift and velocity dispersions. These data, publicly accessible through the CDS and VO archives, will enable evolutionary and environmental studies of cluster properties, providing a local benchmark.
ABSTRACT
We report evidence for star formation quenching in the central 8.6 kpc region of the jellyfish galaxy JO201 that hosts an active galactic nucleus (AGN), while undergoing strong ram-pressure ...stripping. The ultraviolet imaging data of the galaxy disc reveal a region with reduced flux around the centre of the galaxy and a horse-shoe-shaped region with enhanced flux in the outer disc. The characterization of the ionization regions based on emission line diagnostic diagrams shows that the region of reduced flux seen in the ultraviolet is within the AGN-dominated area. The CO J2−1 map of the galaxy disc reveals a cavity in the central region. The image of the galaxy disc at redder wavelengths (9050–9250 Å) reveals the presence of a stellar bar. The star formation rate map of the galaxy disc shows that the star formation suppression in the cavity occurred in the last few 108 yr. We present several lines of evidence supporting the scenario that suppression of star formation in the central region of the disc is most likely due to the feedback from the AGN. The observations reported here make JO201 a unique case of AGN feedback and environmental effects suppressing star formation in a spiral galaxy.
We search for massive and compact galaxies (superdense galaxies, hereafter SDGs) at z = 0.03-0.11 in the Padova-Millennium Galaxy and Group Catalogue, a spectroscopically complete sample ...representative of the general field population of the local universe. We find that compact galaxies with radii and mass densities comparable to high-z massive and passive galaxies represent 4.4% of all galaxies with stellar masses above 3 x 10 super(10) M sub(middot in circle), yielding a number density of 4.3 x 10 super(-4) h super(3) Mpc super(-3). Most of them are SOs (70%) or ellipticals (23%), are red, and have intermediate-to-old stellar populations, with a median luminosity-weighted age of 5.4 Gyr and a median mass-weighted age of 9.2 Gyr. We confirm the existence of a universal trend of smaller radii for older luminosity-weighted ages at fixed galaxy mass. Our results and hierarchical simulations suggest that a significant fraction of the massive compact galaxies at high z have evolved into compact galaxies in galaxy clusters today.
ABSTRACT The star formation quenching depends on environment, but a full understanding of what mechanisms drive it is still missing. Exploiting a sample of galaxies with masses , drawn from the ...WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey (WINGS) and its recent extension OMEGAWINGS, we investigate the star formation rate (SFR) as a function of stellar mass (M ) in galaxy clusters at . We use non-member galaxies at 0.02 < z < 0.09 as a field control sample. Overall, we find agreement between the SFR-M relation in the two environments, but detect a population of cluster galaxies with reduced SFRs, which is rare in the field. These transition galaxies are mainly found within the cluster virial radius (R200), but they impact on the SFR-M relation only within 0.6R200. The ratio of transition to pure star-forming galaxies strongly depends on environment, being larger than 0.6 within 0.3R200 and rapidly decreasing with distance, while it is almost flat with M*. As galaxies move downward from the SFR-M main sequence, they become redder and present older luminosity- and mass-weighted ages. These trends, together with the analysis of the star formation histories, suggest that transition galaxies have had a reduced SFR for the past 2-5 Gyr. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the interaction of galaxies with the intracluster medium via strangulation causes a gradual shut down of star formation, giving birth to an evolved population of galaxies in transition from being star forming to becoming passive.
Galaxies that abruptly interrupt their star formation in present recognizable features in their spectra (no emission and Hδ in absorption) and are called post-starburst (PSB) galaxies. By studying ...their stellar population properties and their location within the clusters, we obtain valuable insights on the physical processes responsible for star formation quenching. We present the first complete characterization of PSB galaxies in clusters at , based on WINGS and OmegaWINGS data, and contrast their properties to those of passive (PAS) and emission-line (EML) galaxies. For , PSBs represent 7.2 0.2% of cluster galaxies within 1.2 virial radii. Their incidence slightly increases from the outskirts toward the cluster center and from the least toward the most luminous and massive clusters, defined in terms of X-ray luminosity and velocity dispersion. The phase-space analysis and velocity-dispersion profile suggest that PSBs represent a combination of galaxies with different accretion histories. Moreover, PSBs with the strongest Hδ are consistent with being recently accreted. PSBs have stellar masses, magnitudes, colors, and morphologies intermediate between PAS and EML galaxies, typical of a population in transition from being star-forming to passive. Comparing the fraction of PSBs to the fraction of galaxies in transition on longer timescales, we estimate that the short-timescale star formation quenching channel contributes two times more than the long timescale one to the growth of the passive population. Processes like ram-pressure stripping and galaxy-galaxy interactions are more efficient than strangulation in affecting star formation.
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