Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies

We examine the properties of a sample of 35 nearby passive spiral galaxies in order to determine their dominant quenching mechanism(s). All five low-mass (M⋆ < 1 × 1010 M⊙) passive spiral galaxies are located in the rich Virgo cluster. This is in contrast to low-mass spiral galaxies with star for...

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Main Authors: Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia, Brown, Michael J. I., Pimbblet, Kevin, Dolley, Tim, Bonne, Nicolas J.
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50495/
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author Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia
Brown, Michael J. I.
Pimbblet, Kevin
Dolley, Tim
Bonne, Nicolas J.
author_facet Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia
Brown, Michael J. I.
Pimbblet, Kevin
Dolley, Tim
Bonne, Nicolas J.
author_sort Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description We examine the properties of a sample of 35 nearby passive spiral galaxies in order to determine their dominant quenching mechanism(s). All five low-mass (M⋆ < 1 × 1010 M⊙) passive spiral galaxies are located in the rich Virgo cluster. This is in contrast to low-mass spiral galaxies with star formation, which inhabit a range of environments. We postulate that cluster-scale gas stripping and heating mechanisms operating only in rich clusters are required to quench low-mass passive spirals, and ram-pressure stripping and strangulation are obvious candidates. For higher mass passive spirals, while trends are present, the story is less clear. The passive spiral bar fraction is high: 74 ± 15 per cent, compared with 36 ± 5 per cent for a mass, redshift and T-type matched comparison sample of star-forming spiral galaxies. The high mass passive spirals occur mostly, but not exclusively, in groups, and can be central or satellite galaxies. The passive spiral group fraction of 74 ± 15 per cent is similar to that of the comparison sample of star-forming galaxies at 61 ± 7 per cent. We find evidence for both quenching via internal structure and environment in our passive spiral sample, though some galaxies have evidence of neither. From this, we conclude no one mechanism is responsible for quenching star formation in passive spiral galaxies – rather, a mixture of mechanisms is required to produce the passive spiral distribution we see today.
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spelling nottingham-504952020-05-04T19:33:27Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50495/ Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia Brown, Michael J. I. Pimbblet, Kevin Dolley, Tim Bonne, Nicolas J. We examine the properties of a sample of 35 nearby passive spiral galaxies in order to determine their dominant quenching mechanism(s). All five low-mass (M⋆ < 1 × 1010 M⊙) passive spiral galaxies are located in the rich Virgo cluster. This is in contrast to low-mass spiral galaxies with star formation, which inhabit a range of environments. We postulate that cluster-scale gas stripping and heating mechanisms operating only in rich clusters are required to quench low-mass passive spirals, and ram-pressure stripping and strangulation are obvious candidates. For higher mass passive spirals, while trends are present, the story is less clear. The passive spiral bar fraction is high: 74 ± 15 per cent, compared with 36 ± 5 per cent for a mass, redshift and T-type matched comparison sample of star-forming spiral galaxies. The high mass passive spirals occur mostly, but not exclusively, in groups, and can be central or satellite galaxies. The passive spiral group fraction of 74 ± 15 per cent is similar to that of the comparison sample of star-forming galaxies at 61 ± 7 per cent. We find evidence for both quenching via internal structure and environment in our passive spiral sample, though some galaxies have evidence of neither. From this, we conclude no one mechanism is responsible for quenching star formation in passive spiral galaxies – rather, a mixture of mechanisms is required to produce the passive spiral distribution we see today. Oxford University Press 2018-02-21 Article PeerReviewed Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia, Brown, Michael J. I., Pimbblet, Kevin, Dolley, Tim and Bonne, Nicolas J. (2018) Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 474 (2). pp. 1909-1921. ISSN 1365-2966 galaxies: evolution galaxies: general galaxies: spiral galaxies: stellar content https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/474/2/1909/4582902 doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2823 doi:10.1093/mnras/stx2823
spellingShingle galaxies: evolution
galaxies: general
galaxies: spiral
galaxies: stellar content
Fraser-McKelvie, Amelia
Brown, Michael J. I.
Pimbblet, Kevin
Dolley, Tim
Bonne, Nicolas J.
Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
title Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
title_full Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
title_fullStr Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
title_full_unstemmed Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
title_short Multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
title_sort multiple mechanisms quench passive spiral galaxies
topic galaxies: evolution
galaxies: general
galaxies: spiral
galaxies: stellar content
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50495/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50495/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50495/