Dependence of galaxy quenching on halo mass and distance from its centre

Joanna Woo, Avishai Dekel, S. M. Faber, Kai Noeske, David C. Koo, Brian F. Gerke, Michael C. Cooper, Samir Salim, Aaron A. Dutton, Jeffrey Newman, Benjamin J. Weiner, Kevin Bundy, Christopher N.A. Willmer, Marc Davi, Renbin Yan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

188 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the dependence of star formation quenching on galaxy mass and environment, in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS; z ~ 0.1) and the All-Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS; z ~ 1). It is crucial that we define quenching by low star formation rate rather than by red colour, given that one-third of the red galaxies are star forming. We address stellar mass M*, halo mass Mh, density over the nearest N neighbours dN and distance to the halo centre D. The fraction of quenched galaxies appears more strongly correlated with Mh at fixed M* than with M* at fixed Mh, while for satellites quenching also depends on D. We present the M*-Mh relation for centrals at z ~ 1. At z ~ 1, the dependence of quenching on M* at fixed Mh is somewhat more pronounced than at z ~ 0, but the quenched fraction is low (10 per cent) and the haloes are less massive. For satellites, M*-dependent quenching is noticeable at high D, suggesting a quenching dependence on subhalo mass for recently captured satellites. At small D, where satellites likely fell in more than a few Gyr ago, quenching strongly depends on Mh and not on M*. The Mh dependence of quenching is consistent with theoretical wisdom where virial shock heating in massive haloes shuts down accretion and triggers ram-pressure stripping, causing quenching. The interpretation of dN is complicated by the fact that it depends on the number of observed group members compared to N, motivating the use of D as a better measure of local environment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3306-3326
Number of pages21
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume428
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2013

Keywords

  • Galaxies: evolution
  • Galaxies: groups: general
  • Galaxies: haloes
  • Galaxies: star formation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dependence of galaxy quenching on halo mass and distance from its centre'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this