IR observations of MS 1054-03: Star formation and its evolution in rich galaxy clusters

We study the IR properties of galaxies in the cluster MS 1054-03 at z = 0.83 by combining MIPS 24 μm data with spectra of more than 400 galaxies and a very deep K-band-selected catalog. Nineteen IR cluster members are selected spectroscopically, and an additional 15 are selected by their photometric redshifts. We derive the IR luminosity function of the cluster and find strong evolution compared to the similar-mass Coma Cluster. The best-fitting Schechter function gives L_IR* = 11.49_-0.29 ^+0.30L_⊙ with a fixed faint-end slope, about 1 order of magnitude larger than that in Coma. The rate of evolution of the IR luminosity from Coma to MS 1054-03 is consistent with that found in field galaxies, and it suggests that some internal mechanism, e.g., the consumption of the gas fuel, is responsible for the general decline of the cosmic SFR in different environments. The mass-normalized integrated SFR within 0.5R ₂₀₀ in MS 1054-03 also shows evolution compared with other rich clusters at lower redshifts, but the trend is less conclusive if the mass selection effect is considered. A nonnegligible fraction (13% ± 3%) of cluster members are forming stars actively, and the overdensity of IR galaxies is about 20 compared to the field. It is unlikely that clusters only passively accrete starforming galaxies from the surrounding fields and have their star formation quenched quickly afterward; instead, many cluster galaxies still have large amounts of gas, and their star formation may be enhanced by the interaction with the cluster.