Quenched galaxies are often observed to contain a strong bulge component. The key question is whether this reflects a causal connection - can star formation be quenched dynamically by bulges or the spheroids of early-type galaxies? We systematically investigate the impact of these morphological components on star formation, by performing a suite of hydrodynamical simulations of isolated galaxies containing a spheroid. We vary the bulge mass and scale radius, while the total initial stellar, halo and gas mass are kept constant, with a gas fraction of 5 per cent. In addition, we consider two different sub-grid star formation prescriptions. The first follows most simulations in the literature by assuming a constant star formation efficiency per free-fall time, whereas in the second model it depends on the gas virial parameter, following high-resolution simulations of turbulent fragmentation. Across all simulations, central spheroids increase the gas velocity dispersion towards the galactic centre. This increases the gravitational stability of the gas disc, suppresses fragmentation and star formation, and results in galaxies hosting extremely smooth and quiescent gas discs that fall below the galaxy main sequence. These effects amplify when using the more sophisticated, dynamics-dependent star formation model. Finally, we discover a pronounced relation between the central stellar surface density and star formation rate (SFR), such that the most bulge-dominated galaxies show the strongest deviation from the main sequence. We conclude that the SFR of galaxies is not only set by the balance between accretion and feedback, but carries a (sometimes dominant) dependence on the gravitational potential.
We examine the spheroid growth and star formation quenching experienced by galaxies from z~3 to the present by studying the evolution with redshift of the quiescent and spheroid-dominated fractions of galaxies from the CANDELS and GAMA surveys. We compare the observed fractions with predictions from a semi-analytic model which includes prescriptions for bulge growth and AGN feedback due to mergers and disk instabilities. We facilitate direct morphological comparison by converting our model bulge-to-total stellar mass ratios to Sersic indices. We then subdivide our population into the four quad…
We investigate the relationship between the quenching of star formation and the structural transformation of massive galaxies, using a large sample of photometrically-selected post-starburst galaxies in the UKIDSS UDS field. We find that post-starburst galaxies at high-redshift ($z>1$) show high Sérsic indices, significantly higher than those of active star-forming galaxies, but with a distribution that is indistinguishable from the old quiescent population. We conclude that the morphological transformation occurs before (or during) the quenching of star formation. Recently quenched galaxies a…
Most present-day galaxies with stellar masses $\geq10^{11}$ solar masses show no ongoing star formation and are dense spheroids. Ten billion years ago, similarly massive galaxies were typically forming stars at rates of hundreds solar masses per year. It is debated how star formation ceased, on which timescales, and how this "quenching" relates to the emergence of dense spheroids. We measured stellar mass and star-formation rate surface density distributions in star-forming galaxies at redshift 2.2 with $\sim1$ kiloparsec resolution. We find that, in the most massive galaxies, star formation i…
We calculate the star formation quenching timescales in green valley galaxies at intermediate redshifts ($z\sim0.5-1$) using stacked zCOSMOS spectra of different galaxy morphological types: spheroidal, disk-like, irregular and merger, dividing disk-like galaxies further into unbarred, weakly-barred and strongly-barred, assuming a simple exponentially-decaying star formation history model and based on the H$_δ$ absorption feature and the $4000$ Å~break. We find that different morphological types present different star formation quenching timescales, reinforcing the idea that the galaxy morpholo…
We study the significance of mergers in the quenching of star formation in galaxies at z~1 by examining their color-mass distributions for different morphology types. We perform two-dimensional light profile fits to GOODS iz images of ~5000 galaxies and X-ray selected active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts in the CANDELS/GOODS-north and south fields in the redshift range 0.7<z<1.3. Distinguishing between bulge-dominated and disk-dominated morphologies, we find that disks and spheroids have distinct color-mass distributions, in agreement with studies at z~0. The smooth distribution across colors f…
The effect of the local environment on the evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies is poorly understood. We have undertaken a suite of simulations to investigate the tidal impact of the Milky Way on the chemodynamical evolution of dwarf spheroidals that resemble present day classical dwarfs using the SPH code GEAR. After simulating the models through a large parameter space of potential orbits the resulting properties are compared with observations from both a dynamical point of view, but also from the, often neglected, chemical point of view. In general, we find that tidal effects quench the s…
We present predictions for the quenching of star formation in satellite galaxies of the Local Group from a suite of 30 cosmological zoom simulations of Milky Way-like host galaxies. The Auriga simulations resolve satellites down to the luminosity of the classical dwarf spheroidal galaxies of the Milky Way. We find strong mass-dependent and distance-dependent quenching signals, where dwarf systems beyond 600 kpc are only strongly quenched below a stellar mass of $10^7$ M$_\odot$. Ram pressure stripping appears to be the dominant quenching mechanism and 50% of quenched systems cease star formati…
Shell galaxies make a class of tidally distorted galaxies, characterised by wide concentric arc(s), extending out to large galactocentric distances with sharp outer edges. Recent observations of young massive star clusters in the prominent outer shell of NGC 474 suggest that such systems host extreme conditions of star formation. In this paper, we present a hydrodynamic simulation of a galaxy merger and its transformation into a shell galaxy. We analyse how the star formation activity evolves with time, location-wise within the system, and what are the physical conditions for star formation. D…
A number of mechanisms have been proposed to connect star-forming dwarf irregular galaxies with the formation of non-star-forming dwarf spheroidal galaxies, but distinguishing between these mechanisms has been difficult. We use the Via Lactea dark matter only cosmological simulations to test two well-motivated simple hypotheses---transformation of irregulars into dwarf spheroidal galaxies by tidal stirring and ram pressure stripping following a close passage to the host galaxy, and transformation via mergers between dwarfs---and predict the radial distribution and inferred formation times of t…
We combine observations of the Local Group with data from the NASA-Sloan Atlas to show the variation in the quenched fraction of satellite galaxies from low mass dwarf spheroidals and dwarf irregulars to more massive dwarfs similar to the Magellanic clouds. While almost all of the low mass ($M_\star \lesssim 10^7$ $M_\odot$) dwarfs are quenched, at higher masses the quenched fraction decreases to approximately 40-50%. This change in the quenched fraction is large, and suggests a sudden change in the effectiveness of quenching that correlates with satellite mass. We combine this observation wit…
Virgo Filaments VIII: Characterizing the Structural Parameters of Virgo Galaxies with Machine Learning to Probe Environmental Quenching
University of Kansas(堪萨斯大学);Siena University(锡耶纳大学);Union College(联合学院);INAF- Osservatorio astronomico di Padova(意大利国家天体物理研究所帕多瓦天文台);Steward Observatory, University of Arizona(亚利桑那大学斯图尔德天文台);INAF - Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna(意大利国家天体物理研究所博洛尼亚天体物理学与空间科学观测站);Observatoire de Paris, LUX, Collège de France, CNRS, PSL University, Sorbonne University(巴黎天文台,法国学院,法国国家科学研究中心,巴黎文理研究大学,索邦大学);INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste(意大利国家天体物理研究所的里雅斯特天文台);Dipartimento di Fisica G. Occhialini, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca(米兰比可卡大学G. Occhialini物理系);Laboratoire d’Astrophysique, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)(洛桑联邦理工学院天体物理实验室)
Low mass dwarf spheroidal galaxies are key objects for our understanding of the chemical evolution of the pristine Universe and the Local Group of galaxies. Abundance ratios in stars of these objects can be used to better understand their star formation and chemical evolution. We report on the analysis of a sample of 11 stars belonging to 5 different ultra faint dwarf spheroidal galaxies (UfDSph) based on X-Shooter spectra obtained at the VLT. Medium resolution spectra have been used to determine the detailed chemical composition of their atmosphere. We performed a standard 1D LTE analysis to …
It is generally assumed that galaxies are a bimodal population in both star formation and structure: star-forming galaxies are disks, while passive galaxies host large bulges or are entirely spheroidal. Here, we test this scenario by presenting a full census of the kinematic morphologies of a volume-limited sample of galaxies in the local Universe extracted from the MaNGA galaxy survey. We measure the integrated stellar line-of-sight velocity to velocity dispersion ratio ($V/σ$) for 4574 galaxies in the stellar mass range $9.75 < \log M_{\star}[\rm{M}_{\odot}] < 11.75$. We show that at fixed s…
Quenching, the cessation of star formation, is one of the most significant events in the life cycle of galaxies. We show here the first evidence that the Milky Way experienced a generalised quenching of its star formation at the end of its thick disk formation $\sim$9 Gyr ago. Elemental abundances of stars studied as part of the APOGEE survey reveal indeed that in less than $\sim$2 Gyr the star formation rate in our Galaxy dropped by an order-of-magnitude. Because of the tight correlation between age and alpha abundance, this event reflects in the dearth of stars along the inner disk sequence …
To figure out the effect of stellar mass and local environment on morphological transformation and star formation quenching in galaxies, we use the massive ($M_* \geq 10^{10} M_{\odot}$) galaxies at $0.5 \leq z \leq 2.5$ in five fields of 3D-HST/CANDELS. Based on the {\it UVJ} diagnosis and the possibility of possessing spheroid, our sample of massive galaxies are classified into four populations: quiescent early-type galaxies (qEs), quiescent late-type galaxies (qLs), star-forming early-type galaxies (sEs), and star-forming late-type galaxies (sLs). It is found that the quiescent fraction is …
We develop a 2D inclined rotating disc model, which we apply to the stellar velocity maps of 1862 galaxies taken from the MaNGA survey (SDSS public Data Release 15). We use a random forest classifier to identify the kinematic parameters that are most connected to galaxy quenching. We find that kinematic parameters that relate predominantly to the disc (such as the mean rotational velocity) and parameters that characterise whether a galaxy is rotation- or dispersion-dominated (such as the ratio of rotational velocity to velocity dispersion) are not fundamentally linked to the quenching of star …
We use SDSS+\textit{GALEX}+Galaxy Zoo data to study the quenching of star formation in low-redshift galaxies. We show that the green valley between the blue cloud of star-forming galaxies and the red sequence of quiescent galaxies in the colour-mass diagram is not a single transitional state through which most blue galaxies evolve into red galaxies. Rather, an analysis that takes morphology into account makes clear that only a small population of blue early-type galaxies move rapidly across the green valley after the morphologies are transformed from disk to spheroid and star formation is quen…
Spatially resolved star-formation histories of local post-starburst galaxies: Starburst and quenching spatial patterns consistent with recent mergers
University of St Andrews(圣安德鲁斯大学);University of Edinburgh(爱丁堡大学);Imperial College London(帝国理工学院);University of Hertfordshire(赫特福德大学);Anqing Normal University(安庆师范大学)
We examine the connection between the properties of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and the quenching and morphological evolution of central galaxies in the EAGLE and IllustrisTNG simulations. The simulations yield very different median CGM mass fractions, $f_{\rm CGM}$, as a function of halo mass, $M_{200}$, with low-mass haloes being significantly more gas-rich in IllustrisTNG than in EAGLE. Nonetheless, in both cases scatter in $f_{\rm CGM}$ at fixed $M_{200}$ is strongly correlated with the specific star formation rate and the kinematic morphology of central galaxies. The correlations are …
We present ALMA observations at 107.291 GHz (band 3) and 214.532 GHz (band 6) of GMASS 0953, a star-forming galaxy at z=2.226 hosting an obscured AGN that has been proposed as a progenitor of compact quiescent galaxies (QG). We measure for the first time the size of the dust and molecular gas emission of GMASS 0953 that we find to be extremely compact ($\sim$1 kpc). This result, coupled with a very high ISM density (n$\sim$10$^{5.5}$ cm$^{-3}$), a low gas mass fraction ($\sim$0.2) and a short gas depletion timescale ($\sim$150 Myr) imply that GMASS 0953 is experiencing an episode of intense st…
Star formation quenching precedes morphological transformation in COSMOS-WEB's richest galaxy groups
INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste(意大利国家天体物理研究所的里雅斯特天文台);IFPU: Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe(宇宙基础物理研究所);Aalto University(阿尔托大学);University of Helsinki(赫尔辛基大学);University of Bologna - Department of Physics and Astronomy “Augusto Righi” (DIFA)(博洛纳大学物理与天文学系);INAF - Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna(意大利国家天体物理研究所博洛纳空间科学与天体物理学观测站);Zentrum für Astronomie, Universität Heidelberg(海德堡大学天文学中心);Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside(加州大学河滨分校物理与天文学系);ITP, Universität Heidelberg(海德堡大学理论物理研究所)
研究揭示了在COSMOS-WEB最富 galaxy groups 中,星系形成淬灭早于形态转变,与传统富集群的形态-密度关系不同,且质量依赖性淬灭主导高质量系统。
The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey has morphologically identified a class of "Little Blue Spheroid" (LBS) galaxies whose relationship to other classes of galaxies we now examine in detail. Considering a sample of 868 LBSs, we find that such galaxies display similar but not identical colours, specific star formation rates, stellar population ages, mass-to-light ratios, and metallicities to Sd-Irr galaxies. We also find that LBSs typically occupy environments of even lower density than those of Sd-Irr galaxies, where ~65% of LBS galaxies live in isolation. Using deep, high-resolution ima…
Observations have shown that the star-formation activity and the morphology of galaxies are closely related, but the underlying physical connection is not well understood. Using the TNG50 simulation, we explore the quenching and the morphological evolution of the 102 massive quiescent galaxies in the mass range of $10.5<\log(M_{\rm stellar}/M_{\odot})<11.5$ selected at $z=0$. The morphology of galaxies is quantified based on their kinematics, and we measure the quenching timescale of individual galaxies directly from star formation history. We show that galaxies tend to be quenched more rapidl…
Early type galaxies (ETG) contain most of the stars present in the local Universe and, above a stellar mass of ~5e10 Msun, vastly outnumber spiral galaxies like the Milky Way. These massive spheroidal galaxies have, in the present day, very little gas or dust, and their stellar populations have been evolving passively for over 10 billion years. The physical mechanisms that led to the termination of star formation in these galaxies and depletion of their interstellar medium remain largely conjectural. In particular, there are currently no direct measurements of the amount of residual gas that m…
COSMOS-Web: Star formation along the early Hubble sequence and the evolution of dust over the redshift range 0<z<12
Cardiff University(卡迪夫大学);Chalmers University of Technology(查尔姆斯理工大学);University of Western Australia(西澳大利亚大学);Royal Observatory of Edinburgh(爱丁堡皇家天文台)
Galaxy morphology and its evolution over the cosmic epoch hold important clues for understanding the regulation of star formation (SF). However, studying the relationship between morphology and SF has been hindered by the availability of consistent data at different redshifts. Our sample, combining CANDELS (0.8 < z < 2.5) and the GALEX-SDSS-WISE Legacy Catalog (GSWLC; z ~ 0), has physical parameters derived using consistent SED fitting with flexible dust attenuation laws. We adopt visual classifications from Kartaltepe et al. 2015 and expand them to z ~ 0 using SDSS images matching the physica…
Important but rare and subtle processes driving galaxy morphology and star-formation may be missed by traditional spiral, elliptical, irregular or Sérsic bulge/disk classifications. To overcome this limitation, we use a principal component analysis of non-parametric morphological indicators (concentration, asymmetry, Gini coefficient, $M_{20}$, multi-mode, intensity and deviation) measured at rest-frame $B$-band (corresponding to HST/WFC3 F125W at 1.4 $< z <$ 2) to trace the natural distribution of massive ($>10^{10} M_{\odot}$) galaxy morphologies. Principal component analysis (PCA) quantifie…
We resolve the host galaxies of seven gravitationally lensed quasars at redshift 1.5 to 2.8 using observations with the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimetre Array. Using a visibility-plane lens modelling technique, we create pixellated reconstructions of the dust morphology, and CO line morphology and kinematics. We find that the quasar hosts in our sample can be distinguished into two types: 1) galaxies characterised by clumpy, extended dust distributions ($R_{\rm eff}\sim2$ kpc) and mean star formation rate surface densities comparable to sub-mm-selected dusty star-forming galaxies ($Σ_{\rm SFR}\s…
We present combined evolution of morphological and stellar properties of galaxies on the two sides of z=2 (2.0<z<4.0 and 1.5<z<2.0) in CDFS, with ground-based spectroscopic redshifts. We perform bulge-disc decomposition on their images in J and H filters, from the 3DHST Legacy Survey obtained using HST/WFC3. Combining morphological information with stellar properties, we provide a detailed account of the formation/growth of discs and spheroids around z~2. The fraction of 2-component (bulge+disc) systems increases from ~46% for z>2 to ~70% for z<2, compensating for the fall in population of pur…
In simple models of galaxy formation and evolution, star formation is solely regulated by the amount of gas present in the galaxy. However, it has recently been shown that star formation can be suppressed by galactic dynamics in galaxies that contain a dominant spheroidal component and a low gas fraction. This 'dynamical suppression' is hypothesised to also contribute to quenching gas-rich galaxies at high redshift, but its impact on the galaxy population at large remains unclear. In this paper, we assess the importance of dynamical suppression in the context of gas regulator models of galaxy …
We examine the influence of dark matter halo assembly on the evolution of a simulated $\sim L^\star$ galaxy. Starting from a zoom-in simulation of a star-forming galaxy evolved with the EAGLE galaxy formation model, we use the genetic modification technique to create a pair of complementary assembly histories: one in which the halo assembles later than in the unmodified case, and one in which it assembles earlier. Delayed assembly leads to the galaxy exhibiting a greater present-day star formation rate than its unmodified counterpart, whilst in the accelerated case the galaxy quenches at $z\si…
Through an ongoing MUSE program dedicated to study gas removal processes in galaxies (GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies with MUSE, GASP), we have obtained deep and wide integral field spectroscopy of the galaxy JO171. This galaxy resembles the Hoag's galaxy, one of the most spectacular examples of ring galaxies, characterized by a completely detached ring of young stars surrounding a central old spheroid. At odds with the isolated Hoag's galaxy, JO171 is part of a dense environment, the cluster Abell 3667, which is causing gas stripping along tentacles. Moreover, its ring counter-rotates wit…
[abridged] We quantify the evolution of the stellar mass functions of star-forming and quiescent galaxies as a function of morphology from $z\sim 3$ to the present. Our sample consists of ~50,000 galaxies in the CANDELS fields ($\sim880$ $arcmin^2$), which we divide into four main morphological types, i.e. pure bulge dominated systems, pure spiral disk dominated, intermediate 2-component bulge+disk systems and irregular disturbed galaxies. Our main results are: Star-formation: At $z\sim 2$, 80\% of the stellar mass density of star-forming galaxies is in irregular systems. However, by $z\sim 0.…
In the past years several authors studied the abundance of satellites around galaxies in order to better estimate the halo masses of host galaxies. To investigate this connection, we analyze galaxies with $M_\mathrm{star}\geq\,10^{10}\,M_{\odot}$ from the hydrodynamical cosmological simulation Magneticum. We find that the satellite fraction of centrals is independent of their morphology. With the exception of very massive galaxies at low redshift, our results do not support the assumption that the dark matter (DM) haloes of spheroidal galaxies are significantly more massive than those of disc …
We present homogeneous, sub-horizontal branch photometry of twenty dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies of M31 observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Combining our new data for sixteen systems with archival data in the same filters for another four, we show that Andromeda dwarf spheroidal galaxies favor strikingly red horizontal branches or red clumps down to ~10^{4.2} Lsun (M_V ~ -5.8). The age-sensitivity of horizontal branch stars implies that a large fraction of the M31 dwarf galaxies have extended star formation histories (SFHs), and appear inconsistent with early star formation episode…
Nuclear outflows driven by accreting massive black holes are one of the main feedback mechanisms invoked at high-z to reproduce the distinct separation between star-forming, disk galaxies and quiescent spheroidal systems. Yet, our knowledge of feedback at high-z remains limited by the lack of observations of the multiple gas phases in galaxy outflows. In this work we use new deep, high-spatial resolution ALMA CO(3-2) and archival VLT/SINFONI H$α$ observations to study the molecular and ionized components of the AGN-driven outflow in zC400528 ---a massive, main sequence galaxy at z=2.3 in the p…
The dense environment of galaxy clusters strongly influences the nature of galaxies. Here, we study the cause of the size distribution of a sample of 560 spectroscopic members spanning a wide dynamical range down to 10^8.5 M_sol (log(M)-2) in the massive CLASH cluster MACSJ 1206.2-0847 at z~0.44. We use Subaru SuprimeCam imaging covering the highest-density core out to the infall regions (3 virial radii) to look for cluster-specific effects. We also compare our measurements to a compatible large field study in order to span extreme environmental densities. This paper presents the trends we ide…
We investigate the origin of galaxy bimodality by quantifying the relative role of intrinsic and environmental drivers to the cessation (or `quenching') of star formation in over half a million local Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies. Our sample contains a wide variety of galaxies at z=0.02-0.2, with stellar masses of 8 < log(M*/M_sun) < 12, spanning the entire morphological range from pure disks to spheroids, and over four orders of magnitude in local galaxy density and halo mass. We utilise published star formation rates and add to this recent GIM2D photometric and stellar mass bulge …
Galaxy evolution is driven by many complex interrelated processes as galaxies accrete gas, form new stars, grow their stellar masses and central black holes, and subsequently quench. The processes that drive these transformations is poorly understood, but it is clear that the local environment on multiple scales plays a significant role. Today's massive clusters are dominated by spheroidal galaxies with low levels of star formation while those in the field are mostly still actively forming their stars. In order to understand the physical processes that drive both the mass build up in galaxies …
We characterize in detail the radial structure of the stellar population properties of 300 galaxies in the nearby universe, observed with integral field spectroscopy in the CALIFA survey. The sample covers a wide range of Hubble types, from spheroidal to spiral galaxies, ranging in stellar masses from $M_\star \sim 10^9$ to $7 \times 10^{11}$ $M_\odot$. We derive the stellar mass surface density ($μ_\star$), light-weighted and mass-weighted ages ($\langle {\rm log}\,age\rangle _L$, $\langle {\rm log}\,age\rangle _M$), and mass-weighted metallicity ($\langle {\rm log}\,Z_\star\rangle _M$), appl…
The Isaac Newton Telescope Monitoring Survey of Local Group Dwarf Galaxies-VIII. A Census of Long-Period Variable Stars across the Andromeda Dwarf Satellite System
Konkoly Observatory, HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences(孔科利天文台,HUN-REN 地球与天文学研究中心);School of Astronomy, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM)(基础科学研究所天文学院);Lennard-Jones Laboratories, Keele University(基尔大学伦纳德-琼斯实验室);Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University(开放大学物理科学系);School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southampton(南安普顿大学物理与天文学院);Iranian National Observatory, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM)(伊朗国家天文台,基础科学研究所)
How do galaxy properties (such as stellar mass, luminosity, star formation rate, and morphology) and their evolution depend on the mass of their host dark matter halo? Using the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) group catalogue, we address this question by exploring the dependence on host halo mass of the luminosity function (LF) and stellar mass function (SMF) for grouped galaxies subdivided by colour, morphology and central/satellite. We find that spheroidal galaxies in particular dominate the bright and massive ends of the LF and SMF, respectively. More massive haloes host more massive and mo…
Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1). Quenching precedes bulge formation in dense environments but follows it in the field
CEA Saclay, DFR/IRFU, Service d’Astrophysique(法国原子能和替代能源委员会萨克雷中心);INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna(意大利国家天体物理研究所博洛尼亚天文与空间科学观测站);Université Paris-Saclay(巴黎萨克雷大学);Université Paris Cité(巴黎西岱大学);CEA(法国原子能和替代能源委员会);CNRS(法国国家科学研究中心);AIM(天体物理学与宇宙学研究所);Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna(博洛尼亚大学物理与天文学系);Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen(格罗宁根大学卡普坦天文研究所);INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste(意大利国家天体物理研究所的里雅斯特天文台)
The nature of the Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) progenitors remains still uncertain. This is a major issue for galaxy evolution models since both chemical and energetic feedback play a major role in the gas dynamics, star formation and therefore in the overall stellar evolution. The progenitor models for the SNIa available in the literature propose different distributions for regulating the explosion times of these events. These functions are known as the Delay Time Distributions (DTDs). This work is the first one in a series of papers aiming at studying five different DTDs for SNIa. Here, we impl…
We derive the dependence of the fraction of passive central galaxies on the mass of their supermassive black holes for a sample of over 400,000 SDSS galaxies at z < 0.2. Our large sample contains galaxies in a wide range of environments, with stellar masses 8 < log(M*/Msun) < 12, spanning the entire morphological spectrum from pure disks to spheroids. We derive estimates for the black hole masses from measured central velocity dispersions and bulge masses, using a variety of published empirical relationships. We find a very strong dependence of the passive fraction on black hole mass, which is…
Post-starburst galaxies can be identified via the presence of prominent Hydrogen Balmer absorption lines in their spectra. We present a comprehensive study of the origin of strong Balmer lines in a volume-limited sample of 189 galaxies with $0.01<z<0.05$, $\log(\mbox{M}_{\star}/\mbox{M}_{\odot})>9.5$ and projected axis ratio $b/a>0.32$. We explore their structural properties, environments, emission lines and star formation histories, and compare them to control samples of star-forming and quiescent galaxies, and simulated galaxy mergers. Excluding contaminants, in which the strong Balmer lines…
We conduct a comprehensive projected phase-space analysis of the A901/2 multi-cluster system at $z\sim0.165$. Aggregating redshifts from spectroscopy, tunable-filter imaging, and prism techniques, we assemble a sample of 856 cluster galaxies reaching $10^{8.5}M_\odot$ in stellar mass. We look for variations in cluster galaxy properties between virialised and non-virialised regions of projected phase-space (PPS). Our main conclusions point to relatively gentle environmental effects, expressed mainly on galaxy gas reservoirs. (1) Stacking the four subclusters in A901/2, we find galaxies in the v…
The morphological evolution of star-forming galaxies provides important clues to understand their physical properties, as well as the triggering and quenching mechanisms of star formation. We aim at connecting morphology and star-formation properties of low-mass galaxies (median stellar mass $\sim$ 10$^{8.5}$ M$_{\odot}$) at low redshift ($z<0.36$). We use a sample of medium-band selected star-forming galaxies from the GOODS-North field. H$α$ images for the sample are created combining both spectral energy distribution fits and HST data. Using them, we mask the star forming regions to obtain a…
The star formation histories (SFHs) of galaxies contain imprints of the physical processes responsible for regulating star formation during galaxy growth and quenching. We improve the Dense Basis SFH reconstruction method of Iyer & Gawiser (2017), introducing a nonparametric description of the SFH based on the lookback times at which a galaxy assembles certain quantiles of its stellar mass. The method uses Gaussian Processes to create smooth SFHs that are independent of any functional form, with a flexible number of parameters that is adjusted to extract the maximum possible amount of SFH info…