Bibcode
Pranger, Florian; Trujillo, I.; Kelvin, Lee S.; Cebrian, M.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 467, Issue 2, p.2127-2144
Advertised on:
5
2017
Citations
19
Refereed citations
17
Description
We study the influence of environment on the structure of disc galaxies,
using imfit to measure the g- and r-band structural parameters of the
surface-brightness profiles for ∼700 low-redshift (z < 0.063)
cluster and field disc galaxies with intermediate stellar mass (0.8
× 1010 M⊙ < M⋆ < 4
× 1010 M⊙) from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, DR7. Based on this measurement, we assign each galaxy to a
surface-brightness profile type (Type I ≡ single-exponential, Type
II ≡ truncated, Type III ≡ antitruncated). In addition, we
measure (g - r) rest frame colour for disc regions separated by the
break radius. Cluster disc galaxies (at the same stellar mass) have
redder (g - r) colour by ∼0.2 mag than field galaxies. This
reddening is slightly more pronounced outside the break radius. Cluster
disc galaxies also show larger global Sérsic-indices and are more
compact than field discs, both by ∼15 per cent. This change is
connected to a flattening of the (outer) surface-brightness profile of
Type I and - more significantly - of Type III galaxies by ∼8 per
cent and ∼16 per cent, respectively, in the cluster environment
compared to the field. We find fractions of Type I, Type II and Type III
of (6 ± 2) per cent, (66 ± 4) per cent and (29 ± 4)
per cent in the field and (15_{-4}^{+7}) per cent, (56 ± 7) per
cent and (29 ± 7) per cent in the cluster environment,
respectively. We suggest that the larger abundance of Type I galaxies in
clusters (matched by a corresponding decrease in the Type II fraction)
could be the signature of a transition between Type II and Type I
galaxies produced/enhanced by environment-driven mechanisms.
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Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
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