Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies

A. S. G. Robotham; J. Liske; S. P. Driver; A. E. Sansom; I. K. Baldry; A. E. Bauer; J. Bland-Hawthorn; S. Brough; M. J. I. Brown; M. Colless; L. Christodoulou; M. J. Drinkwater; M. W. Grootes; A. M. Hopkins; L. S. Kelvin; P. Norberg; J. Loveday; S. Phillipps; R. Sharp; E. N. Taylor; R. J. Tuffs

doi:10.1093/mnras/stt156

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies

A. S. G. Robotham^*, J. Liske, S. P. Driver, A. E. Sansom, I. K. Baldry, A. E. Bauer, J. Bland-Hawthorn, S. Brough, M. J. I. Brown, M. Colless, L. Christodoulou, M. J. Drinkwater, M. W. Grootes, A. M. Hopkins, L. S. Kelvin, P. Norberg, J. Loveday, S. Phillipps, R. Sharp, E. N. TaylorR. J. Tuffs

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this work, we investigate in detail the effects the local environment (groups and pairs) has on galaxies with stellar mass similar to the Milky Way (L* galaxies). A volume limited sample of 6150 galaxies are visually classified to determine the emission features, morphological type and presence of a disc. This large sample allows for the significant characteristics of galaxies to be isolated (e.g. stellar mass and group halo mass), and their codependencies determined.

We observe that galaxy-galaxy interactions play the most important role in shaping the evolution within a group halo; the main role of halo mass is in gathering the galaxies together to encourage such interactions. Dominant pair galaxies find their overall star formation enhanced when the pair's mass ratio is close to 1; otherwise, we observe the same galaxies as we would in an unpaired system. The minor galaxy in a pair is greatly affected by its companion galaxy, and while the star-forming fraction is always suppressed relative to equivalent stellar mass unpaired galaxies, it becomes lower still when the mass ratio of a pair system increases.

We find that, in general, the close galaxy-galaxy interaction rate drops as a function of halo mass for a given amount of stellar mass. We find evidence of a local peak of interactions for Milky Way stellar mass galaxies in Milky Way halo mass groups. Low-mass haloes, and in particular Local Group mass haloes, are an important environment for understanding the typical evolutionary path of a unit of stellar mass.

We find compelling evidence for galaxy conformity in both groups and pairs, where morphological type conformity is dominant in groups, and emission class conformity is dominant in pairs. This suggests that group scale conformity is the result of many galaxy encounters over an extended period of time, while pair conformity is a fairly instantaneous response to a transitory interaction.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	167-193
Number of pages	27
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	431
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt156
Publication status	Published - May 2013

Keywords

large-scale structure of Universe
DIGITAL SKY SURVEY
MILKY-WAY
LUMINOSITY FUNCTION
SPIRAL GALAXIES
STELLAR MASS
REDSHIFT SURVEY
DWARF GALAXIES
LOCAL GROUP
LAMBDA-CDM
COLOR

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Birkinshaw, M. (Principal Investigator)
1/10/12 → 1/10/14
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Research in planetary physics, astrophysics and cosmology at Bristol
Birkinshaw, M. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/12 → 1/04/15
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Robotham, A. S. G., Liske, J., Driver, S. P., Sansom, A. E., Baldry, I. K., Bauer, A. E., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Brough, S., Brown, M. J. I., Colless, M., Christodoulou, L., Drinkwater, M. J., Grootes, M. W., Hopkins, A. M., Kelvin, L. S., Norberg, P., Loveday, J., Phillipps, S., Sharp, R., ... Tuffs, R. J. (2013). Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 431(1), 167-193. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt156

@article{b395ac38ed0e45ca801fcf9b717875d9,

title = "Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies",

abstract = "In this work, we investigate in detail the effects the local environment (groups and pairs) has on galaxies with stellar mass similar to the Milky Way (L* galaxies). A volume limited sample of 6150 galaxies are visually classified to determine the emission features, morphological type and presence of a disc. This large sample allows for the significant characteristics of galaxies to be isolated (e.g. stellar mass and group halo mass), and their codependencies determined.We observe that galaxy-galaxy interactions play the most important role in shaping the evolution within a group halo; the main role of halo mass is in gathering the galaxies together to encourage such interactions. Dominant pair galaxies find their overall star formation enhanced when the pair's mass ratio is close to 1; otherwise, we observe the same galaxies as we would in an unpaired system. The minor galaxy in a pair is greatly affected by its companion galaxy, and while the star-forming fraction is always suppressed relative to equivalent stellar mass unpaired galaxies, it becomes lower still when the mass ratio of a pair system increases.We find that, in general, the close galaxy-galaxy interaction rate drops as a function of halo mass for a given amount of stellar mass. We find evidence of a local peak of interactions for Milky Way stellar mass galaxies in Milky Way halo mass groups. Low-mass haloes, and in particular Local Group mass haloes, are an important environment for understanding the typical evolutionary path of a unit of stellar mass.We find compelling evidence for galaxy conformity in both groups and pairs, where morphological type conformity is dominant in groups, and emission class conformity is dominant in pairs. This suggests that group scale conformity is the result of many galaxy encounters over an extended period of time, while pair conformity is a fairly instantaneous response to a transitory interaction.",

keywords = "large-scale structure of Universe, DIGITAL SKY SURVEY, MILKY-WAY, LUMINOSITY FUNCTION, SPIRAL GALAXIES, STELLAR MASS, REDSHIFT SURVEY, DWARF GALAXIES, LOCAL GROUP, LAMBDA-CDM, COLOR",

author = "Robotham, {A. S. G.} and J. Liske and Driver, {S. P.} and Sansom, {A. E.} and Baldry, {I. K.} and Bauer, {A. E.} and J. Bland-Hawthorn and S. Brough and Brown, {M. J. I.} and M. Colless and L. Christodoulou and Drinkwater, {M. J.} and Grootes, {M. W.} and Hopkins, {A. M.} and Kelvin, {L. S.} and P. Norberg and J. Loveday and S. Phillipps and R. Sharp and Taylor, {E. N.} and Tuffs, {R. J.}",

year = "2013",

month = may,

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stt156",

language = "English",

volume = "431",

pages = "167--193",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "1",

}

Robotham, ASG, Liske, J, Driver, SP, Sansom, AE, Baldry, IK, Bauer, AE, Bland-Hawthorn, J, Brough, S, Brown, MJI, Colless, M, Christodoulou, L, Drinkwater, MJ, Grootes, MW, Hopkins, AM, Kelvin, LS, Norberg, P, Loveday, J, Phillipps, S, Sharp, R, Taylor, EN & Tuffs, RJ 2013, 'Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 431, no. 1, pp. 167-193. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt156

TY - JOUR

T1 - Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies

AU - Robotham, A. S. G.

AU - Liske, J.

AU - Driver, S. P.

AU - Sansom, A. E.

AU - Baldry, I. K.

AU - Bauer, A. E.

AU - Bland-Hawthorn, J.

AU - Brough, S.

AU - Brown, M. J. I.

AU - Colless, M.

AU - Christodoulou, L.

AU - Drinkwater, M. J.

AU - Grootes, M. W.

AU - Hopkins, A. M.

AU - Kelvin, L. S.

AU - Norberg, P.

AU - Loveday, J.

AU - Phillipps, S.

AU - Sharp, R.

AU - Taylor, E. N.

AU - Tuffs, R. J.

PY - 2013/5

Y1 - 2013/5

N2 - In this work, we investigate in detail the effects the local environment (groups and pairs) has on galaxies with stellar mass similar to the Milky Way (L* galaxies). A volume limited sample of 6150 galaxies are visually classified to determine the emission features, morphological type and presence of a disc. This large sample allows for the significant characteristics of galaxies to be isolated (e.g. stellar mass and group halo mass), and their codependencies determined.We observe that galaxy-galaxy interactions play the most important role in shaping the evolution within a group halo; the main role of halo mass is in gathering the galaxies together to encourage such interactions. Dominant pair galaxies find their overall star formation enhanced when the pair's mass ratio is close to 1; otherwise, we observe the same galaxies as we would in an unpaired system. The minor galaxy in a pair is greatly affected by its companion galaxy, and while the star-forming fraction is always suppressed relative to equivalent stellar mass unpaired galaxies, it becomes lower still when the mass ratio of a pair system increases.We find that, in general, the close galaxy-galaxy interaction rate drops as a function of halo mass for a given amount of stellar mass. We find evidence of a local peak of interactions for Milky Way stellar mass galaxies in Milky Way halo mass groups. Low-mass haloes, and in particular Local Group mass haloes, are an important environment for understanding the typical evolutionary path of a unit of stellar mass.We find compelling evidence for galaxy conformity in both groups and pairs, where morphological type conformity is dominant in groups, and emission class conformity is dominant in pairs. This suggests that group scale conformity is the result of many galaxy encounters over an extended period of time, while pair conformity is a fairly instantaneous response to a transitory interaction.

AB - In this work, we investigate in detail the effects the local environment (groups and pairs) has on galaxies with stellar mass similar to the Milky Way (L* galaxies). A volume limited sample of 6150 galaxies are visually classified to determine the emission features, morphological type and presence of a disc. This large sample allows for the significant characteristics of galaxies to be isolated (e.g. stellar mass and group halo mass), and their codependencies determined.We observe that galaxy-galaxy interactions play the most important role in shaping the evolution within a group halo; the main role of halo mass is in gathering the galaxies together to encourage such interactions. Dominant pair galaxies find their overall star formation enhanced when the pair's mass ratio is close to 1; otherwise, we observe the same galaxies as we would in an unpaired system. The minor galaxy in a pair is greatly affected by its companion galaxy, and while the star-forming fraction is always suppressed relative to equivalent stellar mass unpaired galaxies, it becomes lower still when the mass ratio of a pair system increases.We find that, in general, the close galaxy-galaxy interaction rate drops as a function of halo mass for a given amount of stellar mass. We find evidence of a local peak of interactions for Milky Way stellar mass galaxies in Milky Way halo mass groups. Low-mass haloes, and in particular Local Group mass haloes, are an important environment for understanding the typical evolutionary path of a unit of stellar mass.We find compelling evidence for galaxy conformity in both groups and pairs, where morphological type conformity is dominant in groups, and emission class conformity is dominant in pairs. This suggests that group scale conformity is the result of many galaxy encounters over an extended period of time, while pair conformity is a fairly instantaneous response to a transitory interaction.

KW - large-scale structure of Universe

KW - DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

KW - MILKY-WAY

KW - LUMINOSITY FUNCTION

KW - SPIRAL GALAXIES

KW - STELLAR MASS

KW - REDSHIFT SURVEY

KW - DWARF GALAXIES

KW - LOCAL GROUP

KW - LAMBDA-CDM

KW - COLOR

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stt156

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stt156

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 431

SP - 167

EP - 193

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 1

ER -

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the life and times of L-star galaxies

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Keywords

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PATT linked grant support for Bristol astrophysics and planetary studies

Research in planetary physics, astrophysics and cosmology at Bristol

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