Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations

D. B. Wijesinghe; A. M. Hopkins; S. Brough; E. N. Taylor; P. Norberg; A. Bauer; M. J.I. Brown; E. Cameron; C. J. Conselice; S. Croom; S. Driver; M. W. Grootes; D. H. Jones; L. Kelvin; J. Loveday; K. A. Pimbblet; C. C. Popescu; M. Prescott; R. Sharp; I. Baldry; E. M. Sadler; J. Liske; A. S.G. Robotham; S. Bamford; J. Bland-Hawthorn; M. Gunawardhana; M. Meyer; H. Parkinson; M. J. Drinkwater; J. Peacock; R. Tuffs

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations

D. B. Wijesinghe^*, A. M. Hopkins, S. Brough, E. N. Taylor, P. Norberg, A. Bauer, M. J.I. Brown, E. Cameron, C. J. Conselice, S. Croom, S. Driver, M. W. Grootes, D. H. Jones, L. Kelvin, J. Loveday, K. A. Pimbblet, C. C. Popescu, M. Prescott, R. Sharp, I. BaldryE. M. Sadler, J. Liske, A. S.G. Robotham, S. Bamford, J. Bland-Hawthorn, M. Gunawardhana, M. Meyer, H. Parkinson, M. J. Drinkwater, J. Peacock, R. Tuffs

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

We present a detailed investigation into the effects of galaxy environment on their star formation rates (SFRs) using galaxies observed in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. We use three independent volume-limited samples of galaxies within z < 0.2 and M_r < -17.8. We investigate the known SFR-density relationship and explore in detail the dependence of SFR on stellar mass and density. We show that the SFR-density trend is only visible when we include the passive galaxy population along with the star-forming population. This SFR-density relation is absent when we consider only the star-forming population of galaxies, consistent with previous work. While there is a strong dependence of the EW_Hα on density we find, as in previous studies, that these trends are largely due to the passive galaxy population and this relationship is absent when considering a 'star-forming' sample of galaxies. We find that stellar mass has the strongest influence on SFR and EW_Hα with the environment having no significant effect on the star formation properties of the star-forming population. We also show that the SFR-density relationship is absent for both early- and late-type star-forming galaxies. We conclude that the stellar mass has the largest impact on the current SFR of a galaxy, and any environmental effect is not detectable. The observation that the trends with density are due to the changing morphology fraction with density implies that the time-scales must be very short for any quenching of the SFR in infalling galaxies. Alternatively, galaxies may in fact undergo predominantly in situ evolution where the infall and quenching of galaxies from the field into dense environments is not the dominant evolutionary mode.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3679-3691
Number of pages	13
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	423
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x
Publication status	Published - Jul 2012

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Wijesinghe, D. B., Hopkins, A. M., Brough, S., Taylor, E. N., Norberg, P., Bauer, A., Brown, M. J. I., Cameron, E., Conselice, C. J., Croom, S., Driver, S., Grootes, M. W., Jones, D. H., Kelvin, L., Loveday, J., Pimbblet, K. A., Popescu, C. C., Prescott, M., Sharp, R., ... Tuffs, R. (2012). Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 423(4), 3679-3691. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x

@article{a4638c6de8ed496e8720bef9c6256a60,

title = "Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations",

abstract = "We present a detailed investigation into the effects of galaxy environment on their star formation rates (SFRs) using galaxies observed in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. We use three independent volume-limited samples of galaxies within z < 0.2 and Mr < -17.8. We investigate the known SFR-density relationship and explore in detail the dependence of SFR on stellar mass and density. We show that the SFR-density trend is only visible when we include the passive galaxy population along with the star-forming population. This SFR-density relation is absent when we consider only the star-forming population of galaxies, consistent with previous work. While there is a strong dependence of the EWHα on density we find, as in previous studies, that these trends are largely due to the passive galaxy population and this relationship is absent when considering a 'star-forming' sample of galaxies. We find that stellar mass has the strongest influence on SFR and EWHα with the environment having no significant effect on the star formation properties of the star-forming population. We also show that the SFR-density relationship is absent for both early- and late-type star-forming galaxies. We conclude that the stellar mass has the largest impact on the current SFR of a galaxy, and any environmental effect is not detectable. The observation that the trends with density are due to the changing morphology fraction with density implies that the time-scales must be very short for any quenching of the SFR in infalling galaxies. Alternatively, galaxies may in fact undergo predominantly in situ evolution where the infall and quenching of galaxies from the field into dense environments is not the dominant evolutionary mode.",

keywords = "Galaxies: evolution, Galaxies: formation, Galaxies: general, Galaxies: star formation",

author = "Wijesinghe, {D. B.} and Hopkins, {A. M.} and S. Brough and Taylor, {E. N.} and P. Norberg and A. Bauer and Brown, {M. J.I.} and E. Cameron and Conselice, {C. J.} and S. Croom and S. Driver and Grootes, {M. W.} and Jones, {D. H.} and L. Kelvin and J. Loveday and Pimbblet, {K. A.} and Popescu, {C. C.} and M. Prescott and R. Sharp and I. Baldry and Sadler, {E. M.} and J. Liske and Robotham, {A. S.G.} and S. Bamford and J. Bland-Hawthorn and M. Gunawardhana and M. Meyer and H. Parkinson and Drinkwater, {M. J.} and J. Peacock and R. Tuffs",

year = "2012",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x",

language = "English",

volume = "423",

pages = "3679--3691",

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

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "4",

}

Wijesinghe, DB, Hopkins, AM, Brough, S, Taylor, EN, Norberg, P, Bauer, A, Brown, MJI, Cameron, E, Conselice, CJ, Croom, S, Driver, S, Grootes, MW, Jones, DH, Kelvin, L, Loveday, J, Pimbblet, KA, Popescu, CC, Prescott, M, Sharp, R, Baldry, I, Sadler, EM, Liske, J, Robotham, ASG, Bamford, S, Bland-Hawthorn, J, Gunawardhana, M, Meyer, M, Parkinson, H, Drinkwater, MJ, Peacock, J & Tuffs, R 2012, 'Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 423, no. 4, pp. 3679-3691. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA)

T2 - Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations

AU - Wijesinghe, D. B.

AU - Hopkins, A. M.

AU - Brough, S.

AU - Taylor, E. N.

AU - Norberg, P.

AU - Bauer, A.

AU - Brown, M. J.I.

AU - Cameron, E.

AU - Conselice, C. J.

AU - Croom, S.

AU - Driver, S.

AU - Grootes, M. W.

AU - Jones, D. H.

AU - Kelvin, L.

AU - Loveday, J.

AU - Pimbblet, K. A.

AU - Popescu, C. C.

AU - Prescott, M.

AU - Sharp, R.

AU - Baldry, I.

AU - Sadler, E. M.

AU - Liske, J.

AU - Robotham, A. S.G.

AU - Bamford, S.

AU - Bland-Hawthorn, J.

AU - Gunawardhana, M.

AU - Meyer, M.

AU - Parkinson, H.

AU - Drinkwater, M. J.

AU - Peacock, J.

AU - Tuffs, R.

PY - 2012/7

Y1 - 2012/7

N2 - We present a detailed investigation into the effects of galaxy environment on their star formation rates (SFRs) using galaxies observed in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. We use three independent volume-limited samples of galaxies within z < 0.2 and Mr < -17.8. We investigate the known SFR-density relationship and explore in detail the dependence of SFR on stellar mass and density. We show that the SFR-density trend is only visible when we include the passive galaxy population along with the star-forming population. This SFR-density relation is absent when we consider only the star-forming population of galaxies, consistent with previous work. While there is a strong dependence of the EWHα on density we find, as in previous studies, that these trends are largely due to the passive galaxy population and this relationship is absent when considering a 'star-forming' sample of galaxies. We find that stellar mass has the strongest influence on SFR and EWHα with the environment having no significant effect on the star formation properties of the star-forming population. We also show that the SFR-density relationship is absent for both early- and late-type star-forming galaxies. We conclude that the stellar mass has the largest impact on the current SFR of a galaxy, and any environmental effect is not detectable. The observation that the trends with density are due to the changing morphology fraction with density implies that the time-scales must be very short for any quenching of the SFR in infalling galaxies. Alternatively, galaxies may in fact undergo predominantly in situ evolution where the infall and quenching of galaxies from the field into dense environments is not the dominant evolutionary mode.

AB - We present a detailed investigation into the effects of galaxy environment on their star formation rates (SFRs) using galaxies observed in the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. We use three independent volume-limited samples of galaxies within z < 0.2 and Mr < -17.8. We investigate the known SFR-density relationship and explore in detail the dependence of SFR on stellar mass and density. We show that the SFR-density trend is only visible when we include the passive galaxy population along with the star-forming population. This SFR-density relation is absent when we consider only the star-forming population of galaxies, consistent with previous work. While there is a strong dependence of the EWHα on density we find, as in previous studies, that these trends are largely due to the passive galaxy population and this relationship is absent when considering a 'star-forming' sample of galaxies. We find that stellar mass has the strongest influence on SFR and EWHα with the environment having no significant effect on the star formation properties of the star-forming population. We also show that the SFR-density relationship is absent for both early- and late-type star-forming galaxies. We conclude that the stellar mass has the largest impact on the current SFR of a galaxy, and any environmental effect is not detectable. The observation that the trends with density are due to the changing morphology fraction with density implies that the time-scales must be very short for any quenching of the SFR in infalling galaxies. Alternatively, galaxies may in fact undergo predominantly in situ evolution where the infall and quenching of galaxies from the field into dense environments is not the dominant evolutionary mode.

KW - Galaxies: evolution

KW - Galaxies: formation

KW - Galaxies: general

KW - Galaxies: star formation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84863614417&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21164.x

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 423

SP - 3679

EP - 3691

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 4

ER -

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Galaxy environments and star formation rate variations

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