The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation
Understanding how galaxies quench their star formation is crucial for studies of galaxy evolution. Quenching is related to a decrease of cold gas. In the first paper we showed that the dust removal timescale in early-type galaxies (ETGs) is about 2.5 Gyr. Here we present carbon monoxide and 21 cm hy...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1b52 |
| _version_ | 1827311439684042752 |
|---|---|
| author | Michał J. Michałowski C. Gall J. Hjorth D. T. Frayer A.-L. Tsai K. Rowlands T. T. Takeuchi A. Leśniewska D. Behrendt N. Bourne D. H. Hughes M. P. Koprowski J. Nadolny O. Ryzhov M. Solar E. Spring J. Zavala P. Bartczak |
| author_facet | Michał J. Michałowski C. Gall J. Hjorth D. T. Frayer A.-L. Tsai K. Rowlands T. T. Takeuchi A. Leśniewska D. Behrendt N. Bourne D. H. Hughes M. P. Koprowski J. Nadolny O. Ryzhov M. Solar E. Spring J. Zavala P. Bartczak |
| author_sort | Michał J. Michałowski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding how galaxies quench their star formation is crucial for studies of galaxy evolution. Quenching is related to a decrease of cold gas. In the first paper we showed that the dust removal timescale in early-type galaxies (ETGs) is about 2.5 Gyr. Here we present carbon monoxide and 21 cm hydrogen line observations of these galaxies and measure the timescale of removal of the cold interstellar medium (ISM). We find that all the cold ISM components (dust and molecular and atomic gas) decline at similar rates. This allows us to rule out a wide range of potential ISM-removal mechanisms (including starburst-driven outflows, astration, or a decline in the number of asymptotic giant branch stars), and artificial effects like the stellar mass–age correlation, environmental influence, mergers, and selection bias, leaving ionization by evolved low-mass stars and ionization/outflows by Type Ia supernovae or active galactic nuclei as viable mechanisms. We also provide evidence for an internal origin of the detected ISMs. Moreover, we find that the quenching of star formation in these galaxies cannot be explained by a reduction in the gas amount alone, because the star formation rates (SFRs) decrease faster (on a timescale of about 1.8 Gyr) than the amount of cold gas. Furthermore, the star formation efficiency (SFE) of the ETGs ( ${\rm{SFE}}\equiv {\rm{SFR}}/{M}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$ ) is lower than that of star-forming galaxies, whereas their gas mass fractions ( ${f}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}\equiv {M}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}/{M}_{* }$ ) are normal. This may be explained by the stabilization of gas against fragmentation, for example due to morphological quenching, turbulence, or magnetic fields. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:18:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cc99dad7ac0747acaf0ed9c7701a2d43 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:18:53Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-cc99dad7ac0747acaf0ed9c7701a2d432024-03-22T10:26:33ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01964212910.3847/1538-4357/ad1b52The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star FormationMichał J. Michałowski0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9033-4140C. Gall1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8526-3963J. Hjorth2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4571-2306D. T. Frayer3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1924-1122A.-L. Tsai4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3211-4219K. Rowlands5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7883-8434T. T. Takeuchi6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8416-7673A. Leśniewska7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8723-3533D. Behrendt8N. Bourne9D. H. Hughes10M. P. Koprowski11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5785-1154J. Nadolny12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1440-9061O. Ryzhov13M. Solar14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3148-1359E. Spring15J. Zavala16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7051-1100P. Bartczak17https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3466-3190Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.com; TAPIR, Mailcode 350-17, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; SUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKDARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkDARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, DenmarkNational Radio Astronomy Observatory , P.O. Box 2, Green Bank, WV 24944, USAAstronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.comAURA for ESA, Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USADivision of Particle and Astrophysical Science, Nagoya University , Furo-Cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan; The Research Center for Statistical machine Learning, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics , 10-3 Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8562, JapanAstronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.comSUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKSUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UKInstituto Nacional de Astrofísica , Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), Aptdo. Postal 51 y 216, 72000 Puebla, Pue., MexicoInstitute of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University , Grudzia̧dzka 5, 87-100 Toruń, PolandAstronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.comAstronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.comAstronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.comSUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK; Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, NL-1098 XH Amsterdam, The NetherlandsNational Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, JapanAstronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University , ul. Słoneczna 36, 60-286 Poznań, Poland ; mj.michalowski@gmail.com; Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías (IUFACyT) , Universidad de Alicante, Ctra. San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n E-03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainUnderstanding how galaxies quench their star formation is crucial for studies of galaxy evolution. Quenching is related to a decrease of cold gas. In the first paper we showed that the dust removal timescale in early-type galaxies (ETGs) is about 2.5 Gyr. Here we present carbon monoxide and 21 cm hydrogen line observations of these galaxies and measure the timescale of removal of the cold interstellar medium (ISM). We find that all the cold ISM components (dust and molecular and atomic gas) decline at similar rates. This allows us to rule out a wide range of potential ISM-removal mechanisms (including starburst-driven outflows, astration, or a decline in the number of asymptotic giant branch stars), and artificial effects like the stellar mass–age correlation, environmental influence, mergers, and selection bias, leaving ionization by evolved low-mass stars and ionization/outflows by Type Ia supernovae or active galactic nuclei as viable mechanisms. We also provide evidence for an internal origin of the detected ISMs. Moreover, we find that the quenching of star formation in these galaxies cannot be explained by a reduction in the gas amount alone, because the star formation rates (SFRs) decrease faster (on a timescale of about 1.8 Gyr) than the amount of cold gas. Furthermore, the star formation efficiency (SFE) of the ETGs ( ${\rm{SFE}}\equiv {\rm{SFR}}/{M}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}$ ) is lower than that of star-forming galaxies, whereas their gas mass fractions ( ${f}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}\equiv {M}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}/{M}_{* }$ ) are normal. This may be explained by the stabilization of gas against fragmentation, for example due to morphological quenching, turbulence, or magnetic fields.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1b52Early-type galaxiesElliptical galaxiesQuenched galaxiesGalaxy quenchingInterstellar mediumPost-starburst galaxies |
| spellingShingle | Michał J. Michałowski C. Gall J. Hjorth D. T. Frayer A.-L. Tsai K. Rowlands T. T. Takeuchi A. Leśniewska D. Behrendt N. Bourne D. H. Hughes M. P. Koprowski J. Nadolny O. Ryzhov M. Solar E. Spring J. Zavala P. Bartczak The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation The Astrophysical Journal Early-type galaxies Elliptical galaxies Quenched galaxies Galaxy quenching Interstellar medium Post-starburst galaxies |
| title | The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation |
| title_full | The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation |
| title_fullStr | The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation |
| title_short | The Fate of the Interstellar Medium in Early-type Galaxies. III. The Mechanism of Interstellar Medium Removal and the Quenching of Star Formation |
| title_sort | fate of the interstellar medium in early type galaxies iii the mechanism of interstellar medium removal and the quenching of star formation |
| topic | Early-type galaxies Elliptical galaxies Quenched galaxies Galaxy quenching Interstellar medium Post-starburst galaxies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1b52 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michałjmichałowski thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT cgall thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT jhjorth thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT dtfrayer thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT altsai thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT krowlands thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT tttakeuchi thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT alesniewska thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT dbehrendt thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT nbourne thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT dhhughes thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT mpkoprowski thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT jnadolny thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT oryzhov thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT msolar thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT espring thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT jzavala thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT pbartczak thefateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT michałjmichałowski fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT cgall fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT jhjorth fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT dtfrayer fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT altsai fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT krowlands fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT tttakeuchi fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT alesniewska fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT dbehrendt fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT nbourne fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT dhhughes fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT mpkoprowski fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT jnadolny fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT oryzhov fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT msolar fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT espring fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT jzavala fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation AT pbartczak fateoftheinterstellarmediuminearlytypegalaxiesiiithemechanismofinterstellarmediumremovalandthequenchingofstarformation |