The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population
Using a sample of four galaxy clusters at 1.35 < z < 1.65 and 10 galaxy clusters at 0.85 < z < 1.35, we measure the environmental quenching timescale, t Q, corresponding to the time required after a galaxy is accreted by a cluster for it to fully cease star formation. Cluster members are...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Astronomical Society
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128787 |
| _version_ | 1826218094218969088 |
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| author | Foltz, R. Wilson, G. Muzzin, A. Cooper, M. C. Nantais, J. van der Burg, R. F. J. Cerulo, P. Chan, J. Fillingham, S. P. Surace, J. Webb, T. Noble, A. Lacy, M. McDonald, Michael Rudnick, G. Lidman, C. Demarco, R. Hlavacek-Larrondo, J. Yee, H. K. C. Perlmutter, S. Hayden, B. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Foltz, R. Wilson, G. Muzzin, A. Cooper, M. C. Nantais, J. van der Burg, R. F. J. Cerulo, P. Chan, J. Fillingham, S. P. Surace, J. Webb, T. Noble, A. Lacy, M. McDonald, Michael Rudnick, G. Lidman, C. Demarco, R. Hlavacek-Larrondo, J. Yee, H. K. C. Perlmutter, S. Hayden, B. |
| author_sort | Foltz, R. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Using a sample of four galaxy clusters at 1.35 < z < 1.65 and 10 galaxy clusters at 0.85 < z < 1.35, we measure the environmental quenching timescale, t Q, corresponding to the time required after a galaxy is accreted by a cluster for it to fully cease star formation. Cluster members are selected by a photometric-redshift criterion, and categorized as star-forming, quiescent, or intermediate according to their dust-corrected rest-frame colors and magnitudes. We employ a "delayed-then-rapid" quenching model that relates a simulated cluster mass accretion rate to the observed numbers of each type of galaxy in the cluster to constrain t Q. For galaxies of mass M * ≳10[supserscript 10.5] M ⊙, we find a quenching timescale of t[subscript Q] = 1.1[subscript -0.3][superscript +0.3] Gyr in the z ~ 1.5 cluster sample, and t[subscript Q] = 1.3[subscript -0.3][superscript +0.3] Gyr at z ~ 1. Using values drawn from the literature, we compare the redshift evolution of t[subscript Q] to timescales predicted for different physical quenching mechanisms. We find t[subscript Q] to depend on host halo mass such that quenching occurs over faster timescales in clusters relative to groups, suggesting that properties of the host halo are responsible for quenching high-mass galaxies. Between z = 0 and z = 1.5, we find that t[subscript Q] evolves faster than the molecular gas depletion timescale and slower than an estimated star formation rate-outflow timescale, but is consistent with the evolution of the dynamical time. This suggests that environmental quenching in these galaxies is driven by the motion of satellites relative to the cluster environment, although due to uncertainties in the atomic gas budget at high redshift, we cannot rule out quenching due to simple gas depletion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:14:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/128787 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:14:05Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | American Astronomical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1287872022-10-03T11:18:05Z The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population Foltz, R. Wilson, G. Muzzin, A. Cooper, M. C. Nantais, J. van der Burg, R. F. J. Cerulo, P. Chan, J. Fillingham, S. P. Surace, J. Webb, T. Noble, A. Lacy, M. McDonald, Michael Rudnick, G. Lidman, C. Demarco, R. Hlavacek-Larrondo, J. Yee, H. K. C. Perlmutter, S. Hayden, B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Using a sample of four galaxy clusters at 1.35 < z < 1.65 and 10 galaxy clusters at 0.85 < z < 1.35, we measure the environmental quenching timescale, t Q, corresponding to the time required after a galaxy is accreted by a cluster for it to fully cease star formation. Cluster members are selected by a photometric-redshift criterion, and categorized as star-forming, quiescent, or intermediate according to their dust-corrected rest-frame colors and magnitudes. We employ a "delayed-then-rapid" quenching model that relates a simulated cluster mass accretion rate to the observed numbers of each type of galaxy in the cluster to constrain t Q. For galaxies of mass M * ≳10[supserscript 10.5] M ⊙, we find a quenching timescale of t[subscript Q] = 1.1[subscript -0.3][superscript +0.3] Gyr in the z ~ 1.5 cluster sample, and t[subscript Q] = 1.3[subscript -0.3][superscript +0.3] Gyr at z ~ 1. Using values drawn from the literature, we compare the redshift evolution of t[subscript Q] to timescales predicted for different physical quenching mechanisms. We find t[subscript Q] to depend on host halo mass such that quenching occurs over faster timescales in clusters relative to groups, suggesting that properties of the host halo are responsible for quenching high-mass galaxies. Between z = 0 and z = 1.5, we find that t[subscript Q] evolves faster than the molecular gas depletion timescale and slower than an estimated star formation rate-outflow timescale, but is consistent with the evolution of the dynamical time. This suggests that environmental quenching in these galaxies is driven by the motion of satellites relative to the cluster environment, although due to uncertainties in the atomic gas budget at high redshift, we cannot rule out quenching due to simple gas depletion. National Science Foundation (Grants AST-1517863, GO-13306, GO-13845, GO-13747, GO-13677/14327 and GO-15294) NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (Grant 80NSSC17K0019) 2020-12-10T22:36:26Z 2020-12-10T22:36:26Z 2018-10 2018-02 2019-04-26T18:38:35Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1538-4357 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128787 Foltz, R. et al. "The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population." Astrophysical Journal 866, 2 (October 2018): 136 © 2018 The American Astronomical Society en http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aad80d Astrophysical Journal Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Astronomical Society The Astrophysical Journal |
| spellingShingle | Foltz, R. Wilson, G. Muzzin, A. Cooper, M. C. Nantais, J. van der Burg, R. F. J. Cerulo, P. Chan, J. Fillingham, S. P. Surace, J. Webb, T. Noble, A. Lacy, M. McDonald, Michael Rudnick, G. Lidman, C. Demarco, R. Hlavacek-Larrondo, J. Yee, H. K. C. Perlmutter, S. Hayden, B. The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population |
| title | The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population |
| title_full | The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population |
| title_fullStr | The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population |
| title_short | The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to z ∼ 1.6: Evidence for Dynamically Driven Quenching of the Cluster Galaxy Population |
| title_sort | evolution of environmental quenching timescales to z ∼ 1 6 evidence for dynamically driven quenching of the cluster galaxy population |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128787 |
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