H α-based star formation rates in and around z ∼ 0.5 EDisCS clusters

Cooper, Jennifer R.; Rudnick, Gregory H.; Brammer, Gabriel G.; Desjardins, Tyler; Mann, Justin L.; Weiner, Benjamin J.; Aragón-Salamanca, Alfonso; De Lucia, Gabriella; Desai, Vandana; Finn, Rose A.; Jablonka, Pascale; Jaffé, Yara L.; Moustakas, John; Spérone-Longin, Damien; Teplitz, Harry I.; Vulcani, Benedetta; Zaritsky, Dennis

Abstract

We investigate the role of environment on star formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies at various cosmic densities in well-studied clusters. We present the star-forming main sequence for 163 galaxies in four EDisCS clusters in the range 0.4 < z < 0.7. We use Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 observations of the H α emission line to span three distinct local environments: the cluster core, infall region, and external field galaxies. The main sequence defined from our observations is consistent with other published H α distributions at similar redshifts but differs from those derived from star formation tracers such as 24 μm. We find that the Hα-derived SFRs for the 67 galaxies with stellar masses greater than the mass-completeness limit of M* > 109.75 M⊙ show little dependence on environment. At face value, the similarities in the SFR distributions in the three environments may indicate that the process of finally shutting down star formation is rapid, however, the depth of our data and size of our sample make it difficult to conclusively test this scenario. Despite having significant H α emission, 21 galaxies are classified as UVJ-quiescent and may represent a demonstration of the quenching of star formation caught in the act.

Citation

Cooper, J. R., Rudnick, G. H., Brammer, G. G., Desjardins, T., Mann, J. L., Weiner, B. J., …Zaritsky, D. (2022). H α-based star formation rates in and around z ∼ 0.5 EDisCS clusters. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 509(4), 5382-5398. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3184

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 26, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 3, 2021
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Deposit Date: Nov 3, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 3, 2021
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 509
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 5382-5398
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3184
• Keywords: Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6608596
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/509/4/5382/6420256?redirectedFrom=fulltextmnras/stab3184/6420256
• Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2021 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society All rights reserved.