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Published June 10, 2010 | Published
Journal Article Open

The Role of Ram Pressure Stripping in the Quenching of Cluster Star Formation

Abstract

Recent observations of galaxy clusters have shown that environmental effects apparently associated with the cluster begin to lower the star formation rates of galaxies at distances as great as three times the cluster virial radius. These observations may indicate preprocessing of cluster galaxies in groups or in the cluster core for galaxies on highly elliptical orbits, but may also imply that the environmental effects due to the cluster are directly affecting galaxies on their first infall. To explore these issues, we investigate different models of ram pressure stripping (RPS) as it acts on satellite galaxies in clusters and compare to observations of the radial star formation gradient in clusters. We calculate the location of the accretion shock around model clusters and use this as the radius of onset of RPS in the GALFORM semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. Comparison of the results of our model and previously considered, simpler ram pressure models with recent observations indicates that current data are unable to strongly discriminate between models of RPS due to the complex interplay of preprocessing effects at work. However, future observations of a larger sample of clusters will likely be able to place stronger constraints on the process of RPS and its role in shaping radial trends in and around clusters.

Additional Information

© 2010 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2009 December 20; accepted 2010 April 27; published 2010 May 21. We thank the anonymous referee for insightful comments. L.G.B. acknowledges the support of the NSF Graduate Fellowship Program. A.J.B. acknowledges the support of the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. The authors thank the Galform team, Carlton Baugh, Richard Bower, Shaun Cole, Carlos Frenk, and Cedric Lacey for allowing us to use Galform in this work. Additionally, we thank Andreea Font for implementing the original calculation of ram pressure stripping in this model.

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