Star Formation Activity in Nearby Cluster Galaxies: Metallicity Change
Abstract
The optical/near-infrared photometry of a sample of 72 galaxies in nearby dynamically young cluster A1367, has been analyzed to derive the stellar population properties. The sample galaxies are distributed from the cluster centre out to approximately half the cluster Abell radius. These galaxies exhibit a strong correlation between integrated stellar mass and luminosity-weighted stellar metallicity. Galaxies with signs of disturbed morphology and ongoing star formation tend to have lower metallicity than passive galaxies in the red sequence of similar stellar masses. This could be due to tidally-driven gas inflows from the galaxy outskirts toward the star-forming regions, carrying less enriched gas and diluting the pre-existing gas to produce lower metallicity young stellar populations than would be obtained prior to the interaction.
- Publication:
-
9th Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011ASPC..451..225K