The Suppression of Star Formation in the Infall Regions of Clusters
Abstract
One of the most long-standing unresolved issues in our understanding of galaxy evolution is the degree to which clusters affect the properties of infalling galaxies. We propose to measure how and where star formation is suppressed in galaxies as they fall from the field into the cluster environment. In this proposal we are requesting NEWFIRM K_S-band imaging and MOSAIC B-band imaging of our clusters and their outskirts to identify dusty galaxies that are transitioning to passive red-sequence galaxies. We will identify the dusty galaxies using a well-tested technique that employs rest-frame BVR and JVR colors. We will track the abundance of these dusty galaxies relative to local density and clustercentric radius, extending from the cluster center to 6 virial radii. We already have VRI optical photometry and low dispersion spectroscopy covering the NEWFIRM+MOSAIC field-of-view. The strengths of this survey are that: we are probing galaxy environments from the dense cluster cores to the surrounding field, we have 1000 spectroscopic members over this wide field-of-view, and we are targeting an epoch when the galaxy population was still rapidly evolving. Coupling these results with theoretical models being developed by our group will allow us to determine when star formation is suppressed around clusters and on what timescale.
- Publication:
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NOAO Proposal
- Pub Date:
- February 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013noao.prop..393R