Catching Compact Galaxy Groups in Action in the Milli-Millennium Simulation
Abstract
Poor, compact galaxy groups (CGs) form the tail of the galaxy number density distribution. However, most galaxies are found in poor groups, and understanding their evolution is thus essential for understanding galaxy evolution. I will discuss how we mined the milli-Millennium cosmological simulation for case study analogs of z~0 observed CGs ("sCGs") and show reconstructed cosmological evolutionary paths of stellar mass, cold and hot gas mass, star formation rate, pairwise galaxy separation, and pairwise velocity vector angles. I will present identified "birth redshifts" for sCGs, after which member galaxies stay together down to z = 0. I will also show 3-D movies with merger tree visualizations, and discuss implications of comparisons with specific famous observed Hickson CGs that provide clues to the puzzling longevity of CGs, or are particularly reminiscent of properties of systems such as Stephan's Quintet.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23532305T