Green Galaxies Research Articles

Dense CO in Mrk 71-A: Superwind Suppressed in a Young Super Star Cluster

Abstract We report the detection of CO( ) coincident with the super star cluster (SSC) Mrk 71-A in the nearby Green Pea analog galaxy, NGC 2366. Our observations with the Northern Extended Millimeter Array reveal a compact, ∼7 pc, molecular cloud whose mass ( ) is similar to that of the SSC, consistent with a high star formation efficiency, on the order of 0.5. There are two spatially distinct components separated by 11 . If expanding, these could be due to momentum-driven stellar wind feedback. Alternatively, we may be seeing remnants of the infalling, colliding clouds responsible for triggering the SSC formation. The kinematics are also consistent with a virialized system. These extreme, high-density, star-forming conditions inhibit energy-driven feedback; the co-spatial existence of a massive, molecular cloud with the SSC supports this scenario, and we quantitatively confirm that any wind-driven feedback in Mrk 71-A is momentum-driven, rather than energy-driven. Since Mrk 71-A is a candidate Lyman continuum emitter, this implies that energy-driven superwinds may not be a necessary condition for the escape of ionizing radiation. In addition, the detection of nebular continuum emission yields an accurate astrometric position for the Mrk 71-A. We also detect four other massive molecular clouds in this giant star-forming complex.

AGNs and Their Host Galaxies in the Local Universe: Two Mass-independent Eddington Ratio Distribution Functions Characterize Black Hole Growth

Abstract We use a phenomenological model to show that black hole growth in the local universe ( ) can be described by two separate, mass-independent Eddington ratio distribution functions (ERDFs). We assume that black holes can be divided into two independent groups: those with radiatively efficient accretion, primarily hosted by optically blue and green galaxies, and those with radiatively inefficient accretion, which are mainly found in red galaxies. With observed galaxy stellar mass functions as input, we show that the observed active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity functions can be reproduced by using mass-independent, broken power-law-shaped ERDFs. We use the observed hard X-ray and 1.4 GHz radio luminosity functions to constrain the ERDF for radiatively efficient and inefficient AGNs, respectively. We also test alternative ERDF shapes and mass-dependent models. Our results are consistent with a mass-independent AGN fraction and AGN hosts being randomly drawn from the galaxy population. We argue that the ERDF is not shaped by galaxy-scale effects, but by how efficiently material can be transported from the inner few parsecs to the accretion disc. Our results are incompatible with the simplest form of mass quenching where massive galaxies host higher accretion rate AGNs. Furthermore, if reaching a certain Eddington ratio is a sufficient condition for maintenance mode, it can occur in all red galaxies, not just the most massive ones.

AGN-host connection at 0.5 < z < 2.5: A rapid evolution of AGN fraction in red galaxies during the last 10 Gyr

We explore the dependence of the incidence of moderate-luminosity (L0.5−8 keV = 1041.9−43.7 erg s-1) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the distribution of their accretion rates on host color at 0.5 <z < 2.5. Based on the deepest X-ray and UV-to-far-infrared data in the two The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields, we identify 221 AGNs within a mass-complete parent galaxy sample down to M∗ > 1010 M⊙. We use extinction-corrected rest-frame U−V colors to divide both AGN hosts and non-AGN galaxies into red sequence (red), green valley (green), and blue cloud (blue) populations. We find that the fraction of galaxies hosting an AGN at fixed X-ray luminosity increases with stellar mass and redshift for all the three galaxy populations, independent of their colors. However, both the AGN fraction at fixed stellar mass and its evolution with redshift are clearly dependent on host colors. Most notably, red galaxies have the lowest AGN fraction (~5%) at z ~ 1 yet with most rapid evolution with redshift, increasing by a factor of ~5 (24%) at z ~ 2. Green galaxies exhibit the highest AGN fraction across all redshifts, which is most pronounced at z ~ 2 with more than half of them hosting an AGN at M∗ > 1010.6 M⊙. Together with the high AGN fraction in red galaxies at z ~ 2, this indicates that (X-ray) AGNs could be important in both transforming (quenching) star-forming galaxies into quiescent ones and subsequently maintaining their quiescence at high redshift. Furthermore, consistent with previous studies at lower redshifts, we show that the probability of hosting an AGN for the total galaxy population can be characterized by a universal Eddington ratio (as approximated by LX/M∗) distribution (p(λEdd) ~ λEdd-0.4), which is independent on host mass. Yet consistent with their different AGN fractions, galaxies with different colors appear to also have different p(λEdd) with red galaxies exhibiting more rapid redshift evolution compared with that for green and blue galaxies. Evidence for a steeper power-law distribution of p(λEdd) in red galaxies (p(λEdd) ~ λEdd-0.6) is also presented, though larger samples are needed to confirm. These results suggest that the AGN accretion or the growth of supermassive black holes is related to their host properties, and may also influence their hosts in a different mode dependent on the host color.

About AGN ionization echoes, thermal echoes and ionization deficits in low-redshift Lyα blobs

We report the discovery of 14 Lyman-alpha blobs (LABs) at z~0.3, existing at least 4-7 billion years later in the Universe than all other LABs known. Their optical diameters are 20-70 kpc, and GALEX data imply Ly-alpha luminosities of (0.4-6.3)x10^43 erg/s. Contrary to high-z LABs, they live in low-density areas. They are ionized by AGN, suggesting that cold accretion streams as a power source must deplete between z=2 and z=0.3. We also show that transient AGN naturally explain the ionization deficits observed in many LABs: Their Ly-alpha and X-ray fluxes decorrelate below 10^6 years because of the delayed escape of resonantly scattering Ly-alpha photons. High Ly-alpha luminosities do not require currently powerful AGN, independent of obscuration. Chandra X-ray data reveal intrinsically weak AGN, confirming the luminous optical nebulae as impressive ionization echoes. For the first time, we also report mid-infrared thermal echoes from the dusty tori. We conclude that the AGN have faded by 3-4 orders of magnitude within the last 10^(4-5) years, leaving fossil UV, optical and thermal radiation behind. The host galaxies belong to the group of previously discovered Green Bean galaxies (GBs). Gemini optical imaging reveals smooth spheres, mergers, spectacular outflows and ionization cones. Because of their proximity and high flux densities, GBs are perfect targets to study AGN feedback, mode switching and the Ly-alpha escape. The fully calibrated, coadded optical FITS images are publicly available.

PRIMUS: THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL SCALE ON THE LUMINOSITY DEPENDENCE OF GALAXY CLUSTERING VIA CROSS-CORRELATIONS

We report small-scale clustering measurements from the PRIMUS spectroscopic redshift survey as a function of color and luminosity. We measure the real-space cross-correlations between 62,106 primary galaxies with PRIMUS redshifts and a tracer population of 545,000 photometric galaxies over redshifts from z=0.2 to z=1. We separately fit a power-law model in redshift and luminosity to each of three independent color-selected samples of galaxies. We report clustering amplitudes at fiducial values of z=0.5 and L=1.5 L*. The clustering of the red galaxies is ~3 times as strong as that of the blue galaxies and ~1.5 as strong as that of the green galaxies. We also find that the luminosity dependence of the clustering is strongly dependent on physical scale, with greater luminosity dependence being found between r=0.0625 Mpc/h and r=0.25 Mpc/h, compared to the r=0.5 Mpc/h to r=2 Mpc/h range. Moreover, over a range of two orders of magnitude in luminosity, a single power-law fit to the luminosity dependence is not sufficient to explain the increase in clustering at both the bright and faint ends at the smaller scales. We argue that luminosity-dependent clustering at small scales is a necessary component of galaxy-halo occupation models for blue, star-forming galaxies as well as for red, quenched galaxies.

FROM BLUE STAR-FORMING TO RED PASSIVE: GALAXIES IN TRANSITION IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

Exploiting a mass complete (M_*>10^(10.25)M_sun) sample at 0.03<z<0.11 drawn from the Padova Millennium Galaxy Group Catalog (PM2GC), we use the (U-B)_rf color and morphologies to characterize galaxies, in particular those that show signs of an ongoing or recent transformation of their star formation activity and/or morphology - green galaxies, red passive late types, and blue star-forming early types. Color fractions depend on mass and only for M_*<10^(10.7)M_sun on environment. The incidence of red galaxies increases with increasing mass, and, for M_*<10^(10.7)M_sun, decreases toward the group outskirts and in binary and single galaxies. The relative abundance of green and blue galaxies is independent of environment, and increases monotonically with galaxy mass. We also inspect galaxy structural parameters, star-formation properties, histories and ages and propose an evolutionary scenario for the different subpopulations. Color transformations are due to a reduction and suppression of SFR in both bulges and disks which does not noticeably affect galaxy structure. Morphological transitions are linked to an enhanced bulge-to-disk ratio due to the removal of the disk, not to an increase of the bulge. Our modeling suggests that green colors might be due to star formation histories declining with long timescales, as an alternative scenario to the classical "quenching" processes. Our results suggest that galaxy transformations in star formation activity and morphology depend neither on environment nor on being a satellite or the most massive galaxy of a halo. The only environmental dependence we find is the higher fast quenching efficiency in groups giving origin to post-starburst signatures.

GREEN GALAXIES IN THE COSMOS FIELD

We present a research of morphologies, spectra and environments of $\approx$ 2350 "green valley" galaxies at $0.2<z<1.0$ in the COSMOS field. The bimodality of dust-corrected \nuvr\ color is used to define "green valley" (thereafter, GV), which removes dusty star-forming galaxies from truly transiting galaxies between blue cloud and red sequence. Morphological parameters of green galaxies are intermediate between those of blue and red galaxy populations, both on the Gini--Asymmetry and the Gini--M$_{\rm 20}$ planes. Approximately 60% to 70% green disk galaxies have intermediate or big bulges, and only 5% to 10% are pure disk systems, based on the morphological classification with Zurich Estimator of Structural Types (ZEST). The obtained average spectra of green galaxies are intermediate between blue and red ones in terms of \oii\,, H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ emission lines. Stellar population synthesis on the average spectra show that green galaxies are averagely older than blue galaxies, but younger than red galaxies. Green galaxies have similar projected galaxy density ($\Sigma_{10}$) distribution with blue galaxies at $z>0.7$. At $z<0.7$, the fractions of $M_{\ast}<10^{10.0}M_{\sun}$ green galaxies located in dense environment are found to be significantly larger than those of blue galaxies. The morphological and spectral properties of green galaxies are consistent with the transiting population between blue cloud and red sequence. The possible mechanisms for quenching star formation activities in green galaxies are discussed. The importance of AGN feedback cannot be well constrained in our study. Finally, our findings suggest that environment conditions, most likely starvation and harassment, significantly affect the transformation of $M_{\ast}<10^{10.0}M_{\sun}$ blue galaxies into red galaxies, especially at $z<0.5$.

Efficient satellite quenching at z∼1 from the GEEC2 spectroscopic survey of galaxy groups

We present deep GMOS-S spectroscopy for 11 galaxy groups at 0.8<z<1.0, for galaxies with r_{AB}<24.75. Our sample is highly complete (>66%) for eight of the eleven groups. Using an optical-NIR colour-colour diagram, the galaxies in the sample were separated with a dust insensitive method into three categories: passive (red), star-forming (blue), and intermediate (green). The strongest environmental dependence is observed in the fraction of passive galaxies, which make up only ~20 per cent of the field in the mass range 10^{10.3}<M_{star}/M_\odot<10^{11.0} but are the dominant component of groups. If we assume that the properties of the field are similar to those of the `pre-accreted' population, the environment quenching efficiency (\epsilon_\rho) is defined as the fraction of field galaxies required to be quenched in order to match the observed red fraction inside groups. The efficiency obtained is ~0.4, similar to its value in intermediate-density environments locally. While green (intermediate) galaxies represent ~20 per cent of the star-forming population in both the group and field, at all stellar masses, the average sSFR of the group population is lower by a factor of ~3. The green population does not show strong H-delta absorption that is characteristic of starburst galaxies. Finally, the high fraction of passive galaxies in groups, when combined with satellite accretion models, require that most accreted galaxies have been affected by their environment. Thus, any delay between accretion and the onset of truncation of star formation (\tau) must be <2 Gyr, shorter than the 3-7 Gyr required to fit data at z=0. The relatively small fraction of intermediate galaxies requires that the actual quenching process occurs quickly, with an exponential decay timescale of \tau_q<1 Gyr.

Halo occupation distribution modelling of green valley galaxies

We present a clustering analysis of near ultraviolet (NUV) - optical color selected luminosity bin samples of green valley galaxies. These galaxy samples are constructed by matching the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 with the latest Galaxy Evolution Explorer source catalog which provides NUV photometry. We present cross-correlation function measurements and determine the halo occupation distribution of these transitional galaxies using a new multiple tracer analysis technique. We extend the halo-occupation formalism to model the cross-correlation function between a galaxy sample of interest and multiple tracer populations simultaneously. This method can be applied to commonly used luminosity threshold samples as well as to color and luminosity bin selected galaxy samples, and improves the accuracy of clustering analyses for sparse galaxy populations. We confirm the previously observed trend that red galaxies reside in more massive halos and are more likely to be satellite galaxies than average galaxies of similar luminosity. While the change in central galaxy host mass as a function of color is only weakly constrained, the satellite fraction and characteristic halo masses of green satellite galaxies are found to be intermediate between those of blue and red satellite galaxies.

SINGLE PARAMETER GALAXY CLASSIFICATION: THE PRINCIPAL CURVE THROUGH THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SPACE OF GALAXY PROPERTIES

We propose to describe the variety of galaxies from SDSS by using only one affine parameter. To this aim, we build the Principal Curve (P-curve) passing through the spine of the data point cloud, considering the eigenspace derived from Principal Component Analysis of morphological, physical and photometric galaxy properties. Thus, galaxies can be labeled, ranked and classified by a single arc length value of the curve, measured at the unique closest projection of the data points on the P-curve. We find that the P-curve has a "W" letter shape with 3 turning points, defining 4 branches that represent distinct galaxy populations. This behavior is controlled mainly by 2 properties, namely u-r and SFR. We further present the variations of several galaxy properties as a function of arc length. Luminosity functions variate from steep Schechter fits at low arc length, to double power law and ending in Log-normal fits at high arc length. Galaxy clustering shows increasing autocorrelation power at large scales as arc length increases. PCA analysis allowed to find peculiar galaxy populations located apart from the main cloud of data points, such as small red galaxies dominated by a disk, of relatively high stellar mass-to-light ratio and surface mass density. The P-curve allows not only dimensionality reduction, but also provides supporting evidence for relevant physical models and scenarios in extragalactic astronomy: 1) Evidence for the hierarchical merging scenario in the formation of a selected group of red massive galaxies. These galaxies present a log-normal r-band luminosity function, which might arise from multiplicative processes involved in this scenario. 2) Connection between the onset of AGN activity and star formation quenching, which appears in green galaxies when transitioning from blue to red populations. (Full abstract in downloadable version)

The triggering probability of radio-loud AGN

Low luminosity radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) are generally found in massive red elliptical galaxies, where they are thought to be powered through gas accretion from their surrounding hot halos in a radiatively inefficient manner. These AGN are often referred to as "low-excitation" radio galaxies (LERGs). When radio-loud AGN are found in galaxies with a young stellar population and active star formation, they are usually high-power radiatively-efficient radio AGN ("high-excitation", HERG). Using a sample of low-redshift radio galaxies identified within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we determine the fraction of galaxies that host a radio-loud AGN, $f_{RL}$, as a function of host galaxy stellar mass, $M_*$, star formation rate, color (defined by the 4000 $\angstrom$ break strength), radio luminosity and excitation state (HERG/LERG). We find the following: 1. LERGs are predominantly found in red galaxies. 2. The radio-loud AGN fraction of LERGs hosted by galaxies of any color follows a $f^{LE}_{RL} \propto M^{2.5}_*$ power law. 3. The fraction of red galaxies hosting a LERG decreases strongly for increasing radio luminosity. For massive blue galaxies this is not the case. 4. The fraction of green galaxies hosting a LERG is lower than that of either red or blue galaxies, at all radio luminosities. 5. The radio-loud AGN fraction of HERGs hosted by galaxies of any color follows a $f^{HE}_{RL} \propto M^{1.5}_*$ power law. 6. HERGs have a strong preference to be hosted by green or blue galaxies. 7. The fraction of galaxies hosting a HERG shows only a weak dependence on radio luminosity cut. 8. For both HERGs and LERGs, the hosting probability of blue galaxies shows a strong dependence on star formation rate. This is not observed in galaxies of a different color.[abridged]

AEGIS: THE MORPHOLOGIES OF GREEN GALAXIES AT 0.4 &lt;z&lt; 1.2

We present quantitative morphologies of ~300 galaxies in the optically-defined green valley at 0.4<z<1.2, in order to constrain the mechanism(s) responsible for quenching star formation in the bulk of this population. The sample is selected from galaxies in the All-Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS). While the green valley is defined using optical U-B colors, we find that using a green valley sample defined using NUV-R colors does not change the results. Using HST/ACS imaging, we study several quantitative morphological parameters including CAS, B/T from GIM2D, and Gini/M_20. We find that the green galaxy population is intermediate between the red and blue galaxy populations in terms of concentration, asymmetry, and morphological type and merger fraction estimated using Gini/M_20. We find that most green galaxies are not classified as mergers; in fact, the merger fraction in the green valley is lower than in the blue cloud. We show that at a given stellar mass, green galaxies have higher concentration values than blue galaxies and lower concentration values than red galaxies. Additionally, we find that 12% of green galaxies have B/T = 0 and 21% with B/T \leq 0.05. Our results show that green galaxies are generally massive (M\ast ~ 10^10.5 M_sun) disk galaxies with high concentrations. We conclude that major mergers are likely not the sole mechanism responsible for quenching star formation in this population and that either other external processes or internal secular processes play an important role both in driving gas towards the center of these galaxies and in quenching star formation.

The UV-optical colour dependence of galaxy clustering in the local universe

We measure the UV-optical color dependence of galaxy clustering in the local universe. Using the clean separation of the red and blue sequences made possible by the NUV - r color-magnitude diagram, we segregate the galaxies into red, blue and intermediate "green" classes. We explore the clustering as a function of this segregation by removing the dependence on luminosity and by excluding edge-on galaxies as a means of a non-model dependent veto of highly extincted galaxies. We find that \xi (r_p, \pi) for both red and green galaxies shows strong redshift space distortion on small scales -- the "finger-of-God" effect, with green galaxies having a lower amplitude than is seen for the red sequence, and the blue sequence showing almost no distortion. On large scales, \xi (r_p, \pi) for all three samples show the effect of large-scale streaming from coherent infall. On scales 1 Mpc/h < r_p < 10 Mpc/h, the projected auto-correlation function w_p(r_p) for red and green galaxies fits a power-law with slope \gamma ~ 1.93 and amplitude r_0 ~ 7.5 and 5.3, compared with \gamma ~ 1.75 and r_0 ~ 3.9 Mpc/h for blue sequence galaxies. Compared to the clustering of a fiducial L* galaxy, the red, green, and blue have a relative bias of 1.5, 1.1, and 0.9 respectively. The w_p(r_p) for blue galaxies display an increase in convexity at ~ 1 Mpc/h, with an excess of large scale clustering. Our results suggest that the majority of blue galaxies are likely central galaxies in less massive halos, while red and green galaxies have larger satellite fractions, and preferentially reside in virialized structures. If blue sequence galaxies migrate to the red sequence via processes like mergers or quenching that take them through the green valley, such a transformation may be accompanied by a change in environment in addition to any change in luminosity and color.

GALAXY ZOO: THE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT CO-EVOLUTION OF SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES AND THEIR EARLY- AND LATE-TYPE HOST GALAXIES

We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and visual classifications of morphology from the Galaxy Zoo project to study black hole growth in the nearby Universe (z < 0.05) and to break down the AGN host galaxy population by color, stellar mass and morphology. We find that black hole growth at luminosities L_OIII >1E40 erg/s in early- and late-type galaxies is fundamentally different. AGN host galaxies as a population have a broad range of stellar masses (1E10-1E11 Msun), reside in the green valley of the color-mass diagram and their central black holes have median masses around 1E6.5 Msun. However, by comparing early- and late-type AGN host galaxies to their non-active counterparts, we find several key differences: in early-type galaxies, it is preferentially the galaxies with the least massive black holes that are growing, while late-type galaxies, it is preferentially the most massive}black holes that are growing. The duty cycle of AGN in early-type galaxies is strongly peaked in the green valley below the low-mass end (1E10 Msun) of the red sequence at stellar masses where there is a steady supply of blue cloud progenitors. The duty cycle of AGN in late-type galaxies on the other hand peaks in massive (1E11 Msun) green and red late-types which generally do not have a corresponding blue cloud population of similar mass. At high Eddington ratios (L/L_Edd > 0.1), the only population with a substantial fraction of AGN are the low-mass green valley early-type galaxies. Finally, the Milky Way likely resides in the "sweet spot" on the color-mass diagram where the AGN duty cycle of late-type galaxies is highest. We discuss the implications of these results for our understanding of the role of AGN in the evolution of galaxies

The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Color and Luminosity Dependence of Galaxy Clustering at \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $z\sim 1$ \end{document}

We present measurements of the color and luminosity dependence of galaxy clustering at z~1 in the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey. Using volume-limited subsamples in bins of both color and luminosity, we find that: 1) The clustering dependence is much stronger with color than with luminosity and is as strong with color at z~1 as is found locally. We find no dependence of the clustering amplitude on color for galaxies on the red sequence, but a significant dependence on color for galaxies within the blue cloud. 2) For galaxies in the range L/L*~0.7-2, a stronger large-scale luminosity dependence is seen for all galaxies than for red and blue galaxies separately. The small-scale clustering amplitude depends significantly on luminosity for blue galaxies, with brighter samples having a stronger rise on scales r_p<0.5 Mpc/h. 3) Redder galaxies exhibit stronger small-scale redshift-space distortions (fingers of god), and both red and blue populations show large-scale distortions in xi(r_p,pi) due to coherent infall. 4) While the clustering length, r_0, increases smoothly with galaxy color (in narrow bins), its power-law exponent, gamma, exhibits a sharp jump from the blue cloud to the red sequence. The intermediate color `green' galaxy population likely includes transitional galaxies moving from the blue cloud to the red sequence; on large scales green galaxies are as clustered as red galaxies but show infall kinematics and a small-scale correlation slope akin to the blue galaxy population. 5) We compare our results to a semi-analytic galaxy formation model applied to the Millenium Run simulation. Differences between the data and the model suggest that in the model star formation is shut down too efficiently in satellite galaxies.