Are dwarf galaxy properties a sequence of time or of environment?

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Eva K. Grebel, since 1/2019
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 394551440

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

We used survey data and cosmological simulations in order to systematically investigate what determines the properties of today's early-type dwarf galaxy population in groups and clusters. Early-type dwarf galaxies typically no longer form stars, are dominated by older stellar populations, are elliptical in appearance and do not show ordered rotation. They are usually found in regions of high galaxy density, suggesting that interactions might be responsible for their appearance. Were they transformed to their present state by their environment, and what were their characteristics in the past? Our observational studies of the Virgo, Fornax, and Hercules galaxy clusters conducted in this study all support environmental mechanisms such as ram pressure stripping or tidal stripping as the major agents of change. Some dwarf galaxies were identified as recent infallers into the cluster potential, and intriguingly they still show indications of disks and more recent star formation. The cosmological simulations analyzed in this project allow us to quantify the impact of environmental effects and to explore gas content, star formation, and quenching as a function of time as well as infall time, confirming the dominant effect of the environment on dwarf galaxy evolution and transformation. This project resulted in ten refereed publications, five of which were led by persons funded by the project.

Publications

• On the Scatter of the Present-day Stellar Metallicity–Mass Relation of Cluster Dwarf Galaxies. Research Notes of the AAS, 2(2), 6.
  Engler, Christoph; Lisker, Thorsten & Pillepich, Annalisa
  
• The Active Assembly of the Virgo Cluster: Indications for Recent Group Infall From Early-type Dwarf Galaxies. The Astrophysical Journal, 865(1), 40.
  Lisker, Thorsten; Vijayaraghavan, Rukmani; Janz, Joachim; Gallagher, John S.; Engler, Christoph & Urich, Linda
  
• The Fornax Deep Survey with the VST. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 620, A165.
  Venhola, Aku; Peletier, Reynier; Laurikainen, Eija; Salo, Heikki; Iodice, Enrichetta; Mieske, Steffen; Hilker, Michael; Wittmann, Carolin; Lisker, Thorsten; Paolillo, Maurizio; Cantiello, Michele; Janz, Joachim; Spavone, Marilena; D.’Abrusco, Raffaele; Ven, Glennvande; Napolitano, Nicola; Kleijn, GijsVerdoes; Maddox, Natasha; Capaccioli, Massimo ... & Limatola, Luca
  
• VizieR Online Data Catalog: The Fornax Deep Survey with the VST. IV. Dwarf Galaxie
  Venhola, A., Peletier, R., Laurikainen, E., Salo, H., Iodice, E., Mieske, S., Hilker, M., Wittmann, C., Lisker, T., Paolillo, M., Cantiello, M., Janz, J., Spavone, M., D'Abrusco, R., van de Ven, G., Napolitano, N., Verdoes Kleijn, G., Maddox, N., Capaccioli, M. ... & Limatola, L.
  
• A Catalog of Galaxies in the Direction of the Perseus Cluster. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 245(1), 10.
  Wittmann, Carolin; Kotulla, Ralf; Lisker, Thorsten; Grebel, Eva K.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Janz, Joachim & Penny, Samantha J.
  
• Halo mass estimates from the globular cluster populations of 175 low surface brightness galaxies in the Fornax cluster. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 484(4), 4865-4880.
  Prole, D. J.; Hilker, M.; van der Burg, R. F. J.; Cantiello, M.; Venhola, A.; Iodice, E.; van de Ven, G.; Wittmann, C.; Peletier, R. F.; Mieske, S.; Capaccioli, M.; Napolitano, N. R.; Paolillo, M.; Spavone, M. & Valentijn, E.
  
• The Fornax Deep Survey (FDS) with VST. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 625, A143.
  Venhola, Aku; Peletier, Reynier; Laurikainen, Eija; Salo, Heikki; Iodice, Enrichetta; Mieske, Steffen; Hilker, Michael; Wittmann, Carolin; Paolillo, Maurizio; Cantiello, Michele; Janz, Joachim; Spavone, Marilena; D.’Abrusco, Raffaele; van de Ven, Glenn; Napolitano, Nicola; Verdoes, Kleijn Gijs; Capaccioli, Massimo; Grado, Aniello; Valentijn, Edwin ... & Limatola, Luca
  
• The distinct stellar-to-halo mass relations of satellite and central galaxies: insights from the IllustrisTNG simulations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 500(3), 3957-3975.
  Engler, Christoph; Pillepich, Annalisa; Joshi, Gandhali D.; Nelson, Dylan; Pasquali, Anna; Grebel, Eva K.; Lisker, Thorsten; Zinger, Elad; Donnari, Martina; Marinacci, Federico; Vogelsberger, Mark & Hernquist, Lars
  
• The PIPER Survey. I. An Initial Look at the Intergalactic Globular Cluster Population in the Perseus Cluster. The Astrophysical Journal, 890(2), 105.
  Harris, William E.; Brown, Rachel A.; Durrell, Patrick R.; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Blakeslee, John; Brodie, Jean; Janssens, Steven; Lisker, Thorsten; Okamoto, Sakurako & Wittmann, Carolin
  
• The stellar mass assembly of low-redshift, massive, central galaxies in SDSS and the TNG300 simulation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 497(4), 4262-4275.
  Jackson, Thomas M.; Pasquali, A.; Pacifici, C.; Engler, C.; Pillepich, A. & Grebel, E. K.
  
• VizieR Online Data Catalog: A Catalog of Galaxies in the Direction of the Perseus Cluster
  Wittmann, Carolin; Kotulla, Ralf; Lisker, Thorsten; Grebel, Eva K.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Janz, Joachim & Penny, Samantha J.
  
• The abundance of satellites around Milky Way- and M31-like galaxies with the TNG50 simulation: a matter of diversity. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 507(3), 4211-4240.
  Engler, Christoph; Pillepich, Annalisa; Pasquali, Anna; Nelson, Dylan; Rodriguez-Gomez, Vicente; Chua, Kun Ting Eddie; Grebel, Eva K.; Springel, Volker; Marinacci, Federico; Weinberger, Rainer; Vogelsberger, Mark & Hernquist, Lars
  
• Satellites of Milky Way- and M31-like galaxies with TNG50: quenched fractions, gas content, and star formation histories. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 522(4), 5946-5972.
  Engler, Christoph; Pillepich, Annalisa; Joshi, Gandhali D.; Pasquali, Anna; Nelson, Dylan & Grebel, Eva K.