Galaxy Merger Candidates in High-redshift Cluster Environments
Name
Delahaye_2017_ApJ_843_126.pdf
Size
2.46 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d44310e44db1c6cc36fccf4150844942
Author(s)
Delahaye, A. G.
Webb, T. M. A.
Nantais, J.
DeGroot, A.
Wilson, G.
Muzzin, A.
Yee, H. K. C.
Foltz, R.
Demarco, R.
Tudorica, A.
Date Issued
July 2017
Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Citation
Delahaye, A. G., et al. “Galaxy Merger Candidates in High-Redshift Cluster Environments.” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 843, no. 2, July 2017, p. 126. © 2017 The American Astronomical Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
We compile a sample of spectroscopically and photometrically selected cluster galaxies from four high-redshift galaxy clusters (1.59 < z < 1.71) from the Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS), and a comparison field sample selected from the UKIDSS Deep Survey. Using near-infrared imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope, we classify potential mergers involving massive (M ∗ ≥ 3 × 10 10 M ⊙ ) cluster members by eye, based on morphological properties such as tidal distortions, double nuclei, and projected near neighbors within 20 kpc. With a catalog of 23 spectroscopic and 32 photometric massive cluster members across the four clusters and 65 spectroscopic and 26 photometric comparable field galaxies, we find that after taking into account contamination from interlopers, 11 +7.0 -5.6 % of the cluster members are involved in potential mergers, compared to 24.7 +5.3 -4.6 % of the field galaxies. We see no evidence of merger enhancement in the central cluster environment with respect to the field, suggesting that galaxy-galaxy merging is not a stronger source of galaxy evolution in cluster environments compared to the field at these redshifts. Key words: galaxies: clusters: general – galaxies: evolution – galaxies: high-redshift – galaxies: interactions
MIT Department
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa756a
