Obscured star formation in intermediate-density environments: A Spitzer study of the Abell 901/902 supercluster

TL;DR

This study investigates how environment affects obscured star formation in galaxies within the Abell 901/902 supercluster, revealing that environmental interactions often trigger obscured star formation phases before quenching occurs.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the role of environment in obscured star formation, combining UV/optical SEDs with infrared data to distinguish between different galaxy populations.

Findings

Star formation is suppressed in dense environments.

Nearly 40% of star-forming galaxies are red but still actively forming stars.

Obscured star formation is prevalent in intermediate-density regions.

Abstract

We explore the amount of obscured star-formation as a function of environment in the A901/902 supercluster at z=0.165 in conjunction with a field sample drawn from the A901 and CDFS fields, imaged with HST as part of the STAGES and GEMS surveys. We combine the COMBO-17 near-UV/optical SED with Spitzer 24um photometry to estimate both the unobscured and obscured star formation in galaxies with Mstar>10^{10}Msun. We find that the star formation activity in massive galaxies is suppressed in dense environments, in agreement with previous studies. Yet, nearly 40% of the star-forming galaxies have red optical colors at intermediate and high densities. These red systems are not starbursting; they have star formation rates per unit stellar mass similar to or lower than blue star-forming galaxies. More than half of the red star-forming galaxies have low IR-to-UV luminosity ratios, relatively high Sersic indices and they are equally abundant at all densities. They might be gradually quenching their star-formation, possibly but not necessarily under the influence of gas-removing environmental processes. The other >40% of the red star-forming galaxies have high IR-to-UV luminosity ratios, indicative of high dust obscuration. They have relatively high specific star formation rates and are more abundant at intermediate densities. Our results indicate that while there is an overall suppression in the star-forming galaxy fraction with density, the small amount of star formation surviving the cluster environment is to a large extent obscured, suggesting that environmental interactions trigger a phase of obscured star formation, before complete quenching.