The effect of the environment on the gas kinematics and morphologies of distant galaxies

TL;DR

This study investigates how different environments influence the gas kinematics and morphology of distant galaxies, shedding light on the processes transforming spiral galaxies into S0s within clusters.

Contribution

It analyzes gas kinematics and morphological disturbances in distant galaxies across environments using the EDisCS dataset, highlighting environmental effects on galaxy evolution.

Findings

Cluster environments cause significant gas disturbances in galaxies.

Stellar structures remain largely unaffected despite gas disturbances.

Physical mechanisms are strong enough to disturb gas but mild enough to preserve stellar morphology.

Abstract

With the aim of understanding which physical processes are primarily responsible for the transformation of spiral galaxies into S0s in clusters, we study the gas kinematics, morphological disturbances, and the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) of distant galaxies in various environments. We use the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS) dataset, that spans a broad range of cluster and galaxy properties at 0.3 < z < 0.8. Our results indicate that the physical mechanism acting on cluster galaxies (with M_B < -20 mag) must be strong enough to significantly disturb the gas in cluster galaxies, but at the same time, mild enough to leave the stellar structure unaffected.