Kinematic Evolution of Field and Cluster Spiral Galaxies

TL;DR

This study examines the evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation up to redshift 1, revealing brightness and size changes over time, and explores environmental effects on galaxy properties in clusters versus the field.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of the Tully-Fisher relation evolution and environmental impacts on spiral galaxy properties at different redshifts.

Findings

Galaxies at z=1 are brighter by 1.1Bmag and 60% smaller.

TF scatter is larger in high-redshift galaxies, indicating more variation.

Red spirals in clusters are fainter and have lower stellar masses, likely due to star formation quenching.

Abstract

We investigate the evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation out to z=1 with 137 emission-line galaxies in the field that display a regular rotation curve. They follow a linear trend with lookback time being on average brighter by 1.1Bmag and 60% smaller at z=1. For a subsample of 48 objects with very regular gas kinematics and stellar structure we derive a TF scatter of 1.15mag, which is two times larger than local samples exhibit. This is probably due to modest variations in their star formation history and chemical enrichment. In another study of 96 members of Abell 901/902 at z=0.17 and 86 field galaxies with similar redshifts we find a difference in the TFR of 0.42mag in the B-band but no significant difference in stellar mass. Comparing specifically red spirals with blue ones in the cluster, the former are fainter on average by 0.35Bmag and have 15% lower stellar masses. This is probably due to star formation quenching caused by ram-pressure in the cluster environment. Evidence for this scenario comes from strong distortions of the gas disk of red spirals that have at the same time a very regular stellar disk structure.