How environment drives galaxy evolution: lessons learnt from satellite galaxies

TL;DR

This paper reviews how environmental factors influence galaxy evolution, focusing on satellite galaxies and their properties in relation to their local environment and host halo mass, based on SDSS data.

Contribution

It synthesizes observational findings on environmental effects on galaxy properties, emphasizing the differences between central and satellite galaxies in SDSS data.

Findings

Satellite galaxies are gas and star stripped, leading to quenched star formation.

Environmental density and host halo mass significantly affect galaxy evolution.

Satellites show distinct properties compared to central galaxies based on their environment.

Abstract

It is by now well established that galaxy evolution is driven by intrinsic and environmental processes, both contributing to shape the observed properties of galaxies. A number of early studies, both observational and theoretical, have shown that the star formation activity of galaxies depends on their environmental local density and also on galaxy hierarchy, i.e. centrals vs. satellites. In fact, contrary to their central (most massive) galaxy of a group/cluster, satellite galaxies are stripped of their gas and stars, and have their star formation quenched by their environment. Large galaxy surveys like SDSS now permit us to investigate in detail environment-driven transformation processes by comparing centrals and satellites. In this paper I summarize what we have so far learnt about environmental effects by analysing the observed properties of local central and satellite galaxies in SDSS, as a function of their stellar mass and the dark matter mass of their host group/cluster.