GASP XXIX -- Unwinding the arms of spiral galaxies via ram-pressure stripping

TL;DR

This study investigates how ram-pressure stripping causes spiral arms in cluster galaxies to unwind, revealing that the process affects younger stars and varies with galaxy orientation, lasting less than 0.5 billion years.

Contribution

First observational and simulation-based analysis of spiral arm unwinding due to ram-pressure stripping in cluster galaxies, highlighting the effects of galaxy orientation.

Findings

Unwinding spiral arms observed in 10 out of 11 galaxies.

Unwinding involves younger stars, older stars remain undisturbed.

Unwinding is short-lived, less than 0.5 Gyr, during first infall.

Abstract

We present the first study of the effect of ram-pressure "unwinding" the spiral arms of cluster galaxies. We study 11 ram-pressure stripped galaxies from GASP (GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies) in which, in addition to more commonly observed "jellyfish" features, dislodged material also appears to retain the original structure of the spiral arms. Gravitational influence from neighbours is ruled out and we compare the sample with a control group of undisturbed spiral galaxies and simulated stripped galaxies. We first confirm the unwinding nature, finding the spiral arm pitch angle increases radially in 10 stripped galaxies and also simulated face-on and edge-on stripped galaxies. We find only younger stars in the unwound component, while older stars in the disc remain undisturbed. We compare the morphology and kinematics with simulated ram-pressure stripping galaxies, taking into account the estimated inclination with respect to the intracluster medium and find that in edge-on stripping, unwinding can occur due to differential ram-pressure caused by the disc rotation, causing stripped material to slow and "pile-up". In face-on cases, gas removed from the outer edges falls to higher orbits, appearing to "unwind". The pattern is fairly short-lived (<0.5Gyr) in the stripping process, occurring during first infall and eventually washed out by the ICM wind into the tail of the jellyfish galaxy. By comparing simulations with the observed sample, we find a combination of face-on and edge-on "unwinding" effects are likely to be occurring in our galaxies as they experience stripping with different inclinations with respect to the ICM.