Pre-processing of Galaxies in the Early Stages of Cluster Formation in Abell 1882 at $z$=0.139

TL;DR

This study investigates how galaxy evolution in the supergroup Abell 1882 at z=0.139 is influenced by environment, revealing that local density and galaxy mass significantly affect star formation and quenching processes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive multiwavelength analysis of galaxy populations in a supergroup, highlighting environmental effects on galaxy evolution prior to cluster integration.

Findings

Galaxy evolution responds strongly to environment in unrelaxed systems.

Star formation suppression occurs in infall regions before entering dense environments.

Lower-mass galaxies show changes at larger distances from substructure centers.

Abstract

A rare opportunity to distinguish internal and environmental effects on galaxy evolution is afforded by "Supergroups", systems which are rich and massive but include several comparably rich substructures, surrounded by filaments. We present here a multiwavelength photometric and spectroscopic study of the galaxy population in the Supergroup Abell 1882 at $z$=0.139, combining new data from the MMT and Hectospec with archival results from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), NED, the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). These provide spectroscopic classifications for 526 member galaxies, across wide ranges of local density and velocity dispersion. We identify three prominent filaments along which galaxies seem to be entering the Supergroup (mostly in E-W directions). Abell 1882 has a well-populated red sequence, containing most galaxies with stellar mass $>$ $10^{10.5}$ $M_{sun}$, and a pronounced color-density relation even within its substructures. Thus, galaxy evolution responds to the external environment as strongly in these unrelaxed systems as we find in rich and relaxed clusters. From these data, local density remains the primary factor with a secondary role for distance from the inferred center of the entire structure's potential well. Effects on star formation, as traced by optical and near-UV colors, depend on galaxy mass. We see changes in lower-mass galaxies (M $<$ $10^{10.5}$ $M_{sun}$) at four times the virial radius of major substructures, while the more massive $NUV$ Green Valley galaxies show low levels of star formation within two virial radii. Suppression of star formation ("quenching") occurs in the infall regions of these structures even before galaxies enter the denser group environment.