Properties of cluster red-sequence spiral galaxies

TL;DR

This study characterizes red and blue face-on spiral galaxies in clusters, revealing that many red spirals are either dusty or passively evolved, highlighting their role in galaxy evolution within dense environments.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive multi-wavelength analysis of red spirals, distinguishing dusty from passive systems, and links their properties to galaxy transformation processes in clusters.

Findings

Up to 45% of red spirals are dusty, obscuring star formation.

About half of red spirals are passively evolved with little dust.

Red spirals are key transitional objects in galaxy evolution within clusters.

Abstract

We identify a sample of 324 red and 273 blue face-on spiral galaxies selected from 115 low-redshift (0.014 < z < 0.18) galaxy clusters imaged with CFHT+MegaCam in u- and r-band, KPNO 0.9-meter 2TkA and MOSAIC 8K camera in B and Rc, and images and catalogs extracted from the WINGS survey. Multi-wavelength photometry and spectroscopy were obtained by cross-matching sources with SDSS, GALEX, and WISE datasets. Our main results suggest that up to 45% of optically red spirals are dusty compared to blue spiral galaxies based on infrared observations. The presence of dust can obscure star formation and hence lead to red spirals being misclassified as passive systems. Approximately half of the red spirals do not show evidence of a large abundance of dust, hence are optically red due to passive evolution. Support for the passive nature of these red spirals is provided by SDSS emission line data based on the Dn(4000) spectral index, EW(H-alpha), EW(H-delta), and [O III] 5007 A luminosity, and on a comparison of the star formation rate and the specific star formation rate with cluster blue spirals. Red spirals are an important link in the evolution of galaxies in the high-density cluster environment and play a key role in determining the physical mechanisms that are responsible for transforming blue star-forming galaxies into red spiral systems.