Dissecting the Perseus-Pisces supercluster observed with CFHT-MegaCam: Investigating environmental effects on galaxy morphology

TL;DR

This study investigates how galaxy morphology and interactions vary within the Perseus-Pisces supercluster's filamentary structure, revealing environmental influences on galaxy evolution through detailed 3D mapping and morphological analysis.

Contribution

It provides a detailed 3D mapping of the Perseus-Pisces filamentary network and analyzes the environmental effects on galaxy morphology and interactions.

Findings

Massive early-type galaxies are concentrated along filaments and near dense nodes.

A significant fraction of galaxies show signs of gravitational interactions, especially in filaments and groups.

Environmental factors influence galaxy morphology and induce tidal interactions.

Abstract

The discovery of the large-scale structure has transformed our view of galaxy formation and evolution. Filaments of the cosmic web provide key environments that channel the growth of structures. Guided by predictions from cosmological simulations, we study the morphological distribution of galaxies in the Perseus-Pisces Supercluster, a prominent filamentary complex at 70 Mpc. We focus on how galaxy morphology and structural disturbances relate to position within the filament network and to proximity to dense nodes. Our sample is built from a spectroscopic catalogue cross-matched with deep r-band CFHT/MegaCam imaging from UNIONS and additional time, enabling the detection of low-surface-brightness features and extended outer structures. Morphologies are determined both visually and through structural parameters extracted from surface-brightness profiles using AutoProf and AstroPhot. The 3D filamentary skeleton of Perseus-Pisces is reconstructed with the DisPerSE algorithm, providing distances from each galaxy to the nearest filament and to group or cluster centres. The 3D mapping reveals a network of interconnected sub-filaments converging around the Pisces cluster, forming a complex, multi-branched structure that likely shapes environmental effects on galaxy evolution. We observe clear morphological and stellar-mass segregation: massive early-type galaxies (E/S0) concentrate along filament spines and near dense nodes, while late-type and irregular systems are more broadly dispersed. About 10-13% of galaxies show strong signs of gravitational interaction, with stellar-halo asymmetries particularly common in filaments and groups. These findings underline the dual influence of filamentary environments, which both host evolved early-type systems and foster local tidal interactions and pre-processing that modify galaxy morphology.