The impact of selection criteria on the properties of green valley galaxies

TL;DR

This study evaluates how different selection criteria influence the identification and properties of green valley galaxies, revealing significant variations based on the criteria used, which impacts galaxy evolution research.

Contribution

First comprehensive analysis of selection effects on green valley galaxy identification using multiple criteria and galaxy properties from SDSS and GALEX data.

Findings

UV-optical colour criteria select more massive, less star-forming galaxies.

Colour-based criteria are highly sensitive and can bias galaxy property distributions.

Alternative or combined methods are recommended for more reliable green valley selection.

Abstract

Context: The bi-modality in the distribution of galaxies usually obtained from colour-colour or colour-stellar mass diagrams has been studied to show the difference between the galaxies in the blue cloud and in the red sequence and to define the green valley region. As a transition region, the green valley galaxies can give clues about morphological transformation of galaxies from late- to early-types, and therefore the selection of green valley is of fundamental importance. Aims: In this work, for the first time, we evaluate the selection effects of the most used green valley selection criteria. The aim is to understand how these criteria affect the identification of green valley galaxies, their properties, and their impact on galaxy evolution studies. Methods: Using the SDSS optical and GALEX ultraviolet data at redshift z < 0.1, we selected the eight most commonly used criteria based on colours, specific star formation rate, and star formation rate vs. stellar mass. We then studied the properties of the green valley galaxies (their stellar mass, star formation rate, specific star formation rate, intrinsic brightness, morphological and pectroscopic types) for each selection criterion. Results: We found that when using different criteria, we select different types of galaxies. UV-optical colour-based criteria tend to select more massive galaxies, with lower star formation rates, with higher fractions of composite and elliptical galaxies, than when using pure optical colours. Our results also show that the colour-based criteria are the most sensitive to galaxy properties, rapidly changing the selection of green valley galaxies. Conclusions: Whenever possible, we suggest avoiding the green valley colour-based selection and using other methods or a combination of several, such as the star formation rate vs. stellar mass or specific star formation rate.