No Arabic abstract
We analyse the properties of galaxy populations in the rich Abell cluster ABCG 209 at redshift z~0.21, on the basis of spectral classification of 102 member galaxies. We take advantage of available structural parameters to study separately the properties of bulge-dominated and disk-dominated galaxies. The star formation histories of the cluster galaxy populations are investigated by using line strengths and the 4000 A break, through a comparison to stellar population synthesis models. The dynamical properties of different spectral classes are examined in order to infer the past merging history of ABCG 209. The cluster is characterized by the presence of two components: an old galaxy population, formed very early (z_f >~ 3.5), and a younger (z$_f >~ $ 1.2) population of infalling galaxies. We find evidence of a merger with an infalling group of galaxies occurred 3.5-4.5 Gyr ago. The correlation between the position of the young H_delta-strong galaxies and the X-ray flux shows that the hot intracluster medium triggered a starburst in this galaxy population ~ 3 Gyr ago.
The thesis work is focused on the analysis of the galaxy clusters ABCG 209, at z~0.2, which is characterized by a strong dynamical evolution. The data sample used is based mainly on new optical data (EMMI-NTT: B, V and R band images and MOS spectra), acquired in October 2001 at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. Archive optical data (CFHR12k: B and R images), and X-ray (Chandra) and radio (VLA) observations are also analysed. The main goal of the present analysis is the investigation of the connection between internal cluster dynamics and star formation history, aimed at understanding the complex mechanisms of cluster formation and evolution. The analysis of the internal dynamics of the cluster and the study of the galaxy luminosity function (LF) suggest an observational scenario in which ABCG 209 is undergoing a strong dynamical evolution with the merging of two or more subclumps along the SE-NW direction in a plane which is not parallel to the plane of sky. The effect of cluster environment on the global properties of the cluster galaxies is examined through the analysis of the LFs, colour-magnitude relations, and average colours.Moreover cluster dynamics and large-scale structure have a strong influence on galaxy evolution, so it is performed a detailed study of spectroscopic properties of 102 luminous member galaxies. All the results support an evolutionary scenario in which ABCG 209 is characterized by a sum of two components: an old galaxy population, formed very earlier (z >~ 3), and a younger population of infalling galaxies. Moreover this cluster may have experimented 1 or 2 Gyrs ago a merging with an infalling galaxy group, as indicated also by the previous dynamical analysis.
We present the KMOS-CLASH (K-CLASH) survey, a K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS) survey of the spatially-resolved gas properties and kinematics of 191 (predominantly blue) H$alpha$-detected galaxies at $0.2 lesssim z lesssim 0.6$ in field and cluster environments. K-CLASH targets galaxies in four Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) fields in the KMOS $IZ$-band, over $7$ radius ($approx2$-$3$ Mpc) fields-of-view. K-CLASH aims to study the transition of star-forming galaxies from turbulent, highly star-forming disc-like and peculiar systems at $zapprox1$-$3$, to the comparatively quiescent, ordered late-type galaxies at $zapprox0$, and to examine the role of clusters in the build-up of the red sequence since $zapprox1$. In this paper, we describe the K-CLASH survey, present the sample, and provide an overview of the K-CLASH galaxy properties. We demonstrate that our sample comprises star-forming galaxies typical of their stellar masses and epochs, residing both in field and cluster environments. We conclude K-CLASH provides an ideal sample to bridge the gap between existing large integral-field spectroscopy surveys at higher and lower redshifts. We find that star-forming K-CLASH cluster galaxies at intermediate redshifts have systematically lower stellar masses than their star-forming counterparts in the field, hinting at possible downsizing scenarios of galaxy growth in clusters at these epochs. We measure no difference between the star-formation rates of H$alpha$-detected, star-forming galaxies in either environment after accounting for stellar mass, suggesting that cluster quenching occurs very rapidly during the epochs probed by K-CLASH, or that star-forming K-CLASH galaxies in clusters have only recently arrived there, with insufficient time elapsed for quenching to have occured.
Even 10 billion years ago, the cores of the first galaxy clusters are often found to host a characteristic population of massive galaxies with already suppressed star formation. Here we search for distant cluster candidates at z~2 using massive passive galaxies as tracers. With a sample of ~40 spectroscopically confirmed passive galaxies at 1.3<z<2.1, we tune photometric redshifts of several thousands passive sources in the full 2 sq.deg. COSMOS field. This allows us to map their density in redshift slices, probing the large scale structure in the COSMOS field as traced by passive sources. We report here on the three strongest passive galaxy overdensities that we identify in the redshift range 1.5<z<2.5. While the actual nature of these concentrations is still to be confirmed, we discuss their identification procedure, and the arguments supporting them as candidate galaxy clusters (likely mid-10^13 M_sun range). Although this search approach is likely biased towards more evolved structures, it has the potential to select still rare, cluster-like environments close to their epoch of first appearance, enabling new investigations of the evolution of galaxies in the context of structure growth.
We present the GALEX UV photometry of the elliptical galaxies in Abell clusters at moderate redshifts (z < 0.2) for the study of the look-back time evolution of the UV upturn phenomenon. The brightest elliptical galaxies (M_r < -22) in 12 remote clusters are compared with the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity in the Fornax and Virgo clusters. The sample galaxies presented here appear to be quiescent without signs of massive star formation or strong nuclear activity, and show smooth, extended profiles in their UV images indicating that the far-UV (FUV) light is mostly produced by hot stars in the underlying old stellar population. Compared to their counterparts in nearby clusters, the FUV flux of cluster giant elliptical galaxies at moderate redshifts fades rapidly with ~ 2 Gyrs of look-back time, and the observed pace in FUV - V color evolution agrees reasonably well with the prediction from the population synthesis models where the dominant FUV source is hot horizontal-branch stars and their progeny. A similar amount of color spread (~ 1 mag) in FUV - V exists among the brightest cluster elliptical galaxies at z ~ 0.1, as observed among the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data in the COSMOS field, we systematically searched clumpy galaxies at 0.2<z<1.0 and investigated the fraction of clumpy galaxies and its evolution as a function of stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), and specific SFR (SSFR). The fraction of clumpy galaxies in star-forming galaxies with Mstar > 10^9.5 Msun decreases with time from ~0.35 at 0.8<z<1.0 to ~0.05 at 0.2<z<0.4 irrespective of the stellar mass, although the fraction tends to be slightly lower for massive galaxies with Mstar > 10^10.5 Msun at each redshift. On the other hand, the fraction of clumpy galaxies increases with increasing both SFR and SSFR in all the redshift ranges we investigated. In particular, we found that the SSFR dependences of the fractions are similar among galaxies with different stellar masses, and the fraction at a given SSFR does not depend on the stellar mass in each redshift bin. The evolution of the fraction of clumpy galaxies from z~0.9 to z~0.3 seems to be explained by such SSFR dependence of the fraction and the evolution of SSFRs of star-forming galaxies. The fraction at a given SSFR also appears to decrease with time, but this can be due to the effect of the morphological K-correction. We suggest that these results are understood by the gravitational fragmentation model for the formation of giant clumps in disk galaxies, where the gas mass fraction is a crucial parameter.