2025/05/15 by Ariel O. Broderick, Broderick, Ariel O., Ian Roberts +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Cluster (spacecraft) #Coma (optics) #Coma Cluster #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Quenching (fluorescence) #Ram pressure #Scientific Research and Discoveries #Star formation
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2505.10633
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University)
openalex publication_date 2025/05/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We use 45 galaxies from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory survey to study the physical drivers of star formation quenching in the Coma cluster. We measure specific star formation rate (sSFR) radial profiles for the Coma sample as well as a control sample of non-cluster field galaxies. We find that compared to the control sample, galaxies within the Coma Cluster have sSFR profiles that fall off more steeply with galactocentric radius. We then apply a toy model based on slow-then-rapid quenching via ram pressure stripping. We find that this model is able to reproduce the difference in sSFR profiles between field and Coma galaxies. These results demonstrate that ram pressure stripping plays a significant role in quenching star formation in the nearest massive galaxy cluster.