The Prevalence of Star-forming Clumps as a Function of Environmental Overdensity in Local Galaxies

Dominic Adams; Hugh Dickinson; Lucy Fortson; Kameswara Mantha; Vihang Mehta; Jürgen Popp; Claudia Scarlata; Chris Lintott; Brooke Simmons; Mike Walmsley

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad7119

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)

The Prevalence of Star-forming Clumps as a Function of Environmental Overdensity in Local Galaxies

Dominic Adams,
Hugh Dickinson,
Lucy Fortson,
Kameswara Mantha,
Vihang Mehta,
Jürgen Popp,
Claudia Scarlata,
Chris Lintott,
Brooke Simmons,
Mike Walmsley

Affiliations

Dominic Adams: ORCiD; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Hugh Dickinson: School of Physical Sciences, The Open University , Walton Hall, MK7 6AA Milton Keynes, UK
Lucy Fortson: ORCiD; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Kameswara Mantha: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Vihang Mehta: ORCiD; IPAC, Mail Code 314-6, California Institute of Technology , 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena CA 91125, USA
Jürgen Popp: School of Physical Sciences, The Open University , Walton Hall, MK7 6AA Milton Keynes, UK
Claudia Scarlata: ORCiD; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota , 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Chris Lintott: ORCiD; Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Rd., Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
Brooke Simmons: ORCiD; Department of Physics, Lancaster University , Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
Mike Walmsley: ORCiD; Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Manchester , Oxford Rd., Manchester M13 9PL, UK

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad7119
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 979, no. 2
p. 118

Abstract

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At the peak of cosmic star formation (1 ≲ z ≲ 2), the majority of star-forming galaxies hosted compact, star-forming clumps, which were responsible for a large fraction of cosmic star formation. By comparison, ≲5% of local star-forming galaxies host comparable clumps. In this work, we investigate the link between the environmental conditions surrounding local ( z 10 ^−2 Gyr ^−1 ) but find little to no relationship when controlling for galaxies’ sSFR or color. Further, f _clumpy increases significantly with sSFR in local galaxies, particularly above sSFR > 10 ^−1 Gyr ^−1 . We posit that a galaxy’s gas fraction primarily controls the formation and lifetime of its clumps, and that environmental interactions play a smaller role.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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