WALLABY Pilot Survey: Star Formation Enhancement and Suppression in Gas-rich Galaxy Pairs

Qifeng Huang; Jing Wang; Xuchen Lin; Se-Heon Oh; Xinkai Chen; B. Catinella; N. Deg; H. Dénes; B. -Q. For; B. S. Koribalski; K. Lee-Waddell; J. Rhee; A. X. Shen; Li Shao; K. Spekkens; L. Staveley-Smith; T. Westmeier; O. I. Wong; A. Bosma

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad9579

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)

WALLABY Pilot Survey: Star Formation Enhancement and Suppression in Gas-rich Galaxy Pairs

Qifeng Huang,
Jing Wang,
Xuchen Lin,
Se-Heon Oh,
Xinkai Chen,
B. Catinella,
N. Deg,
H. Dénes,
B. -Q. For,
B. S. Koribalski,
K. Lee-Waddell,
J. Rhee,
A. X. Shen,
Li Shao,
K. Spekkens,
L. Staveley-Smith,
T. Westmeier,
O. I. Wong,
A. Bosma

Affiliations

Qifeng Huang: ORCiD; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China ; [email protected]; Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
Jing Wang: ORCiD; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China ; [email protected]
Xuchen Lin: ORCiD; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China ; [email protected]; Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
Se-Heon Oh: ORCiD; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sejong University , 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Xinkai Chen: ORCiD; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China ; [email protected]
B. Catinella: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
N. Deg: ORCiD; Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen’s University , Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
H. Dénes: ORCiD; School of Physical Sciences and Nanotechnology, Yachay Tech University , Hacienda San José S/N, 100119, Urcuquí, Ecuador
B. -Q. For: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
B. S. Koribalski: ORCiD; Australia Telescope National Facility , CSIRO, Space and Astronomy, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia; School of Science, Western Sydney University , Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
K. Lee-Waddell: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; CSIRO Space and Astronomy , PO Box 1130, Bentley WA 6102, Australia; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
J. Rhee: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia
A. X. Shen: CSIRO Space and Astronomy , PO Box 1130, Bentley WA 6102, Australia
Li Shao: ORCiD; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China
K. Spekkens: ORCiD; Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen’s University , Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
L. Staveley-Smith: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia
T. Westmeier: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia
O. I. Wong: ORCiD; International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Australia; CSIRO Space and Astronomy , PO Box 1130, Bentley WA 6102, Australia
A. Bosma: ORCiD; Aix Marseille Université , CNRS, CNES, LAM, F-13388 Marseille Cedex 13, France

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9579
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 980, no. 1
p. 157

Abstract

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Galaxy interactions can significantly affect the star formation in galaxies, but it remains a challenge to achieve a consensus on the star formation rate (SFR) enhancement in galaxy pairs. Here, we investigate the SFR enhancement of gas-rich galaxy pairs detected by the Widefield ASKAP L -band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY. We construct a sample of 278 paired galaxies spanning a stellar mass ( M _* ) range from 10 ^7.6 to 10 ^11.2 M _⊙ . We obtain individual masses of atomic hydrogen (H i ) for these paired galaxies using a novel deblending algorithm for H i data cubes. Quantifying the interaction stages and strengths with parameters motivated by first-principles analysis, we find that, at fixed stellar and H i mass, the alteration in the SFR of galaxy pairs starts when their dark matter halos are encountered. For galaxies with a stellar mass lower than 10 ^9 M _⊙ , their SFRs show tentative suppression of 1.4 σ after the halo encounter, and then become enhanced when their H i disks overlap, regardless of mass ratios. In contrast, the SFRs of galaxies with M _* > 10 ^9 M _⊙ increase monotonically toward smaller projected distances and radial velocity offsets. When a close companion is present, a pronounced SFR enhancement is found for the most H i -poor high-mass galaxies in our sample. Collecting the observational evidence, we provide a coherent picture of the evolution of galaxy pairs and discuss how the tidal effects and hydrodynamic processes shape the SFR enhancement. Our results provide a coherent picture of gas-rich galaxy interactions and impose constraints on the underlying physical processes.

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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