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Joanna Woo

Publications and source records attributed to Joanna Woo.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2019

The MUSE Atlas of Disks (MAD): Resolving Star Formation Rates and Gas Metallicities on < 100pc Scales

We study the physical properties of the ionized gas in local disks using the sample of 38 nearby $\sim10^{8.5-11.2}$M$_\odot$ Star-Forming Main Sequence (SFMS) galaxies observed so far as part of the MUSE Atlas of Disks (MAD). Specifically, we use all strong emission lines in the MUSE wavelength range 4650-9300 Å to investigate the resolved ionized gas properties on $\sim$100 pc scales. This spatial resolution enables us to disentangle HII regions from the Diffuse Ionized Gas (DIG) in the computation of gas metallicities and Star Formation Rates (SFRs) of star forming regions. The gas metallicities generally decrease with radius. The metallicity of the HII regions is on average $\sim$0.1 dex higher than that of the DIG, but the metallicity radial gradient in both components is similar. The mean metallicities within the inner galaxy cores correlate with the total stellar mass of the galaxies. On our <100 pc scales, we find two correlations previously reported at kpc scales: a spatially resolved Mass-Metallicity Relation (RMZR) and a spatially resolved SFMS (RSFMS). We find no secondary dependency of the RMZR with the SFR density. We find that both resolved relations have a local origin, as they do not depend on the total stellar mass. The observational results of this paper are consistent with the inside-out scenario for the growth of galactic disks.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2017

On the evolution of the central density of quiescent galaxies

We investigate the origin of the evolution of the population-averaged central stellar mass density ($Σ_1$) of quiescent galaxies (QGs) by probing the relation between stellar age and $Σ_1$ at $z\sim0$. We use the Zurich ENvironmental Study (ZENS), which is a survey of galaxy groups with a large fraction of satellite galaxies. QGs shape a narrow locus in the $Σ_1-M_{\star}$ plane, which we refer to as $Σ_1$ ridgeline. Colors of ($B-I$) and ($I-J$) are used to divide QGs into three age categories: young ($<2~\mathrm{Gyr}$), intermediate ($2-4~\mathrm{Gyr}$), and old ($>4~\mathrm{Gyr}$). At fixed stellar mass, old QGs on the $Σ_1$ ridgeline have higher $Σ_1$ than young QGs. This shows that galaxies landing on the $Σ_1$ ridgeline at later epochs arrive with lower $Σ_1$, which drives the zeropoint of the ridgeline down with time. We compare the present-day zeropoint of the oldest population at $z=0$ with the zeropoint of the quiescent population 4 Gyr back in time, at $z=0.37$. These zeropoints are identical, showing that the intrinsic evolution of individual galaxies after they arrive on the $Σ_1$ ridgeline must be negligible, or must evolve parallel to the ridgeline during this interval. The observed evolution of the global zeropoint of 0.07 dex over the last 4 Gyr is thus largely due to the continuous addition of newly quenched galaxies with lower $Σ_1$ at later times ("progenitor bias"). While these results refer to the satellite-rich ZENS sample as a whole, our work suggests a similar age-$Σ_1$ trend for central galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2017

Supermassive black holes as the regulators of star formation in central galaxies

We present a relationship between the black hole mass, stellar mass, and star formation rate of a diverse group of 91 galaxies with dynamically-measured black hole masses. For our sample of galaxies with a variety of morphologies and other galactic properties, we find that the specific star formation rate is a smoothly decreasing function of the ratio between black hole mass and stellar mass, or what we call the specific black hole mass. In order to explain this relation, we propose a physical framework where the gradual suppression of a galaxy's star formation activity results from the adjustment to an increase in specific black hole mass and, accordingly, an increase in the amount of heating. From this framework, it follows that at least some galaxies with intermediate specific black hole masses are in a steady state of partial quiescence with intermediate specific star formation rates, implying that both transitioning and steady-state galaxies live within this region known as the "green valley." With respect to galaxy formation models, our results present an important diagnostic with which to test various prescriptions of black hole feedback and its effects on star formation activity.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2016

Quiescence correlates strongly with directly-measured black hole mass in central galaxies

Roughly half of all stars reside in galaxies without significant ongoing star formation. However, galaxy formation models indicate that it is energetically challenging to suppress the cooling of gas and the formation of stars in galaxies that lie at the centers of their dark matter halos. In this Letter, we show that the dependence of quiescence on black hole and stellar mass is a powerful discriminant between differing models for the mechanisms that suppress star formation. Using observations of 91 star-forming and quiescent central galaxies with directly-measured black hole masses, we find that quiescent galaxies host more massive black holes than star-forming galaxies with similar stellar masses. This observational result is in qualitative agreement with models that assume that effective, more-or-less continuous AGN feedback suppresses star formation, strongly suggesting the importance of the black hole in producing quiescence in central galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2015

Quenching of Star Formation in SDSS Groups: Centrals, Satellites, and Galactic Conformity

We re-examine the fraction of low-redshift Sloan Digital Sky Survey satellites and centrals in which star formation has been quenched, using the environment quenching efficiency formalism that separates out the dependence of stellar mass. We show that the centrals of the groups containing the satellites are responding to the environment in the same way as their satellites (at least for stellar masses above 10^10.3 Msun), and that the well-known differences between satellites and the general set of centrals arise because the latter are overwhelmingly dominated by isolated galaxies. The widespread concept of "satellite quenching" as the cause of environmental effects in the galaxy population can therefore be generalized to "group quenching". We then explore the dependence of the quenching efficiency of satellites on overdensity, group-centric distance, halo mass, the stellar mass of the satellite, and the stellar mass and specific star formation rate (sSFR) of its central, trying to isolate the effect of these often interdependent variables. We emphasize the importance of the central sSFR in the quenching efficiency of the associated satellites, and develop the meaning of this "galactic conformity" effect in a probabilistic description of the quenching of galaxies. We show that conformity is strong, and that it varies strongly across parameter space. Several arguments then suggest that environmental quenching and mass quenching may be different manifestations of the same underlying process. The marked difference in the apparent mass dependencies of environment quenching and mass quenching which produces distinctive signatures in the mass functions of centrals and satellites will arise naturally, since, for satellites at least, the distributions of the environmental variables that we investigate in this work are essentially independent of the stellar mass of the satellite.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2015

Two Conditions for Galaxy Quenching: Compact Centres and Massive Haloes

We investigate the roles of two classes of quenching mechanisms for central and satellite galaxies in the SDSS ($z<0.075$): those involving the halo and those involving the formation of a compact centre. For central galaxies with inner compactness $Σ_{\rm 1kpc} \sim 10^{9-9.4}M_{\odot} {\rm kpc}^{-2}$, the quenched fraction $f_{q}$ is strongly correlated with $Σ_{\rm 1kpc}$ with only weak halo mass $M_{\rm h}$ dependence. However, at higher and lower $Σ_{\rm 1kpc}$, sSFR is a strong function of $M_{\rm h}$ and mostly independent of $Σ_{\rm 1kpc}$. In other words, $Σ_{\rm 1kpc} \sim 10^{9-9.4} M_{\odot} {\rm kpc}^{-2}$ divides galaxies into those with high sSFR below and low sSFR above this range. In both the upper and lower regimes, increasing $M_{\rm h}$ shifts the entire sSFR distribtuion to lower sSFR without a qualitative change in shape. This is true even at fixed $M_{*}$, but varying $M_{*}$ at fixed $M_{\rm h}$ adds no quenching information. Most of the quenched centrals with $M_{\rm h} > 10^{11.8}M_{\odot}$ are dense ($Σ_{\rm 1kpc} > 10^{9}~ M_{\odot} {\rm kpc}^{-2}$), suggesting compaction-related quenching maintained by halo-related quenching. However, 21% are diffuse, indicating only halo quenching. For satellite galaxies in the outskirts of halos, quenching is a strong function of compactness and a weak function of host $M_{\rm h}$. In the inner halo, $M_{\rm h}$ dominates quenching, with $\sim 90\%$ of the satellites being quenched once $M_{\rm h} > 10^{13}M_{\odot}$. This regional effect is greatest for the least massive satellites. As demonstrated via semi-analytic modelling with simple prescriptions for quenching, the observed correlations can be explained if quenching due to central compactness is rapid while quenching due to halo mass is slow.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2013

The star-forming progenitors of massive red galaxies

The link between massive red galaxies in the local Universe and star-forming galaxies at high redshift is investigated with a semi-analytic model that has proven successful in many ways, e.g. explaining the galaxy colour-magnitude bimodality and the stellar mass-age relation for red-sequence galaxies. The model is used to explore the processes that drive star formation in different types of galaxies as a function of stellar mass and redshift. We find that most z=2-4 star-forming galaxies with M_*>10^10 M_Sun evolve into red-sequence galaxies. Also, most of the massive galaxies on the red-sequence today have passed through a phase of intense star formation at z>2. Specifically, ~ 90% of today's red galaxies with M_*>10^11 M_Sun were fed during this phase by cold streams including minor mergers. Gas-rich major mergers are rare and the effects of merger-driven starbursts are ephemeral. On the other hand, major mergers are important in powering the most extreme starbursts. Gas-rich mergers also explain the tail of intermediate-mass red galaxies that form relatively late, after the epoch of peak star formation. In two thirds of the currently red galaxies that had an intense star formation event at $z<1$, this event was triggered by a merger.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2012

Dependence of Galaxy Quenching on Halo Mass and Distance from its Centre

We study the dependence of star-formation quenching on galaxy mass and environment, in the SDSS (z~0.1) and the AEGIS (z~1). It is crucial that we define quenching by low star-formation rate rather than by red colour, given that one third of the red galaxies are star forming. We address stellar mass M*, halo mass Mh, density over the nearest N neighbours deltaN, and distance to the halo centre D. The fraction of quenched galaxies appears more strongly correlated with Mh at fixed M* than with M* at fixed Mh, while for satellites quenching also depends on D. We present the M*-Mh relation for centrals at z~1. At z~1, the dependence of quenching on M* at fixed Mh is somewhat more pronounced than at z~0, but the quenched fraction is low (10%) and the haloes are less massive. For satellites, M*-dependent quenching is noticeable at high D, suggesting a quenching dependence on sub-halo mass for recently captured satellites. At small D, where satellites likely fell in more than a few Gyr ago, quenching strongly depends on Mh, and not on M*. The Mh-dependence of quenching is consistent with theoretical wisdom where virial shock heating in massive haloes shuts down accretion and triggers ram-pressure stripping, causing quenching. The interpretation of deltaN is complicated by the fact that it depends on the number of observed group members compared to N, motivating the use of D as a better measure of local environment.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2008

Scaling Relations and the Fundamental Line of the Local Group Dwarf Galaxies

We study the scaling relations between global properties of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group. In addition to quantifying the correlations between pairs of variables, we explore the "shape" of the distribution of galaxies in log parameter space using standardised Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the analysis is performed first in the 3-D structural parameter space of stellar mass M*, internal velocity V and characteristic radius R* (or surface brightness mu*). It is then extended to a 4-D space that includes a stellar-population parameter such as metallicity Z or star formation rate SFR. We find that the Local-Group dwarfs basically define a one-parameter "Fundamental Line" (FL), primarily driven by stellar mass, M*. A more detailed inspection reveals differences between the star-formation properties of dwarf irregulars (dI's) and dwarf ellipticals (dE's), beyond the tendency of the latter to be more massive. In particular, the metallicities of dI's are typically lower by a factor of 3 at a given M* and they grow faster with increasing M*, showing a tighter FL in the 4-D space for the dE's. The structural scaling relations of dI's resemble those of the more massive spirals, but the dI's have lower star formation rates for a given M* which also grow faster with increasing M*. On the other hand, the FL of the dE's departs from the fundamental plane of bigger ellipticals. While the one-parameter nature of the FL and the associated slopes of the scaling relations are consistent with the general predictions of supernova feedback (Dekel & Woo 2003), the differences between the FL's of the dE's and the dI's remain a challenge and should serve as a guide for the secondary physical processes responsible for these two types.

astro-ph↗