The rise and fall of dusty star formation in (proto-)clusters

  • Lee, Kyung-Soo (Department of Physics and Astronomy Purdue University)
  • Published : 2019.10.14

Abstract

The formation and evolution of galaxies is known to be fundamentally linked to the local environment in which they reside. In the highest-density cluster environments, galaxies tend to be more massive, have lower star formation rates and dust content, and a higher fraction have elliptical morphologies. The stellar populations of these cluster galaxies are older implying that they formed the bulk of their stars much earlier and have since evolved passively. Quantifying the specific environmental factors that contribute to shaping cluster galaxies over the Hubble time and measuring their early evolution can only be accomplished by directly tracing the galaxy growth in young clusters and forming porto-clusters. In this talk, I will present a novel technique designed to map out the total dust obscured star formation relative to where existing stars lie. I will demonstrate that this technique can be used 1) to determine if/where/when the activity is heightened or suppressed in dense cluster environment; 2) to measure the total mass and spatial distribution of stellar populations; and 3) to better inform theoretical models. Our ongoing work to extend this analysis out to protoclusters (z~2-4) will be discussed.

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