Evidence for HI replenishment in massive galaxies through gas accretion from the cosmic web

Kleiner, Dane; Pimbblet, Kevin A.; Heath Jones, D.; Koribalski, Bärbel S.; Serra, Paolo

Abstract

We examine the H i -to-stellar mass ratio (H i fraction) for galaxies near filament backbones within the nearby Universe (d < 181 Mpc). This work uses the 6 degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) and the Discrete Persistent Structures Extractor (DisPerSE) to define the filamentary structure of the local cosmic web. H i spectral stacking of H i Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) observations yield the H i fraction for filament galaxies and a field control sample. The H i fraction is measured for different stellar masses and 5th nearest neighbour projected densities (Σ5) to disentangle what influences cold gas in galaxies. For galaxies with stellar masses log(M⋆) ≤ 11 M⊙ in projected densities 0 ≤ Σ5 < 3 galaxies Mpc−2, all H i fractions of galaxies near filaments are statistically indistinguishable from the control sample. Galaxies with stellar masses log(M⋆) ≥ 11 M⊙ have a systematically higher H i fraction near filaments than the control sample. The greatest difference is 0.75 dex, which is 5.5σ difference at mean projected densities of 1.45 galaxies Mpc−2. We suggest that this is evidence for massive galaxies accreting cold gas from the intra-filament medium which can replenish some H i gas. This supports cold mode accretion where filament galaxies with a large gravitational potential can draw gas from the large scale structure.

Citation

Kleiner, D., Pimbblet, K. A., Heath Jones, D., Koribalski, B. S., & Serra, P. (2017). Evidence for HI replenishment in massive galaxies through gas accretion from the cosmic web. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 466(4), 4692-4710. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3328

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 19, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Dec 22, 2016
• Publication Date: May 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2017
• Journal: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 466
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 4692-4710
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw3328
• Keywords: Galaxies : evolution; Galaxies : general; Large-scale structure of Universe; Radio lines : galaxies
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/447414
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stw3328
• Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2017 Dane Kleiner, Kevin A. Pimbblet, D. Heath Jones, Bärbel S. Koribalski, Paolo Serra; Evidence for H i replenishment in massive galaxies through gas accretion from the cosmic web. Mon Not R Astron Soc 2017; 466 (4): 4692-4710. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw3328. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.