Triggering active galactic nuclei in galaxy clusters

Marshall, Madeline A; Shabala, Stanislav S; Krause, Martin G H; Pimbblet, Kevin A; Croton, Darren J; Owers, Matt S

Abstract

© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. We model the triggering of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in galaxy clusters using the semianalytic galaxy formation model SAGE. We prescribe triggering methods based on the ram pressure galaxies experience as they move throughout the intracluster medium, which is hypothesized to trigger star formation and AGN activity. The clustercentric radius and velocity distribution of the simulated active galaxies produced by thesemodels are compared with those of AGN and galaxies with intense star formation from a sample of low-redshift relaxed clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The ram pressure triggering model that best explains the clustercentric radius and velocity distribution of these observed galaxies has AGN and star formation triggered if 2.5 × 10 -14 Pa < P ram < 2.5 × 10 -13 Pa and P ram > 2P internal ; this is consistent with expectations from hydrodynamical simulations of ram-pressure-induced star formation. Our results show that ram pressure is likely to be an important mechanism for triggering star formation and AGN activity in clusters.

Citation

Marshall, M. A., Shabala, S. S., Krause, M. G. H., Pimbblet, K. A., Croton, D. J., & Owers, M. S. (2018). Triggering active galactic nuclei in galaxy clusters. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 474(3), 3615-3628. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2996

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 20, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 28, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2018
• 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: 474
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 3615-3628
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2996
• Keywords: Galaxies: active; Galaxies: clusters: general; Galaxies: evolution; Galaxies: formation
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/590312
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/474/3/3615/4655052
• Related Public URLs: http://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/triggering-active-galactic-nuclei-in-galaxy-clusters(9c008ccd-ccc2-4b33-9658-244685edf866).html