Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2007-08-02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Accepted for publication in the PASP
Scientific paper
10.1086/527571
The determination of the dynamical causes of the morphological Butcher-Oemler (BO) effect, or the rapid transformation of a large population of late-type galaxies to earlier Hubble types in the rich cluster environment between intermediate redshifts and the local universe, has been an important unsolved problem which is central to our understanding of the general problems of galaxy formation and evolution. In this article, we survey the existing proposed mechanisms for cluster galaxy transformation, and discuss their relevance and limitations to the explanation of the morphological BO effect. A new infrared diagnostic approach is devised to disentangle the relative importance of several major physical mechanisms to account for the BO effect, and an example of the first application of this procedure to a single rich, intermediate redshift galaxy cluster is given to demonstrate the viability of this approach. The preliminary result of this analysis favors the interaction-enhanced secular evolution process as the major cause of the cluster-galaxy morphological transformation. This conclusion is also supported by a wide range of other published results which are assembled here to highlight their implications on a coherent physical origin for the morphological BO effect.
No associations
LandOfFree
Disentangling the Dynamical Mechanisms for Cluster Galaxy Evolution does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Disentangling the Dynamical Mechanisms for Cluster Galaxy Evolution, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disentangling the Dynamical Mechanisms for Cluster Galaxy Evolution will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-601639