The Evolution of Bars and Disks as a Function of Environment in STAGES
Marinova, Irina; Jogee, S.; Bacon, D.; Balogh, M.;Barden, M.; Barazza, F. D.; Bell, E. F.; Boehm, A.;Caldwell, J. A. R.; Gray, M. E.; Haussler, B.;Heymans, C.; Jahnke, K.; van Kampen, E.; Koposov, S.;Lane, K.; McIntosh, D. H.; Meisenheimer, K.;Peng, C. Y.; Rix, H. W.; Sanchez, S. F.; Taylor, A.;Wisotzki, L.; Wolf, C.; Zheng, X.. The Evolution of Bars and Disks as a Function of Environment in STAGES. American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #97.12; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 2007, Vol. Vol. 39, p.905, p. -2007.
Stellar bars redistribute the angular momentum in disk galaxies thereby driving their evolution. To gain critical insights into galaxy evolution, it is important to explore bars and their host galaxies as a function of both redshift and environment. In dense clusters, effects such as ram pressure stripping, tidal heating, and galaxy interactions become important, and can have direct consequences for the evolution of bars and their host disks. Litte is known about bars in cluster environments and previous studies have found differing results on the impact of environment on bars. We are now in a position to compare barred disks in the field (using existing results from OSUBSGS and SDSS) to those in a dense cluster environment using the Space Telescope Abell 901/902 Galaxy Evolution Survey (STAGES; http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ ppzmeg/stages/). STAGES provides multi-wavelength data of Abell 901/902 (z=0.17) including HST ACS data, XMM-Newton X-ray, GALEX UV, Spitzer, and gravitational lensing maps, along with redshifts from COMBO-17. We present a comparison of the fraction and properties of bars in the core and outskirts of A901/902 supercluster to those found in the field. We explore the effects of disk truncation on bar sizes, as well as bar strengths in cluster and field galaxies. We discuss the relationship between bars, star formation, and AGN activity in the supercluster.
We acknowledge support from NASA LTSA grant NAG5-13063, NSF grant AST-0607748, and HST grants GO-10395 and GO-10861.
Stellar bars redistribute the angular momentum in disk galaxies thereby driving their evolution. To gain critical insights into galaxy evolution, it is important to explore bars and their host galaxies as a function of both redshift and environment. In dense clusters, effects such as ram pressure stripping, tidal heating, and galaxy interactions become important, and can have direct consequences for the evolution of bars and their host disks. Litte is known about bars in cluster environments and previous studies have found differing results on the impact of environment on bars. We are now in a position to compare barred disks in the field (using existing results from OSUBSGS and SDSS) to those in a dense cluster environment using the Space Telescope Abell 901/902 Galaxy Evolution Survey (STAGES; http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ ppzmeg/stages/). STAGES provides multi-wavelength data of Abell 901/902 (z=0.17) including HST ACS data, XMM-Newton X-ray, GALEX UV, Spitzer, and gravitational lensing maps, along with redshifts from COMBO-17. We present a comparison of the fraction and properties of bars in the core and outskirts of A901/902 supercluster to those found in the field. We explore the effects of disk truncation on bar sizes, as well as bar strengths in cluster and field galaxies. We discuss the relationship between bars, star formation, and AGN activity in the supercluster.
We acknowledge support from NASA LTSA grant NAG5-13063, NSF grant AST-0607748, and HST grants GO-10395 and GO-10861.