The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Quenching of Star Formation in Clusters III. Ram-Pressure-Affected Galaxy Populations

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Authors: O. Çakır, Matt S. Owers, L. Cortese, Mina Pak, Gabriella Quattropani, Stefania Barsanti, Julia J. Bryant, Warrick J. Couch, S. M. Croom, Pratyush Kumar Das, Jon S. Lawrence, Yifan Mai
+6 more Andrei Ristea, Sebastián F. Sánchez, Sarah M. Sweet, Jesse van de Sande, Glenn van de Ven, Sukyoung Ken Yi
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Abstract

Cluster environments influence galaxy evolution by curtailing star formation activity, notably through ram-pressure stripping (RPS). In this study, using spatially resolved spectroscopic data from the SAMI Galaxy Survey, we identify galaxies undergoing or recently affected by RPS in eight nearby clusters ($0.029 < z < 0.058$), through a visual classification scheme based on the ionised gas ($\rm Hα+ [NII]λ6584$) morphologies, split into unperturbed, asymmetric, and truncated. The projected phase-space analysis shows that asymmetric galaxies are found in a narrow region in cluster-centric distance ($\rm 0.1 < R/R_{200} < 0.6$) and have a larger dispersion in line-of-sight velocity ($σ(|v_{pec}|)_\mathrm{Asym} = 0.71^{+0.09}_{-0.07}\ σ_{200}$) compared to the truncated and unperturbed samples. In terms of star formation activity, RPS candidates yield a much steeper resolved star-forming main sequence (rSFMS; $Σ_\mathrm{SFR} - Σ_\ast$) relation compared to the unperturbed counterparts, primarily emerging from having lower $Σ_\mathrm{SFR}$ values for the low mass density regime, with the steepest gradient deriving from the truncated sample. Moreover, radial star formation profiles reveal that star formation in RPS candidates is suppressed in the outskirts relative to unperturbed galaxies and is more prominent for the truncated sample. In contrast, central ($\rm r/r_{eff}

Fields of Study & Subjects

Galaxies: Formation Evolution Phenomena Stellar planetary and galactic studies Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
3 February 2026
Document type
Preprint