Probing the influence of the protocluster environment on galaxy morphology at z = 2.23
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Golden-Marx, Emmet Cai, Zheng Shi, Dongdong Wang, Xin Lemaux, Brian C. Vulcani, Benedetta Haussler, Boris Renard, Pablo Shen, Lu Giddings, Finn |
| author_facet | Golden-Marx, Emmet Cai, Zheng Shi, Dongdong Wang, Xin Lemaux, Brian C. Vulcani, Benedetta Haussler, Boris Renard, Pablo Shen, Lu Giddings, Finn |
| contents | As galaxies evolve in dense cluster and protocluster environments, they interact and quench their star formation, which gradually transforms the galaxy population from star-forming galaxies to quiescent galaxies. This transformation is identifiable by observing galaxy colors and can be seen in the morphological transformation of late-type galaxies into early-type galaxies, which creates the morphology-density relation seen when comparing populations in clusters to co-eval field galaxies. However, high-z (z > 2) galaxy morphology studies are hindered by the high angular resolution necessary to characterize morphology. We present a study of HST WFC3 F160W observations of protoclusters from the MAMMOTH survey (BOSS1244 and BOSS1542) at z ~ 2.23 with populations of previously identified HAEs. By measuring the Sersic index of 151 HAEs, we look for the early morphological transformation of star-forming galaxies in these well-studied, large, non-virialized protoclusters, which we believe are precursors of present-day clusters. We find the morphology of the populations of star-forming protocluster galaxies does not differ from the co-eval field. However, we identify a population of clumpy, potentially merging galaxies, which could lead to an increase in the population of early-type galaxies in these structures. Additionally, in BOSS1244, which has two previously identified massive quiescent galaxies including a BCG, we find an abundance of early-type galaxies near both the BCG and two co-eval high-z quasars. Although we find a strong similarity between the morphology of field and protocluster galaxies, the population of early-type star-forming galaxies surrounding the spectroscopically confirmed quiescent BCG in BOSS1244, something not seen in BOSS1542, may point to differences in the evolutionary state of these co-eval protoclusters and be a sign of an early forming cluster core in BOSS1244. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_14843 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Probing the influence of the protocluster environment on galaxy morphology at z = 2.23 Golden-Marx, Emmet Cai, Zheng Shi, Dongdong Wang, Xin Lemaux, Brian C. Vulcani, Benedetta Haussler, Boris Renard, Pablo Shen, Lu Giddings, Finn Astrophysics of Galaxies As galaxies evolve in dense cluster and protocluster environments, they interact and quench their star formation, which gradually transforms the galaxy population from star-forming galaxies to quiescent galaxies. This transformation is identifiable by observing galaxy colors and can be seen in the morphological transformation of late-type galaxies into early-type galaxies, which creates the morphology-density relation seen when comparing populations in clusters to co-eval field galaxies. However, high-z (z > 2) galaxy morphology studies are hindered by the high angular resolution necessary to characterize morphology. We present a study of HST WFC3 F160W observations of protoclusters from the MAMMOTH survey (BOSS1244 and BOSS1542) at z ~ 2.23 with populations of previously identified HAEs. By measuring the Sersic index of 151 HAEs, we look for the early morphological transformation of star-forming galaxies in these well-studied, large, non-virialized protoclusters, which we believe are precursors of present-day clusters. We find the morphology of the populations of star-forming protocluster galaxies does not differ from the co-eval field. However, we identify a population of clumpy, potentially merging galaxies, which could lead to an increase in the population of early-type galaxies in these structures. Additionally, in BOSS1244, which has two previously identified massive quiescent galaxies including a BCG, we find an abundance of early-type galaxies near both the BCG and two co-eval high-z quasars. Although we find a strong similarity between the morphology of field and protocluster galaxies, the population of early-type star-forming galaxies surrounding the spectroscopically confirmed quiescent BCG in BOSS1244, something not seen in BOSS1542, may point to differences in the evolutionary state of these co-eval protoclusters and be a sign of an early forming cluster core in BOSS1244. |
| title | Probing the influence of the protocluster environment on galaxy morphology at z = 2.23 |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.14843 |