TY - JOUR
T1 - The dependence of mass and environment on the secular processes of AGNs in terms of morphology, colour, and specific star-formation rate
AU - Argudo-Fernández, M.
AU - Lacerna, I.
AU - Duarte Puertas, S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by CONICYT Astronomy Program CAS-CONICYT project No. CAS17002. This work is sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), through a grant to the CAS South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA) in Santiago, Chile. MAF is grateful for financial support from CONICYT FONDECYT project No. 3160304. IL acknowledges partial financial support from PROYECTO FONDECYT REGULAR 1150345. SDP acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economìa y Competi-tividad under grant AYA2013-47742-C4-1-P, AYA2016-79724-C4-4-P from the Spanish PNAYA, and from Junta de Andalucía Excellence Project PEX2011-FQM-7058. This research made use of astropy, a community-developed core python (http://www.python.org) package for Astronomy (Astropy Collaboration 2013); ipython (Pérez & Granger 2007); matplotlib (Hunter 2007); numpy (Walt et al. 2011); scipy (Jones et al. 2001); and topcat (Taylor 2005). Funding for SDSS-III has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SDSS-III web site is http://www.sdss3.org/. SDSS-III is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS-III Collaboration including the University of Arizona, the Brazilian Participation Group, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Cambridge, University of Florida, the French Participation Group, the German Participation Group, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Michigan State/Notre Dame/JINA Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, New Mexico State University, New York University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the Spanish Participation Group, University of Tokyo, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Yale University.
Publisher Copyright:
© ESO 2018.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Context. Galaxy mass and environment play a major role in the evolution of galaxies. In the transition from star-forming to quenched galaxies, active galactic nuclei (AGNs) also have a principal action therein. However, the connections between these three actors are still uncertain. Aims. In this work we investigate the effects of stellar mass and the large-scale structure (LSS) environment on the fraction of optical nuclear activity in a population of isolated galaxies, where AGN would not be triggered by recent galaxy interactions or mergers. Methods. As a continuation of a previous work, we focus on isolated galaxies to study the effect of stellar mass and the LSS in terms of morphology (early- and late-type), colour (red and blue), and specific star-formation rate (quenched and star-forming). To explore where AGN activity is affected by the LSS, we separate galaxies into two groups, of low- and high mass, respectively, and use the tidal strength parameter to quantify the effects. Results. We found that AGN is strongly affected by stellar mass in "active" galaxies (namely late-type, blue, and star-forming), but that mass has no influence on "quiescent" galaxies (namely early-type, red, and quenched), at least for masses down to 10 10 M . . In relation to the LSS, we found an increase in the fraction of star-forming nuclei galaxies with denser LSS in low-mass star-forming and red isolated galaxies. Regarding AGN, we find a clear increase in the fraction of AGNs with denser environment in quenched and red isolated galaxies, independently of the stellar mass. Conclusions. Active galactic nuclei activity appears to be "mass triggered" in active isolated galaxies. This means that AGN activity is independent of the intrinsic properties of the galaxies, but is dependent on their stellar mass. On the other hand, AGN activity appears to be "environment triggered" in quiescent isolated galaxies, where the fraction of AGNs as a function of specific star formation rate and colour increases from void regions to denser LSS, independently of stellar mass.
AB - Context. Galaxy mass and environment play a major role in the evolution of galaxies. In the transition from star-forming to quenched galaxies, active galactic nuclei (AGNs) also have a principal action therein. However, the connections between these three actors are still uncertain. Aims. In this work we investigate the effects of stellar mass and the large-scale structure (LSS) environment on the fraction of optical nuclear activity in a population of isolated galaxies, where AGN would not be triggered by recent galaxy interactions or mergers. Methods. As a continuation of a previous work, we focus on isolated galaxies to study the effect of stellar mass and the LSS in terms of morphology (early- and late-type), colour (red and blue), and specific star-formation rate (quenched and star-forming). To explore where AGN activity is affected by the LSS, we separate galaxies into two groups, of low- and high mass, respectively, and use the tidal strength parameter to quantify the effects. Results. We found that AGN is strongly affected by stellar mass in "active" galaxies (namely late-type, blue, and star-forming), but that mass has no influence on "quiescent" galaxies (namely early-type, red, and quenched), at least for masses down to 10 10 M . . In relation to the LSS, we found an increase in the fraction of star-forming nuclei galaxies with denser LSS in low-mass star-forming and red isolated galaxies. Regarding AGN, we find a clear increase in the fraction of AGNs with denser environment in quenched and red isolated galaxies, independently of the stellar mass. Conclusions. Active galactic nuclei activity appears to be "mass triggered" in active isolated galaxies. This means that AGN activity is independent of the intrinsic properties of the galaxies, but is dependent on their stellar mass. On the other hand, AGN activity appears to be "environment triggered" in quiescent isolated galaxies, where the fraction of AGNs as a function of specific star formation rate and colour increases from void regions to denser LSS, independently of stellar mass.
KW - Galaxies: Active
KW - Galaxies: Evolution
KW - Galaxies: Formation
KW - Galaxies: Star formation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058503337&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201833328
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201833328
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85058503337
VL - 620
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
SN - 0004-6361
M1 - A113
ER -