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Authors:
G. Gavazzi, M. Fumagalli, M. Fossati, V. Galardo, F. Grossetti,
A. Boselli, R. Giovanelli, M.P. Haynes
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Abstract:
We present the analysis of Hα3,
an Hα narrow-band imaging follow-up survey of 409
galaxies selected from the HI Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey (ALFALFA)
in the Local Supercluster, including the Virgo cluster,
in the region 11h < R.A. < 16h ; 4o< Dec. < 16o; 350 < cz < 2000 km s-1.
Taking advantage of Hα3, which provides the complete census
of the recent massive star formation rate (SFR) in HI-rich galaxies in the local Universe
and of ancillary optical data from SDSS
we explore the relations between the stellar mass, the HI mass, and the current, massive
SFR of nearby galaxies in the Virgo cluster. We compare these with those of isolated galaxies in the Local Supercluster,
and we investigate the role of the environment in shaping the star formation properties of galaxies at the present cosmological epoch.
By using the H$\alpha$ hydrogen recombination line as a tracer of
recent star formation, we
investigated the relationships between atomic neutral gas and newly formed stars
in different environments (cluster and field), for many morphological types
(spirals and dwarfs), and over a wide range of stellar masses
(107.5-1011.5 solar masses).
To quantify the degree of environmental perturbation, we adopted an updated calibration of
the HI deficiency parameter which we used to divide the sample into
three classes: unperturbed galaxies ($Def_{HI} \leq 0.3$),
perturbed galaxies (0.3 < DefHI < 0.9), and highly perturbed galaxies (DefHI ≥ 0.9).
Studying the mean properties of late-type galaxies in the Local Supercluster,
we find that galaxies in increasing dense local galaxy conditions (or decreasing projected angular
separation from M87) show
a significant decrease in the HI content and in the mean specific SFR,
along with a progressive reddening of their stellar populations.
The gradual quenching of the star formation occurs outside-in, consistently with the
predictions of the ram pressure model.
Once considered as a whole, the Virgo cluster is effective
in removing neutral hydrogen from galaxies, and this perturbation is strong enough
to appreciably reduce the SFR of its entire galaxy population.
{An estimate of the present infall rate of 300-400 galaxies per Gyr in the Virgo cluster is obtained
from the number of existing HI-rich late-type systems, assuming 200-300 Myr as the time scale for HI ablation.
If the infall process has been acting at a constant rate, this would imply that the Virgo cluster has formed
approximately 2 Gyr ago, consistently with the idea that Virgo is in a young state of dynamical evolution.
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