Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the environments of high- and low-excitation radio galaxies

Ching, J.H.Y.; Croom, S.M.; Sadler, E.M.; Robotham, A.S.G.; Brough, S.; Baldry, I.K.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Colless, M.; Driver, S.P.; Holwerda, B.W.; Hopkins, A.M.; Jarvis, M.J.; Johnston, H.M.; Kelvin, L.S.; Liske, J.; Loveday, J.; Norberg, P.; Pracy, M.B.; Steele, O.; Thomas, D.; Wang, L.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stx1173

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the environments of high- and low-excitation radio galaxies

Ching, J.H.Y.; Croom, S.M.; Sadler, E.M.; Robotham, A.S.G.; Brough, S.; Baldry, I.K.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Colless, M.; Driver, S.P.; Holwerda, B.W.; Hopkins, A.M.; Jarvis, M.J.; Johnston, H.M.; Kelvin, L.S.; Liske, J.; Loveday, J.; Norberg, P.; Pracy, M.B.; Steele, O.; Thomas, D.; Wang, L.

Authors

J.H.Y. Ching

S.M. Croom

E.M. Sadler

A.S.G. Robotham

S. Brough

I.K. Baldry

J. Bland-Hawthorn

M. Colless

S.P. Driver

B.W. Holwerda

A.M. Hopkins

M.J. Jarvis

H.M. Johnston

L.S. Kelvin

J. Liske

J. Loveday

Professor Peder Norberg peder.norberg@durham.ac.uk
Professor

M.B. Pracy

O. Steele

D. Thomas

L. Wang

Abstract

We study the environments of low- and high-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs and HERGs, respectively) in the redshift range 0.01 < z < 0.4, using a sample of 399 radio galaxies and environmental measurements from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. In our analysis we use the fifth nearest neighbour density (Σ5) and the GAMA galaxy groups catalogue (G3Cv6) and construct control samples of galaxies matched in stellar mass and colour to the radio-detected sample. We find that LERGs and HERGs exist in different environments and that this difference is dependent on radio luminosity. High-luminosity LERGs (LNVSS ≳ 1024 W Hz−1) lie in much denser environments than a matched radio-quiet control sample (about three times as dense, as measured by Σ5), and are more likely to be members of galaxy groups ( 82+5−7 82−7+5 per cent of LERGs are in GAMA groups, compared to 58+3−3 58−3+3 per cent of the control sample.). In contrast, the environments of the HERGs and lower luminosity LERGs are indistinguishable from that of a matched control sample. Our results imply that high-luminosity LERGs lie in more massive haloes than non-radio galaxies of similar stellar mass and colour, in agreement with earlier studies. When we control for the preference of LERGs to be found in groups, both high- and low-luminosity LERGs are found in higher-mass haloes (∼0.2 dex; at least 97 per cent significant) than the non-radio control sample.

Citation

Ching, J., Croom, S., Sadler, E., Robotham, A., Brough, S., Baldry, I., …Wang, L. (2017). Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the environments of high- and low-excitation radio galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 469(4), 4584-4599. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1173

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 15, 2017
Online Publication Date	May 10, 2017
Publication Date	Aug 21, 2017
Deposit Date	Jul 18, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Jul 19, 2017
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN	0035-8711
Electronic ISSN	1365-2966
Publisher	Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	469
Issue	4
Pages	4584-4599
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1173

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This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2017. The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.