articleThe Astrophysical JournalNov 19, 2009BRONZE OA

MORPHOLOGICAL QUENCHING OF STAR FORMATION: MAKING EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES RED

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Délégation Paris 7 · +6 more institutions

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Abstract

We point out a natural mechanism for quenching of star formation in early-type galaxies. It automatically links the color of a galaxy with its morphology and does not require gas consumption, removal or termination of gas supply. Given that star formation takes place in gravitationally unstable gas disks, it can be quenched when a disk becomes stable against fragmentation to bound clumps. This can result from the growth of a stellar spheroid, for instance by mergers. We present the concept of morphological quenching (MQ) using standard disk instability analysis, and demonstrate its natural occurrence in a cosmological simulation using an efficient zoom-in technique. We show that the transition from a stellar…

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