Start Date
16-2-2022
Mentor
Beverly J. Smith
Description
Quenching galaxies are galaxies that are rapidly evolving from strongly star forming systems to galaxies with mostly old stars and low star formation rates. When identifying quenching galaxies, there are several methods in common use. Furthermore, there are several ways astronomers estimate the Star Formation Rate (SFR), in Solar Masses per year, and Stellar Mass (M*), in Solar Masses, of galaxies. For a large sample of galaxies, we used 6 derivations of M* and 4 for SFR, plotting them against each other for comparison. We also calculated and compared the specific SFR (sSFR), equal to SFR/M*, and compared the different methods of defining quenched galaxies. Finally, we divided up these plots by classification, Red Sequence/Green Valley/Blue Cloud, and different values of log (SFR). This project was completed with the support of a grant from the NASA Tennessee Space Grant Consortium.
Included in
Classifying Quenching Galaxies: Comparing Methods
Quenching galaxies are galaxies that are rapidly evolving from strongly star forming systems to galaxies with mostly old stars and low star formation rates. When identifying quenching galaxies, there are several methods in common use. Furthermore, there are several ways astronomers estimate the Star Formation Rate (SFR), in Solar Masses per year, and Stellar Mass (M*), in Solar Masses, of galaxies. For a large sample of galaxies, we used 6 derivations of M* and 4 for SFR, plotting them against each other for comparison. We also calculated and compared the specific SFR (sSFR), equal to SFR/M*, and compared the different methods of defining quenched galaxies. Finally, we divided up these plots by classification, Red Sequence/Green Valley/Blue Cloud, and different values of log (SFR). This project was completed with the support of a grant from the NASA Tennessee Space Grant Consortium.