Chemical Properties of Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxies in Different Environments

  • Published : 2017.04.10

Abstract

Star forming dwarf galaxies in various environments are attractive objects for investigating the environmental effects on chemical evolution of dwarf galaxies. Using SDSS DR7 spectroscopic data and GALEX ultraviolet (UV) imaging data, we study the chemical properties of star forming dwarf galaxies in various environments of the Virgo cluster, Ursa Major group, and field. We derived gas-phase abundance, galaxy mass, and UV specific star formation rate (sSFR) of subsample, early-type (ETD) and late-type star forming dwarf (LTD) galaxies, which are divided by visually classified galaxy morphology. We found no O/H enhancement of LTDs in cluster and group environments compared to the field, implying no environmental dependence of the mass-metallicity relation for LTDs. LTDs in the Virgo cluster and Ursa Major group have similar sSFR at a given galaxy mass, but they exhibit systematically lower sSFR than those in isolated field environment. We suggest that LTDs in the Virgo cluster are an infalling population that was recently accreted from the outside of the cluster. We found that ETDs in the Virgo cluster and Ursa Major group exhibit enhanced O/H compared to those in the field. However, no distinct difference of N/O of galaxies between different environments. The chemically evolved ETDs in the Virgo cluster and Ursa Major group also show similar mass-sSFR relation, but systematically lower sSFR at a fixed galaxy mass compared to the field counterparts. We suggest that ETDs in the Virgo cluster and Ursa Major group have evolved under the similar local environments. We also discuss the evolutionary path of ETDs and LTDs with respect to the environmental effects of ram pressure stripping and galaxy interaction/merging.

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