Morphological evolution of cluster red sequence galaxies in the past 9 Gyr

Abstract

Galaxies arrive on the red sequences of clusters at high redshift ($z>1$) once their star formation is quenched and evolve passively thereafter. However, we have previously found that cluster red sequence galaxies (CRSGs) undergo significant morphological evolution subsequent to the cessation of star formation, at some point in the past 9-10~Gyr. Through a detailed study of a large sample of cluster red sequence galaxies spanning $0.2<z<1.4$ we elucidate the details of this evolution. Below $z\sim 0.5-0.6$ (in the last 5-6 Gyr) there is little or no morphological evolution in the population as a whole, unlike in the previous 4-5 Gyrs. Over this earlier time (i) disk-like systems with S{é}rsic $n<2$ progressively disappear, as (ii) the range of their axial ratios similarly decreases, removing the most elongated systems (those consistent with thin disks seen at an appreciable inclination angle), and (iii) radial colour gradients (bluer outwards) decrease in an absolute sense from significant age-related gradients to a residual level consistent with the metallicity-induced gradients seen in low redshift cluster members. The distribution of their effective radii shows some evidence of evolution, consistent with growth of {\it at most} a factor $<1.5$ between $z\sim 1.4$ and $z\sim 0.5$, significantly less than for comparable field galaxies, while the distribution of their central ($<1$kpc) bulge surface densities shows no evolution at least at $z<1$. A simple model involving the fading and thickening of a disk component after comparatively recent quenching (after $z\sim 1.5$) around an otherwise passively evolving older spheroid component is consistent with all of these findings.

16 pages, 9 figures, accepted in MNRAS

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• Relaxed blue ellipticals: accretion-driven stellar growth is a key evolutionary channel for low mass elliptical galaxies
• AMICO galaxy clusters in KiDS-DR3: Evolution of the luminosity function between z=0.1 and z=0.8
• Colour gradients in cluster ellipticals at z~1.4: the hidden content of the galaxy central regions
• Evidence for radially independent size growth of early-type galaxies in clusters
• Clash of Titans: The Impact of Cluster Mergers in the Galaxy Cluster Red Sequence
• Late growth of early-type galaxies in low-z massive clusters