[Astro] Lunch Talk - 7/8/25

[Joseph Butler]

Hi everyone,

This week’s lunch talk will be given by Emmet Golden-Marx, who is visiting from INAF (Padova, Italy). This will at the usual time of 1pm Thursday in A113. Title and abstract are below.

Title: Morphological Transformations in Protocluster Galaxies: Understanding the Role of the Protocluster Environment on Galaxy Morphology at Cosmic Noon

Abstract: As cluster environments evolve, galaxy populations transform via star formation quenching, yielding the build-up of the red sequence and the morphological transformation of late-type galaxies into early-type galaxies, which creates the morphology-density relation. However, it is uncertain if the morphological transformation precedes or is co-eval with star formation quenching. In this lunch talk, I will present a study of two protoclusters from the Mapping the Most Massive Overdensities Through Hydrogen (MAMMOTH) Survey. These z ~ 2.23 protoclusters (BOSS1244 & BOSS1542) are characterized by large populations of Hɑ emitters (HAEs) observed with HST WFC3 F160W, allowing us to map the early morphological transformation of star-forming HAEs in protoclusters and determine if these galaxies show signs of early morphological pre-processing. We find a remarkable similarity between the morphology of field and protocluster galaxies, pointing to little evidence for environmentally driven morphological transformations. However, despite the lack of an excess of early-type galaxies, we also find an enhancement of early-type galaxies near the spectroscopically confirmed quiescent BCG in BOSS1244 and identify a population of potentially merging galaxies in both protoclusters, each of which could point to the future build-up of early-type galaxies within these structures in the future. Additionally, I will introduce early work further studying the build-up of star forming populations of massive protocluster galaxies in the Charting Cluster Construction with VUDS and ORELSE (C3VO) survey and the role of clumpy galaxies in these systems, as well as a new study of lensed protocluster galaxies with the goal of studying the most highly resolved clumps in protocluster environments to further understand environmental impacts on star formation.

Cheers,
Joe
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