DustPedia: the relationships between stars, gas, and dust for galaxies residing in different environments

¹ School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
e-mail: Jonathan.Davies@astro.cf.ac.uk
² Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Universiteit Gent Krijgslaan 281 S9, 9000 Gent, Belgium
³ INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Florence, Italy
⁴ National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, Ioannou Metaxa and Vasileos Pavlou, 15236 Athens, Greece
⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
⁶ Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Bât. 121, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
⁷ Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, UNAM, Campus Morelia, A.P. 3-72, C.P., 58089, Mexico
⁸ Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM – CNRS – Université Paris Diderot, IRFU/Service d’Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁹ Central Astronomical Observatory of RAS, Pulkovskoye Chaussee 65/1, 196140 St. Petersburg, Russia
¹⁰ Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK

Received: 26 March 2019
Accepted: 29 April 2019

Abstract

We use a sub-set of the DustPedia galaxy sample (461 galaxies) to investigate the effect the environment has had on galaxies. We consider Virgo cluster and field samples and also assign a density contrast parameter to each galaxy, as defined by the local density of SDSS galaxies. We consider their chemical evolution (using M_Dust/M_Baryon and M_Gas/M_Baryon), their specific star formation rate (SFR/M_Stars), star formation efficiency (SFR/M_Gas), stars-to-dust mass ratio (M_Stars/M_Dust), gas-to-dust mass ratio (M_Gas/M_Dust) and the relationship between star formation rate per unit mass of dust and dust temperature (SFR/M_Dust and T_Dust). Late type galaxies (later than Sc) in all of the environments can be modelled using simple closed box chemical evolution and a simple star formation history (SFR(t) ∝ t exp−t/τ). For earlier type galaxies the physical mechanisms that give rise to their properties are clearly much more varied and require a more complicated model (mergers, gas in or outflow). However, we find little or no difference in the properties of galaxies of the same morphological type within the cluster, field or with different density contrasts. It appears that it is morphology, how and whenever this is laid down, and consistent internal physical processes that primarily determine the derived properties of galaxies in the DustPedia sample and not processes related to differences in the local environment.