THE GALAXY POPULATION IN VOIDS: ARE ALL VOIDS THE SAME?

• Published in: Astrophysical journal. Letters 2015-04, Vol.803 (1), p.1-5, Article L13
• Main Authors: Tavasoli, S., Rahmani, H., Khosroshahi, H. G., Vasei, K., Lehnert, M. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astrophysics; cosmology: observations; Deltas; Density; Formations; Galactic evolution; Galaxies; galaxies: formation; galaxies: luminosity function, mass function; large-scale structure of universe; Luminosity; Physics; Sky surveys (astronomy); Voids
• ISSN: 2041-8205; 0004-637X; 2041-8213; 2041-8213; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/803/1/L13

ABSTRACT The influence of underdense environments on the formation and evolution of galaxies is studied by analyzing the photometric properties of ∼200 galaxies residing in voids, taken from our Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR10 void catalog up to z 0.055. We split void galaxies into two subsamples based on the luminosity density contrast of their host voids: "sparse void" and "populous void" . We find that galaxies in sparse voids are less massive than galaxies in populous voids. The luminosity distribution of galaxies in populous voids follows the same distribution observed across the SDSS survey in the same redshift range. Galaxies in the sparse voids are also bluer, suggesting that they may be going through a relatively slow and continuous star formation. Additionally, we find that the luminosity function of galaxies in populous voids is represented with the Schechter function, whereas the same does not hold true for sparse voids. Our analysis suggests that the properties of a host void play a significant role in the formation and evolution of the void galaxies, and determining the large-scale evolution of voids is an important step to understand what processes regulate the evolution of galaxies.