The MAGPI Survey: The subtle role of environment and not-so-subtle impact of generations of stars on galaxy dynamics

Abstract The stellar age and mass of galaxies have been suggested as the primary determinants for the dynamical state of galaxies, with environment seemingly playing no or only a very minor role. We use a sample of 77 galaxies at intermediate redshift ( $z\sim0.3$ ) in the Middle-Ages Galaxies Properties with Integral field spectroscopy (MAGPI) Survey to study the subtle impact of environment on galaxy dynamics. We use a combination of statistical techniques (simple and partial correlations and principal component analysis) to isolate the contribution of environment on galaxy dynamics, while explicitly accounting for known factors such as stellar age, star formation histories, and stellar masses. We consider these dynamical parameters: high-order kinematics of the line-of-sight velocity distribution (parametrised by the Gauss-Hermite coefficients $h_3$ and $h_4$ ), kinematic asymmetries $V_{\textrm{asym}}$ derived using kinemetry , and the observational spin parameter proxy $\lambda_{R_e}$ . Of these, the mean $h_4$ is the only parameter found to have a significant correlation with environment as parametrised by group dynamical mass. This correlation exists even after accounting for age and stellar mass trends. We also find that satellite and central galaxies exhibit distinct dynamical behaviours, suggesting they are dynamically distinct classes. Finally, we confirm that variations in the spin parameter $\lambda_{R_e}$ are most strongly (anti-)correlated with age as seen in local studies, and show that this dependence is well-established by $z\sim0.3$ .

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2025.11
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

The MAGPI Survey: The subtle role of environment and not-so-subtle impact of generations of stars on galaxy dynamics

Thomas Venville, Lucas C. Kimmig, Francesco D’Eugenio, R. S. Bagge et al.
1 citations
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
1.15
article

The MAGPI Survey: The subtle role of environment and not-so-subtle impact of generations of stars on galaxy dynamics

Thomas Venville, Lucas C. Kimmig, Francesco D’Eugenio, R. S. Bagge, Gauri Sharma, B. Ziegler, Caroline Foster, Lucas M. Valenzuela, Rhea–Silvia Remus, Tania M. Barone, Sarah Brough, Sabine Thater, K. E. Harborne, J. Trevor Mendel, Jesse van de Sande, Claudia del P. Lagos, Caro Derkenne, S. M. Croom, Adriano Poci, Sarah M. Sweet, Sabine Bellstedt, Sam P Vaughan, Stefania Barsanti, Anilkumar Mailvaganam, Andrew Battisti, Emily Wisnioski
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract The stellar age and mass of galaxies have been suggested as the primary determinants for the dynamical state of galaxies, with environment seemingly playing no or only a very minor role. We use a sample of 77 galaxies at intermediate redshift ( $z\sim0.3$ ) in the Middle-Ages Galaxies Properties with Integral field spectroscopy (MAGPI) Survey to study the subtle impact of environment on galaxy dynamics. We use a combination of statistical techniques (simple and partial correlations and principal component analysis) to isolate the contribution of environment on galaxy dynamics, while explicitly accounting for known factors such as stellar age, star formation histories, and stellar masses. We consider these dynamical parameters: high-order kinematics of the line-of-sight velocity distribution (parametrised by the Gauss-Hermite coefficients $h_3$ and $h_4$ ), kinematic asymmetries $V_{\textrm{asym}}$ derived using kinemetry , and the observational spin parameter proxy $\lambda_{R_e}$ . Of these, the mean $h_4$ is the only parameter found to have a significant correlation with environment as parametrised by group dynamical mass. This correlation exists even after accounting for age and stellar mass trends. We also find that satellite and central galaxies exhibit distinct dynamical behaviours, suggesting they are dynamically distinct classes. Finally, we confirm that variations in the spin parameter $\lambda_{R_e}$ are most strongly (anti-)correlated with age as seen in local studies, and show that this dependence is well-established by $z\sim0.3$ .

Publications of the Astronomical Society of AustraliaVol. 42
Australian National University (AU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), The University of Sydney (AU), University of Vienna (AT), The University of Queensland (AU), The University of Western Australia (AU), University of Cambridge (GB), Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg (FR), Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT), UNSW Sydney (AU), University of Oxford (GB), ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (AU), International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (AU), Swinburne University of Technology (AU), Université de Strasbourg (FR), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE), Macquarie University (AU)
Openalex Percentile: Top 20%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
1.15
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.