Paper detail

Slow quenching of star formation in OMEGAWINGS clusters: galaxies in transition in the local universe

The star formation quenching depends on environment, but a full understanding of what mechanisms drive it is still missing. Exploiting a sample of galaxies with masses $M_\ast>10^{9.8}M_\odot$, drawn from the WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey (WINGS) and its recent extension OMEGAWINGS, we investigate the star formation rate (SFR) as a function of stellar mass (M$_*$) in galaxy clusters at $0.04<z<0.07$. We use non-member galaxies at 0.02$<$z$<$0.09 as field control sample. Overall, we find agreement between the SFR-M$_*$ relation in the two environments, but detect a population of cluster galaxies with reduced SFRs which is rare in the field. These {\it transition} galaxies are mainly found within the cluster virial radius ($R_{200}$) but they impact on the SFR-M$_*$ relation only within 0.6R$_{200}$. The ratio of transition to PSF galaxies strongly depends on environment, being larger than 0.6 within 0.3R$_{200}$ and rapidly decreasing with distance, while it is almost flat with $M_*$. As galaxies move downward from the SFR-M$_*$ main sequence, they become redder and present older luminosity and mass weighted ages. These trends, together with the analysis of the star formation histories, suggest that transition galaxies have had a reduced SFR for the past 2-5 Gyr. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the interaction of galaxies with the intracluster medium via strangulation causes a gradual shut down of star formation, giving birth to an evolved population of galaxies in transition from being star forming to becoming passive.