Ram Pressure Stripping Effects on Galaxy Evolution
Summary
Ram pressure stripping (RPS) occurs when galaxies travel through dense environments such as clusters or groups, causing the intracluster medium (ICM) to exert a pressure that removes gas from galactic discs. This process is fundamental in regulating star formation by depriving galaxies of the cold atomic and molecular gas needed to form new stars, driving the transition from star‐forming spirals to quiescent lenticular or elliptical systems. Observations and simulations reveal that RPS can both quench star formation in outer disc regions and temporarily enhance central star formation through induced gas inflows. Stripped gas forms extended tails—traced in H I, ionised emission or X-rays—that can span tens of kiloparsecs and often host in situ star formation in knots or filaments. The efficiency and timescale of RPS depend on host halo mass, galaxy orbit, gas fraction and internal feedback, ranging from rapid removal during a single pericentric passage to prolonged stripping over several gigayears. By reshaping gas reservoirs and star formation activity, RPS plays a vital role in the environmental pathways that govern galaxy evolution across cosmic time.
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Ram Pressure Stripping Effects on Galaxy Evolution publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in ram pressure stripping effects on galaxy evolution across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Ram pressure stripping: The removal of a galaxy’s gas by the pressure exerted as it moves through a dense surrounding medium.
Intracluster medium (ICM): Hot, diffuse plasma that pervades the space between galaxies within a cluster.
Jellyfish galaxy: A galaxy displaying filamentary tails of stripped gas, often with knots of new stars formed in the wake.
Star formation rate (SFR): The mass of gas converted into stars per unit time, typically expressed in solar masses per year.
Cold gas: Gas at temperatures below ~104 K, including atomic and molecular phases that fuel star formation.
References
- When and How Ram Pressure Stripping in Low-mass Satellite Galaxies Enhances Star Formation. The Astrophysical Journal (2023).
- Jellyfish galaxies with the IllustrisTNG simulations – when, where, and for how long does ram pressure stripping of cold gas occur?. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2023).
- ALMA Unveils Widespread Molecular Gas Clumps in the Ram Pressure Stripped Tail of the Norma Jellyfish Galaxy. The Astrophysical Journal (2019).
- Spectacular Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Coma Galaxy D100 and Star Formation in Its Ram Pressure–stripped Tail. The Astrophysical Journal (2019).
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