A New Method to Constrain the Appearance and Disappearance of Observed Jellyfish Galaxy Tails

Abstract

Abstract We present a new approach for observationally constraining where the tails of Jellyfish (JF) galaxies in groups and clusters first appear and how long they remain visible for with respect to the moment of their orbital pericenter. This is accomplished by measuring the distribution of their tail directions, with respect to their host centers, and their distribution in a projected velocity–radius phase-space diagram. We then model these observed distributions using a fast and flexible approach, where JF tails are painted onto dark matter halos, according to a simple parameterized prescription, before a Bayesian analysis is performed to estimate the parameters. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using observational mocks, then apply it to a known observational sample of 106 JF galaxies, with radio-continuum tails located inside 68 hosts such as groups and clusters. We find that, typically, the radio-continuum tails become visible on first infall, when the galaxy reaches roughly three-quarters of r 200 , and the tails remain visible for a few hundred Myr after pericenter passage. Lower-mass galaxies in more massive hosts tend to form visible tails further out and their tails disappear more quickly after pericenter. We argue that this indicates that they are more sensitive to ram pressure stripping. With upcoming large-area surveys of JF galaxies in progress, this is a promising new method for constraining the environmental conditions in which visible JF tails exist.