AAS 202nd Meeting, May 2003
Session 51 Galaxy Clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

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[51.06] Properties of Void Galaxies in the SDSS

M. S. Vogeley, R. R. Rojas, F. Hoyle (Drexel University)

We find significant differences between the properties of galaxies that lie in voids and galaxies of similar luminosity outside of voids. From a flux-limited redshift sample of the SDSS, we identify 1200 void galaxies that lie in regions of density contrast \delta < -0.6. These void galaxies span a range of absolute magnitude from Mr=-13.5 to Mr=-22.5. At the faint end, void galaxies are significantly bluer than objects lying at higher density. The population of void galaxies with Mr ~M* +1 and brighter is on average bluer and more concentrated (later type) than galaxies outside of voids. The latter behavior is only partly explained by the paucity of luminous red galaxies in voids. As measured by their emission line strengths, void galaxies have a higher rate of star formation than non-void galaxies. These results generally agree with the predictions of semi-analytic models for galaxy formation in cold dark matter models, which indicate that void galaxies should be relatively bluer, more disklike, and have higher specific star formation rates.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: vogeley@drexel.edu

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #3
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.