Environmental dependence of star formation rate, specific star formation rate and stellar mass for blue and red galaxies

Abstract

Using the two volume-limited main galaxy samples of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we explore the environmental dependence of the star formation rate (SFR), the specific star formation rate (SSFR) and the stellar mass for blue and red galaxies. It is found that the environmental dependence of the SFR, the SSFR and the stellar mass for red galaxies is still fairly strong, but the environmental dependence of these parameters for blue galaxies is very weak. Our analyses suggest that the strong environmental dependence of these parameters for red galaxies is mainly a result of the environmental dependence of these parameters in the red late-type sample. Our results also show that the SFR and the SSFR of a galaxy depend on its environment as well as its colour. © 2011 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS.