GLACE survey: OSIRIS/GTC multi-object spectroscopy of the rich galaxy cluster ZwCl 0024.0+1652 at z∼0.4

III. The mass–SFR relation and the quenching of cluster galaxies

¹ Institut de Radioastonomie Millimétrique (IRAM), Av. Divina Pastora 7, Núcleo Central, 18012 Granada, Spain
² Universidad de Granada, Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Campus Fuente Nueva, Edificio Mecenas, E-18071 Granada, Spain
³ Asociación Astrofísica para la Promoción de la Investigación, Instrumentación y su Desarrollo, ASPID, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁴ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁵ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁶ Fundación Galileo Galilei-INAF Rambla José Ana Fernández Pérez, 7, 38712 Breña Baja, Tenerife, Spain
⁷ ISDEFE, Beatriz de Bobadilla 3, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
⁸ Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, E18071 Granada, Spain
⁹ Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomía s/n, 18008 Granada, Spain
¹⁰ Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
¹¹ Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC/INTA), 28692 ESAC Campus, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹² Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Fac. de C.C. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
¹³ Instituto de Física de Partículas y del Cosmos, IPARCOS, Fac. C.C. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain
¹⁴ Telespazio UK for European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹⁵ Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria), E-39005 Santander, Spain
¹⁶ SECIHTI Research Fellow – Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
¹⁷ Kotebe University of Education, Department of Physics, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
¹⁸ Space Science and Geospatial Institute (SSGI), Entoto Observatory and Research Center (EORC), Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Division, PO Box 33679 Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia
¹⁹ Physics Department, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mbarara, Uganda

^⋆ Corresponding author: sbonnal@iram.es

Received: 26 March 2025
Accepted: 13 August 2025

Abstract

Context. Galaxy clusters are among the largest and densest structures in the Universe. Their high density generally increases the suppression of star formation, known as quenching, altering galaxy properties.

Aims. We study the quenching of emission-line galaxies (ELGs) in the rich cluster ZwCl 0024.0+1652 (Cl0024) at redshift z ∼ 0.4, aiming to determine if and how star formation is suppressed.

Methods. Using multi-object spectroscopy from the GLACE survey, we extracted fluxes and redshifts of [O II]λλ3727, 3729, Hβ, and [O III]λ5007 emission lines to derive star formation rates (SFRs) for 173 ELGs. We also performed spectral energy distribution fitting to obtain key evolutionary parameters such as stellar masses (M_⋆) and the 4000 Å break (D4000) index.

Results. We derived the M_⋆ − SFR relation for 98 star-forming galaxies (SFGs), finding 34.7% exhibit suppressed SFRs in the cluster, compared to 11.0% in the field. While the SFRs show no significant variation with local density, the fraction of SFGs is 1.55 times higher in the cluster outskirts than in intermediate-density regions. The specific SFR decreases strongly with D4000 for active SFGs but remains constant for suppressed galaxies. The fraction of suppressed galaxies in the infall region is 2.6 times higher than in the core, especially in the infalling structure B of the cluster. The cluster’s total mass does not appear to be a key factor in SFG quenching.

Conclusions. Star formation in Cl0024 galaxies is suppressed by the dense cluster environment. This suppression is evident in SFG fractions and parameters tracing long-term evolution, indicating prolonged quenching. The SFGs preferentially reside in low-density regions, while suppressed galaxies dominate the infall region, supporting a ‘delayed-then-rapid’ quenching scenario.