In this paper we present the star formation properties of I subaru ≤ 23 X-ray detected AGN and non-AGN galaxies in the green valley with far-IR (FIR) emission, using data from the COS-MOS field. We measured star formation rates (SFR) using FIR Herschel/PACS data and we observed the location of AGN and non-AGN galaxies on the main-sequence of star formation. We went a step further in analysing the importance of AGN in quenching star formation in the green valley, the region proposed to be the transitional phase in galaxy evolution where galaxies are moving from later-to earlier-types. We found that most of our green valley X-ray detected AGN with far-IR emission have SFRs higher than the ones of inactive galaxies at fixed stellar mass ranges, the result that is different when considering optical data. These FIR AGN have still very active star formation, being located either on or above the main-sequence of star formation (in total 82% of our sample). Therefore, they do not show signs of star formation quenching, but rather its enhancement. Our results may suggest that for X-ray detected AGN with FIR emission if there is an influence of AGN feedback on the star formation in the green valley the scenario of AGN positive feedback seem to take place, rather than the negative one.
This paper studies morphological properties of 103 green valley FIR active and 2609 non-active galaxies presented in Mahoro et al. (2017). The photometric data from the COSMOS survey were used, and the morphological parameters, such as Abraham and Conselice-Bershady concentration indices, Gini, M20 moment of light, and asymmetry, were analysed taking into account public catalogues. Furthermore, a visual classification of galaxies was performed. We found that the fraction of peculiar galaxies with clear signs of interactions and mergers is significantly higher in AGN (38%) than non-AGN (19%) green valley galaxies, while non-AGN galaxies from our sample are predominantly spirals (46%). We found that the largest fraction of our green valley galaxies is located on the main-sequence (MS) of star formation, independently on morphology, which is in contrast with most of previous studies carried out in optical. We also found that FIR AGN green valley galaxies have significantly higher star formation rates in all analysed morphological types. Therefore, our results suggest that interactions and mergers obtained in the high fraction of FIR AGN contribute significantly to high star formation rates observed in the selected sample, but are not the only mechanism responsible for enhancing star formation, and others such as AGN positive feedback could contribute as well. In future we will study in more details the possibility of AGN positive feedback through the spectroscopic analysis of public and our SALT data.
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