GASP XXXIX: MeerKAT hunts Jellyfish in A2626

We present MeerKAT H i observations of six jellyfish candidate galaxies (JFCGs) in the galaxy cluster, A2626. Two of the six galaxies JW100 and JW103, which were identified as JFCGs from B-band images, are confirmed as jellyfish galaxies (JFGs). Both of the JFGs have low H i content, reside in the cluster core, and move at very high velocities (similar to 3 sigma(cl)). The other JFCGs, identified as non-jellyfish galaxies, are H i rich, with H i morphologies revealing warps, asymmetries, and possible tidal interactions. Both the A2626 JFGs and three other confirmed JFGs from the GASP sample show that these galaxies are H i stripped but not yet quenched. We detect H i, H alpha, and CO(2-1) tails of similar extent (similar to 50 kpc) in JW100. Comparing the multiphase velocity channels, we do not detect any H i or CO(2-1) emission in the northern section of the tail where H alpha emission is present, possibly due to prolonged interaction between the stripped gas and the intracluster medium. We also observe an anticorrelation between H i and CO(2-1), which hints at an efficient conversion of H i to H-2 in the southern part of the tail. We find that both ram-pressure stripping and H i-to-H-2 conversion are significant depletion channels for atomic gas. H i-to-H-2 conversion is more efficient in the disc than in the tail.

Automated summary

This paper presents MeerKAT H i observations of six jellyfish candidate galaxies in the A2626 galaxy cluster. Two of the galaxies were confirmed as jellyfish galaxies, while the others were identified as non-jellyfish galaxies. The jellyfish galaxies have low H i content, are located in the cluster core, and move at high velocities. The non-jellyfish galaxies have rich H i content with morphological features indicating warps, asymmetries, and possible tidal interactions. The study also reveals that ram-pressure stripping and H i-to-H-2 conversion are significant depletion channels for atomic gas in the galaxies.