Speaker: Samantha Perry
Void galaxies reside in the most under-dense regions of the Universe, and as such, they are ideal the ideal galaxy population in which to examine intrinsic vs. extrinsic effects on evolutionary processes such as star formation and mass assembly. In this talk, I will discuss the result of a study of extremely isolated galaxies residing in voids in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. While the majority of these galaxies are blue, star forming objects with (u-r) < 1.9, we identify a number of void galaxies with optical colours consistent with no ongoing star formation. A line strength analysis reveals these galaxies to have nuclear spectra consistent with old stellar populations. However, when the mid-IR colours of these galaxies are examined, we find that only void galaxies with masses > 10^10 Msun have truly passive stellar populations. Given their isolation, these highest mass void galaxies have likely undergone mass quenching. Simulations shows that major mergers are rare in void galaxies, and gas accretion must be the dominant mass assembly process for the highest mass void galaxies.