E+A Galaxies And Candidates In And Around The Virgo Cluster

E+A galaxies are post-starburst galaxies that have recently undergone complete quenching of their star formation, making them a valuable source for studying the evolution of galaxies and their environments. We have analyzed a color-constrained sample of 655 galaxies within 5 degrees projected distance from the center of the Virgo Cluster (centered at J1874221.35+122328), using data from DR16 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog. We manually identified 91 “green” and 23 “blue” E+A galaxies and candidates within the cluster using their optical spectra, based on their spectral shape, u-r color, lack of Hα emission, and hydrogen Balmer absorption. Interestingly, we found a higher density of E+A galaxies in the Virgo Cluster than that of most other low-redshift clusters, and several regions of particularly high E+A density within the Virgo Cluster. The large number of E+As in and around the Virgo Cluster hints at the influence of a dense galaxy environment on the formation of E+A galaxies, and the potential value of E+A galaxies as a diagnostic tool to study the evolution of clusters. This work was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation via the SDSS-IV Faculty and Student Team (FaST) initiative, ARC Agreement SSP483, and by NSF grants AST-1852355, 1852360, 1460939, and 1460860 to the American Museum of Natural History and CUNY College of Staten Island.