Hα3: an Hα imaging survey of HI selected galaxies from ALFALFA II. Star formation properties of galaxies in the Virgo cluster and surroundings

Context. We present the analysis of H alpha 3, an H alpha narrow-band imaging follow-up survey of 409 galaxies selected from the HI Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey (ALFALFA) in the Local Supercluster, including the Virgo cluster, in the region 11(h) < RA < 16(h); 4(o) < Dec < 16(o) 350 < cz < 2000 km s(-1). Aims. Taking advantage of H alpha 3, which provides the complete census of the recent massive star formation rate (SFR) in HI-rich galaxies in the local Universe and of ancillary optical data from SDSS we explore the relations between the stellar mass, the HI mass, and the current, massive SFR of nearby galaxies in the Virgo cluster. We compare these with those of isolated galaxies in the Local Supercluster, and we investigate the role of the environment in shaping the star formation properties of galaxies at the present cosmological epoch. Methods. By using the H alpha hydrogen recombination line as a tracer of recent star formation, we investigated the relationships between atomic neutral gas and newly formed stars in different environments (cluster and field), for many morphological types (spirals and dwarfs), and over a wide range of stellar masses (10(7.5) to 10(11.5) M-circle dot). To quantify the degree of environmental perturbation, we adopted an updated calibration of the HI deficiency parameter which we used to divide the sample into three classes: unperturbed galaxies (Def(HI) <= 0.3), perturbed galaxies (0.3 < Def(HI) < 0.9), and highly perturbed galaxies (Def(HI) >= 0.9). Results. Studying the mean properties of late-type galaxies in the Local Supercluster, we find that galaxies in increasing dense local galaxy conditions (or decreasing projected angular separation from M 87) show a significant decrease in the HI content and in the mean specific SFR, along with a progressive reddening of their stellar populations. The gradual quenching of the star formation occurs outside-in, consistently with the predictions of the ram pressure model. Once considered as a whole, the Virgo cluster is effective in removing neutral hydrogen from galaxies, and this perturbation is strong enough to appreciably reduce the SFR of its entire galaxy population. Conclusions. An estimate of the present infall rate of 300-400 galaxies per Gyr in the Virgo cluster is obtained from the number of existing HI-rich late-type systems, assuming 200-300 Myr as the time scale for HI ablation. If the infall process has been acting at a constant rate, this would imply that the Virgo cluster has formed approximately 2 Gyr ago, consistently with the idea that Virgo is in a young state of dynamical evolution.