Galaxy Rotation Coherent with the Average Motion of Neighbors

We report our discovery of observational evidence for the coherence between galaxy rotation and the average motion of neighbors. Using the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey data analyzed with the Python CALIFA STARLIGHT Synthesis Organizer (PyCASSO) platform, and the NASA-Sloan Atlas (NSA) catalog, we estimate the angular momentum vectors of 445 CALIFA galaxies and build composite maps of their neighbor galaxies on the parameter space of velocity versus distance. The composite radial profiles of the luminosity-weighted mean velocity of neighbors show striking evidence for dynamical coherence between the rotational direction of the CALIFA galaxies and the average moving direction of their neighbor galaxies. The signal of such dynamical coherence is significant for the neighbors within 800 kpc distance from the CALIFA galaxies with a confidence level of $3.5{\sigma}$, when the angular momentum is measured at the outskirt ($Re<R{\leq}2Re$) of each CALIFA galaxy. We also find that faint or kinematically misaligned galaxies show stronger coherence with neighbor motions than bright or kinematically well-aligned galaxies do. Our results show that the rotation of a galaxy, particularly at its outskirt, may be significantly influenced by recent interactions with its neighbors.