Galaxy Zoo: A correlation between coherence of galaxy spin chirality and
  star formation efficiency
  We report on the finding of a correlation between galaxies' past star
formation activity and the degree to which neighbouring galaxies rotation axes
are aligned. This is obtained by cross-correlating star formation histories,
derived with MOPED, and spin direction (chirality), as determined by the Galaxy
Zoo project, for a sample of SDSS galaxies. Our findings suggest that spiral
galaxies which formed the majority of their stars early (z > 2) tend to display
coherent rotation over scales of ~10 Mpc/h. The correlation is weaker for
galaxies with significant recent star formation. We find evidence for this
alignment at more than the 5-sigma level, but no correlation with other galaxy
stellar properties. This finding can be explained within the context of
hierarchical tidal-torque theory if the SDSS galaxies harboring the majority of
the old stellar population where formed in the past, in the same filament and
at about the same time. Galaxies with significant recent star formation instead
are in the field, thus influenced by the general tidal field that will align
them in random directions or had a recent merger which would promote star
formation, but deviate the spin direction.
