We present a new measurement of the evolving galaxy far-IR luminosity function (LF) extending out to redshifts z~5, with resulting implications for the level of dust-obscured star-formation density in the young Universe. To achieve this we have exploited recent advances in sub-mm/mm imaging with SCUBA-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), which together provide unconfused imaging with sufficient dynamic range to provide meaningful coverage of the luminosity-redshift plane out to z>4. Our results support previous indications that the faint-end slope of the far-IR LF is sufficiently flat that comoving luminosity-density is dominated by bright objects (~L*). However, we find that the number-density/luminosity of such sources at high redshifts has been severely over-estimated by studies that have attempted to push the highly-confused Herschel SPIRE surveys beyond z~2. Consequently we confirm recent reports that cosmic star-formation density is dominated by UV-visible star formation at z>4. Using both direct (1/Vmax) and maximum likelihood determinations of the LF, we find that its high-redshift evolution is well characterized by continued positive luminosity evolution coupled with negative density evolution (with increasing redshift). This explains why bright sub-mm sources continue to be found at z>5, even though their integrated contribution to cosmic star-formation density at such early times is very small. The evolution of the far-IR galaxy LF thus appears similar in form to that already established for active galactic nuclei, possibly reflecting a similar dependence on the growth of galaxy mass.
In studies of of the connection between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their host galaxies there is widespread disagreement on some key aspects stemming largely from a lack of understanding of the nature of the full underlying AGN population. Recent attempts to probe this connection utilize both observations and simulations to correct for a missed population, but presently are limited by intrinsic biases and complicated models. We take a simple simulation for galaxy evolution and add a new prescription for AGN activity to connect galaxy growth to dark matter halo properties and AGN activity to star formation. We explicitly model selection effects to produce an "observed" AGN population for comparison with observations and empirically motivated models of the local universe. This allows us to bypass the difficulties inherent in many models which attempt to infer the AGN population by inverting selection effects. We investigate the impact of selecting AGN based on thresholds in luminosity or Eddington ratio on the "observed" AGN population. By limiting our model AGN sample in luminosity, we are able to recreate the observed local AGN luminosity function and specific star formation-stellar mass distribution, and show that using an Eddington ratio threshold introduces less bias into the sample by selecting the full range of growing black holes, despite the challenge of selecting low mass black holes. We find that selecting AGN using these various thresholds yield samples with different AGN host galaxy properties.
Massive clumps, prior to the formation of any visible protostars, are the best candidates to search for the elusive massive starless cores. In this work we investigate the dust and gas properties of massive clumps selected to be 70 micron quiet, therefore good starless candidates. Our sample of 18 clumps has masses 300 < M < 3000 M_sun, radius 0.54 < R < 1.00 pc, surface densities Sigma > 0.05 g cm^-2 and luminosity/mass ratio L/M < 0.3. We show that half of these 70 micron quiet clumps embed faint 24 micron sources. Comparison with GLIMPSE counterparts shows that 5 clumps embed young stars of intermediate stellar mass up to ~5.5 M_sun. We study the clump dynamics with observations of N2H+ (1-0), HNC (1-0) and HCO+ (1-0) made with the IRAM 30m telescope. Seven clumps have blue-shifted spectra compatible with infall signatures, for which we estimate a mass accretion rate 0.04 < M_dot < 2.0 x 10^-3 M_sun yr^-1, comparable with values found in high-mass protostellar regions, and free-fall time of the order of t_ff = 3 x 10^5 yr. The only appreciable difference we find between objects with and without embedded 24 micron sources is that the infall rate appears to increase from 24 micron dark to 24 micron bright objects. We conclude that all 70 micron quiet objects have similar properties on clump scales, independently of the presence of an embedded protostar. Based on our data we speculate that the majority, if not all of these clumps may already embed faint, low-mass protostellar cores. If these clumps are to form massive stars, this must occur after the formation of these lower mass stars.
In Tombesi et al. (2015), we reported the first direct evidence for a quasar accretion disk wind driving a massive molecular outflow. The target was F11119+3257, an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) with unambiguous type-1 quasar optical broad emission lines. The energetics of the accretion disk wind and molecular outflow were found to be consistent with the predictions of quasar feedback models where the molecular outflow is driven by a hot energy-conserving bubble inflated by the inner quasar accretion disk wind. However, this conclusion was uncertain because the energetics were estimated from the optically thick OH 119 um transition profile observed with Herschel. Here, we independently confirm the presence of the molecular outflow in F11119+3257, based on the detection of broad wings in the CO(1-0) profile derived from ALMA observations. The broad CO(1-0) line emission appears to be spatially extended on a scale of at least ~7 kpc from the center. Mass outflow rate, momentum flux, and mechanical power of (80-200) R_7^{-1} M_sun/yr, (1.5-3.0) R_7^{-1} L_AGN/c, and (0.15-0.40)% R_7^{-1} L_AGN are inferred from these data, assuming a CO-to-H_2 conversion factor appropriate for a ULIRG (R_7 is the radius of the outflow normalized to 7 kpc and L_AGN is the AGN luminosity). These rates are time-averaged over a flow time scale of 7x10^6 yrs. They are similar to the OH-based rates time-averaged over a flow time scale of 4x10^5 yrs, but about a factor 4 smaller than the local ("instantaneous"; <10^5 yrs) OH-based estimates cited in Tombesi et al. The implications of these new results are discussed in the context of time-variable quasar-mode feedback and galaxy evolution. The need for an energy-conserving bubble to explain the molecular outflow is also re-examined.
A wide variety of molecules have recently been detected in the Horsehead nebula photodissocation region (PDR) suggesting that: (i) gas-phase and grain chemistries should both contribute to the formation of organic molecules, and (ii) far-ultraviolet (FUV) photodesorption may explain the release into the gas phase of grain surface species. In order to tackle these specific problems and more generally in order to better constrain the chemical structure of these types of environments we present a study of the Horsehead nebula gas-grain chemistry. To do so we used the 1D astrochemistry gas-grain code Nautilus with an appropriate physical structure computed with the Meudon PDR Code and compared our modeled outcomes with published observations and with previously modeled results when available. The use of a large set of chemical reactions coupled with the time-dependent code Nautilus allows us to reproduce most of the observations well, including those of the first detections in a PDR of the organic molecules HCOOH, CH2CO, CH3CHO and CH3CCH, which are mostly associated with hot cores. We also provide some abundance predictions for other molecules of interest. Understanding the chemistry behind the detection of these organic molecules is crucial to better constrain the environments these molecules can probe.
The process of radiative feedback in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) is an important mechanism for limiting star cluster formation through the heating and ionization of the surrounding gas. We explore the degree to which radiative feedback affects early ($\lesssim$5 Myr) cluster formation in GMCs having masses that range from 10$^{4-6}$ M$_{\odot}$ using the FLASH code. The inclusion of radiative feedback lowers the efficiency of cluster formation by 20-50\% relative to hydrodynamic simulations. Two models in particular --- 5$\times$10$^4$ and 10$^5$ M$_{\odot}$ --- show the largest suppression of the cluster formation efficiency, corresponding to a factor of $\sim$2. For these clouds only, the internal energy, a measure of the energy injected by radiative feedback, exceeds the gravitational potential for a significant amount of time. We find a clear relation between the maximum cluster mass, M$_{cl,max}$, formed in a GMC of mass M$_{GMC}$; M$_{cl,max}\propto$ M$_{GMC}^{0.81}$. This scaling result suggests that young globular clusters at the necessary scale of $10^6 M_{\odot}$ form within host GMCs of masses near $\sim 5 \times 10^7 M_{\odot}$. We compare simulated cluster mass distributions to the observed embedded cluster mass function ($dlog(N)/dlog(M) \propto M^{\beta}$ where $\beta$ = -1) and find good agreement ($\beta$ = -0.99$\pm$0.14) only for simulations including radiative feedback, indicating this process is important in controlling the growth of young clusters. However, the high star formation efficiencies, which range from 16-21\%, and high star formation rates compared to locally observed regions suggest other feedback mechanisms are also important during the formation and growth of stellar clusters.
We present the deepest optical images of the COSMOS field based on a joint dataset taken with Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) by the HSC Subaru Strategic Program (SSP) team and the University of Hawaii (UH). The COSMOS field is one of the key extragalactic fields with a wealth of deep, multi-wavelength data. However, the current optical data are not sufficiently deep to match with, e.g., the UltraVista data in the near-infrared. The SSP team and UH have joined forces to produce very deep optical images of the COSMOS field by combining data from both teams. The coadd images reach depths of g=27.8, r=27.7, i=27.6, z=26.8, and y=26.2 mag at 5 sigma for point sources based on flux uncertainties quoted by the pipeline and they cover essentially the entire COSMOS 2 square degree field. The seeing is between 0.6 and 0.9 arcsec on the coadds. We perform several quality checks and confirm that the data are of science quality; ~2% photometry and 30 mas astrometry. This accuracy is identical to the Public Data Release 1 from HSC-SSP. We make the joint dataset including fully calibrated catalogs of detected objects available to the community at https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/.
The star formation rate per unit area correlates well with the gas surface density for different types of galaxies. However, this Kennicutt-Schmidt law has not yet been examined for a large, homogeneously selected sample of SMGs, which could provide useful SF implementation information for models of massive galaxy formation and evolution. We aim at determining the K-S law parameters for the first time for a well-selected, statistical sample of SMGs. We used ALMA to conduct a 0.2" resolution, 870 $\mu$m imaging survey of 40 SMGs in COSMOS, which were initially selected at 1.1 mm. We analysed a sample of 32/40 target SMGs, for which our new ALMA 870 $\mu$m data provide information about the spatial extent of dust emission, and all of which have dust-obscured SFR and dust-based gas mass estimates available from our previous study. We divided our sample into equally large subsamples of main-sequence objects and starbursts, and found their K-S relations to be of the form $\Sigma_{\rm SFR} \propto \Sigma_{\rm gas}^{0.81\pm0.01}$ and $\Sigma_{\rm SFR} \propto \Sigma_{\rm gas}^{0.84\pm0.39}$, respectively. The slightly sub-linear K-S slopes we derived suggest that the SF efficiency is nearly constant across the $\Sigma_{\rm gas}$ range probed. Under the assumption of a Galactic CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor for the whole sample, the MS SMGs obey a constant global SFE of about 21% per 100 Myr, while that of starburst SMGs is about 27%. The corresponding gas depletion times are $\sim480$ Myr and 370 Myr. On average, our SMGs have $\Sigma_{\rm gas}\gtrsim10^{3.9}$ M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$, which suggests that they are Eddington-limited. This is consistent with the theoretical expectation of a linear K-S relation for such systems. However, size measurements of the CO-emitting regions of SMGs, and the $\alpha_{\rm CO}$ values of SMGs are needed to further constrain their $\Sigma_{\rm gas}$ values.
In this Letter, we report the discovery of a strong correlation between the variability of narrow absorption lines (NALs) and the ionizing continuum from a two-epoch spectra sample of 40 quasars containing 52 variable C iv {\lambda}{\lambda}1548; 1551 absorption doublets. According to the concordance index, this sample is classified into two subsamples. Subsample I shows an anti-correlation between the variations of absorption lines and the continuum, while Subsample II exhibits a positive correlation. These results imply that these variable C iv {\lambda}{\lambda}1548; 1551 absorption doublets are intrinsic to the corresponding quasars and that their variations are caused primarily by the fluctuations of the ionizing continuum. Based on our analysis, we propose that there might be two kinds of absorption gas: one that is very sensitive to the continuum variations, the another that is not. In addition, we suggest that in many cases the emergence or disappearance of NALs is caused by fluctuations of the ionizing continuum.
The L1544 pre-stellar core was observed as part of the ASAI (Astrochemical Surveys At IRAM) Large Program. We report the first detection in a pre-stellar core of the HCNH$^+$ and HC$_3$NH$^+$ ions. The high spectral resolution of the observations allows to resolve the hyperfine structure of HCNH$^+$. Local thermodynamic equilibrium analysis leads to derive a column density equal to (2.0$\pm$0.2)$\times$10$^{13}$cm$^{-2}$ for HCNH$^+$ and (1.5$\pm$0.5)$\times$10$^{11}$cm$^{-2}$ for HC$_3$NH$^+$. We also present non-LTE analysis of five transitions of HC$_3$N, three transitions of H$^{13}$CN and one transition of HN$^{13}$C, all of them linked to the chemistry of HCNH$^+$ and HC$_3$NH$^+$. We computed for HC$_3$N, HCN, and HNC a column density of (2.0$\pm$0.4)$\times$10$^{13}$cm$^{-2}$, (3.6$\pm$0.9)$\times10^{14}$cm$^{-2}$, and (3.0$\pm$1.0)$\times$10$^{14}$cm$^{-2}$, respectively. We used the gas-grain chemical code Nautilus to predict the abundances all these species across the pre-stellar core. Comparison of the observations with the model predictions suggests that the emission from HCNH$^+$ and HC$_3$NH$^+$ originates in the external layer where non-thermal desorption of other species was previously observed. The observed abundance of both ionic species ([HCNH$^+$]$\,\simeq3\times10^{-10}$ and [HC$_3$NH$^+$]$\,\simeq[1.5-3.0]\times10^{-12}$, with respect to H$_2$) cannot be reproduced at the same time by the chemical modelling, within the error bars of the observations only. We discuss the possible reasons for the discrepancy and suggest that the current chemical models are not fully accurate or complete. However, the modelled abundances are within a factor of three consistent with the observations, considering a late stage of the evolution of the pre-stellar core, compatible with previous observations.
The laboratory work presented here, simulates the chemistry on icy dust grains as typical for the 'CO freeze-out stage' in dark molecular clouds. It differs from previous studies in that solid-state hydrogenation and vacuum UV-photoprocessing are applied simultaneously to co-depositing molecules. In parallel, the reactions at play are described for fully characterized laboratory conditions. The focus is on the formation of molecules containing both carbon and nitrogen atoms, starting with NO in CO-, H2CO-, and CH3OH-rich ices at 13 K. The experiments yield three important conclusions. 1. Without UV-processing hydroxylamine (NH2OH) is formed, as reported previously. 2. With UV-processing (energetic) NH2 is formed through photodissociation of NH2OH. This radical is key in the formation of species with an N-C bond. 3. The formation of three N-C bearing species, HNCO, OCN- and NH2CHO is observed. The experiments put a clear chemical link between these species; OCN- is found to be a direct derivative of HNCO and the latter is shown to have the same precursor as formamide (NH2CHO). Moreover, the addition of VUV competing channels decreases the amount of NO molecules converted into NH2OH by at least one order of magnitude. Consequently, this decrease in NH2OH formation yield directly influences the amount of NO molecules that can be converted into HNCO, OCN- and NH2CHO.
Boxy/peanut bulges are considered to be part of the same stellar structure as bars and both could be linked through the buckling instability. The Milky Way is our closest example. The goal of this letter is determining if the mass assembly of the different components leaves an imprint in their stellar populations allowing to estimate the time of bar formation and its evolution. To this aim we use integral field spectroscopy to derive the stellar age distributions, SADs, along the bar and disc of NGC 6032. The analysis shows clearly different SADs for the different bar areas. There is an underlying old (>=12 Gyr) stellar population for the whole galaxy. The bulge shows star formation happening at all times. The inner bar structure shows stars of ages older than 6 Gyrs with a deficit of younger populations. The outer bar region presents a SAD similar to that of the disc. To interpret our results, we use a generic numerical simulation of a barred galaxy. Thus, we constrain, for the first time, the epoch of bar formation, the buckling instability period and the posterior growth from disc material. We establish that the bar of NGC 6032 is old, formed around 10 Gyr ago while the buckling phase possibly happened around 8 Gyr ago. All these results point towards bars being long-lasting even in the presence of gas.
The formation of the first stars in the high-redshift Universe is a sensitive probe of the small-scale, particle physics nature of dark matter (DM). We carry out cosmological simulations of primordial star formation in ultra-light, axion-like particle DM cosmology, with masses of $10^{-22}$ and $10^{-21}\,{\rm eV}$, with de Broglie wavelengths approaching galactic scales ($\sim$kpc). The onset of star formation is delayed, and shifted to more massive host structures. For the lightest DM particle mass explored here, first stars form at $z \sim 7$ in structures with $\sim 10^9\,{\rm M}_\odot$, compared to the standard minihalo environment within the $\Lambda$ cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmology, where $z \sim 20 - 30$ and $\sim 10^5 - 10^6\,{\rm M}_\odot$. Despite this greatly altered DM host environment, the thermodynamic behaviour of the metal-free gas as it collapses into the DM potential well asymptotically approaches a very similar evolutionary track. Thus, the fragmentation properties are predicted to remain the same as in $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, implying a similar mass scale for the first stars. These results predict intense starbursts in the axion cosmologies, which may be amenable to observations with the {\it James Webb Space Telescope}.
We quantitatively study the stationary, axisymmetric, force-free magnetospheres of spinning (Kerr) black holes (BHs) and the conditions needed for relativistic jets to be powered by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. These jets could be from active galactic nuclei, blazars, quasars, micro-quasars, radio active galaxies, and other systems that host Kerr BHs. The structure of the magnetosphere determines how the BH energy is extracted, e.g., via Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which converts the BH rotational energy into Poynting flux. The key assumption is the force-free condition, which requires the presence of plasma with the density being above the Goldreich-Julian density. Unlike neutron stars, which in principle can supply electrons from the surface, BH cannot supply plasma at all. The plasma must be generated \em{in situ} via an electron-positron cascade, presumably in the gap region. Here we study varying conditions that provide a sufficient amount of plasma for the Blandford-Znajek mechanism to work effectively.
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Narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLSy1) galaxies constitute a class of active galactic nuclei characterized by the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the H$\beta$ broad emission line < 2000 km/s and the flux ratio of [O III] to H$\beta$ < 3. Their properties are not well understood since only a few NLSy1 galaxies were known earlier. We have studied various properties of NLSy1 galaxies using an enlarged sample and compared them with the conventional broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLSy1) galaxies. Both the sample of sources have z $\le$ 0.8 and their optical spectra from SDSS-DR12 that are used to derive various physical parameters have a median signal to noise (S/N) ratio >10 per pixel. Strong correlations between the H$\beta$ and H$\alpha$ emission lines are found both in the FWHM and flux. The nuclear continuum luminosity is found to be strongly correlated with the luminosity of H$\beta$, H$\alpha$ and [O III] emission lines. The black hole mass in NLSy1 galaxies is lower compared to their broad line counterparts. Compared to BLSy1 galaxies, NLSy1 galaxies have a stronger FeII emission and a higher Eddington ratio that place them in the extreme upper right corner of the $R_{4570}$ - $\xi_{Edd}$ diagram. The distribution of the radio-loudness parameter (R) in NLSy1 galaxies drops rapidly at R > 10 compared to the BLSy1 galaxies that have powerful radio jets. The soft X-ray photon index in NLSy1 galaxies is on average higher (2.9 $\pm$ 0.9) than BLSy1 galaxies (2.4 $\pm$ 0.8). It is anti-correlated with the H$\beta$ width but correlated with the Fe II strength. NLSy1 galaxies on average have a lower amplitude of optical variability compared to their broad lines counterparts. These results suggest Eddington ratio as the main parameter that drives optical variability in these sources.
Nearby dwarf galaxies provide a unique laboratory in which to test stellar population models below $Z_\odot/2$. Such tests are particularly important for interpreting the surprising high-ionization UV line emission detected at $z>6$ in recent years. We present HST/COS ultraviolet spectra of ten nearby metal-poor star-forming galaxies selected to show He II emission in SDSS optical spectra. The targets span nearly a dex in gas-phase oxygen abundance ($7.8<12+\log\mathrm{O/H}<8.5$) and present uniformly large specific star formation rates (sSFR $\sim 10^2$ $\mathrm{Gyr}^{-1}$). The UV spectra confirm that metal-poor stellar populations can power extreme nebular emission in high-ionization UV lines, reaching C III] equivalent widths comparable to those seen in systems at $z\sim 6-7$. Our data reveal a marked transition in UV spectral properties with decreasing metallicity, with systems below $12+\log\mathrm{O/H}\lesssim 8.0$ ($Z/Z_\odot \lesssim 1/5$) presenting minimal stellar wind features and prominent nebular emission in He II and C IV. This is consistent with nearly an order of magnitude increase in ionizing photon production beyond the $\mathrm{He^+}$-ionizing edge relative to H-ionizing flux as metallicity decreases below a fifth solar, well in excess of standard stellar population synthesis predictions. Our results suggest that often neglected sources of energetic radiation such as stripped binary products and very massive O-stars produce a sharper change in the ionizing spectrum with decreasing metallicity than expected. Consequently, nebular emission in C IV and He II powered by these stars may provide useful metallicity constraints in the reionization era.
Observations of globular clusters (GCs) and field stars in the halos of the giant elliptical galaxy Cen A and the spiral galaxy M31 show a large range of cluster-to-star number ratios ('specific frequencies'). The cluster-to-star ratio decreases with increasing metallicity by a factor of 100-1000, at all galactocentric radii and with a slope that does not seem to depend on radius. In dwarf galaxies, the GCs are also more metal-poor than the field stars on average. These observations indicate a strong dependence of either the cluster formation efficiency or the cluster destruction rate on metallicity and environment. We aim to explain these trends by considering various effects that may influence the observed cluster-to-star ratio as a function of metallicity, environment and cosmological history. We show that both the cluster formation efficiency and the maximum cluster mass increase with metallicity, so they cannot explain the observed trend. Destruction of GCs by tidal stripping and dynamical friction destroy clusters over too small a range of galactocentric radii. We show that cluster destruction by tidal shocks from giant molecular clouds in the high-density formation environments of GCs becomes increasingly efficient towards high galaxy masses and, hence, towards high metallicities. The predicted cluster-to-star ratio decreases by a factor 100-1000 towards high metallicities and should only weakly depend on galactocentric radius due to orbital mixing during hierarchical galaxy merging, consistent with the observations. The observed, strong dependence of the cluster-to-star ratio on metallicity and the independence of its slope on galactocentric radius can be explained by cluster destruction and hierarchical galaxy growth. As a result, we find that the metallicity-dependence of the cluster-to-star ratio does not reflect a GC formation efficiency, but a survival fraction. (Abridged)
Using the 1.56m telescope at the Shanghai Observatory (ShAO), China, we monitored two sources, BL Lac object S5 0716+714 and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar (FSRQ) 3C 273. For S5 0716+714, we report 4969 sets of CCD (Charge-coupled Device) photometrical optical observations (1369 for V band, 1861 for R band and 1739 for I band) in the monitoring time from Dec.4, 2000 to Apr.5, 2014. For 3C 273, we report 460 observations (138 for V band, 146 for R band and 176 for I band) in the monitoring time from Mar. 28, 2006 to Apr. 9, 2014. The observations provide us with a large amount of data to analyze the short-term and long-term optical variabilities. Based on the variable timescales, we can estimate the central black hole mass and the Doppler factor. An abundance of multi-band observations can help us to analyze the relations between the brightness and spectrum. We use Gaussian fitting to analyze the intra-day light curves and obtain the intra-day variability (IDV) timescales. We use the discrete correlation function (DCF) method and Jurkevich method to analyze the quasi-periodic variability. Based on the VRI observations, we use the linear fitting to analyze the relations between brightness and spectrum. The two sources both show IDV properties for S5 0716+714. The timescales are in the range from 17.3 minutes to 4.82 hours; for 3C273, the timescale is 35.6 minutes. Based on the periodic analysis methods, we find the periods P(V) = 24.24 days, P(R)=24.12 days, P(I)=24.82 days for S5 0716+714, and P = 12.99, 21.76 yr for 3C273. The two sources displayed the "bluer-when-brighter" spectral evolution properties. S5 0716+714 and 3C 273 are frequently studied objects. The violent optical variability and IDV may come from the jet. Gaussian fitting can be used to analyze IDVs. The relations between brightness (flux density) and spectrum are strongly influenced by the frequency.
Aiming at studying the physical properties of Galactic IR bubbles and to explore their impact in triggering massive star formation, we perform a multiwavelength analysis of the bubble HII region Sh2-39 (N5) and its environs. To analyze the molecular gas we use CO(3-2) and HCO+(4-3) line data obtained with the ASTE telescope. To study the physical characteristics of the dust, we make use of archival data from ATLASGAL, Herschel, and MSX, while the ionized gas was studied making use of NVSS data. We use public IR point source catalogs to search for candidate YSOs in the region. To investigate the stellar cluster [BDS2003]6 we use IR spectroscopic data obtained with the ARCoIRIS spectrograph, and new available IR Ks band observations from VVVX survey. The new ASTE observations allowed the molecular gas component in the velocity range from 30 km/s to 46 km/s, associated with Sh2-39, to be studied in detail. We have identified four molecular clumps, that were likely formed by the expansion of the ionization front, and determined some of their physical and dynamical properties. Clumps having HCO+ and 870 micron counterparts show evidence of gravitational collapse. We identified several candidate YSOs across the molecular component. Their spatial distribution, as well as the fragmentation time derived for the collected layers of the molecular gas, suggest that massive star formation might have been triggered by the expansion of the nebula via the collect and collapse mechanism. The spectroscopical distance obtained for the stellar cluster [BDS2003]6, placed over one of the collapsing clumps, reveals that this cluster is physically associated with the neabula and gives more support to the triggered massive star formation scenario. A radio continuum data analysis indicates that the nebula is older and expands at lower velocity than typical Galactic IR bubbles.
Quasar redshifts require the best possible precision and accuracy for a number of applications, such as setting the velocity scale for outflows as well as measuring small-scale quasar-quasar clustering. The most reliable redshift standard in luminous quasars is arguably the narrow [OIII] $\lambda\lambda$4959,5007 emission line doublet in the rest-frame optical. We use previously published [OIII] redshifts obtained using near-infrared spectra in a sample of 45 high-redshift (z > 2.2) quasars to evaluate redshift measurement techniques based on rest-frame ultraviolet spectra. At redshifts above z = 2.2 the MgII $\lambda$2798 emission line is not available in observed-frame optical spectra, and the most prominent unblended and unabsorbed spectral feature available is usually CIV $\lambda$1549. Peak and centroid measurements of the CIV profile are often blueshifted relative to the rest-frame of the quasar, which can significantly bias redshift determinations. We show that redshift determinations for these high-redshift quasars are significantly correlated with the emission-line properties of CIV (i.e., the equivalent width, or EW, and the full width at half maximum, or FWHM) as well as the luminosity, which we take from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We demonstrate that empirical corrections based on multiple regression analyses yield significant improvements in both the precision and accuracy of the redshifts of the most distant quasars and are required to establish consistency with redshifts determined in more local quasars.
In recent work, Lelli et al. (2016) argue that the tightness of the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR) of the SPARC galaxy sample, and the weakness of the correlation of its residuals with effective radius, pose challenges to LCDM cosmology. In this Letter we calculate the statistical significance of these results in the framework of halo abundance matching, which imposes a canonical galaxy-halo connection. Taking full account of sample variance among SPARC-like realisations of the parent halo population, we find the scatter in the predicted BTFR to be 3.6 sigma too high, but the correlation of its residuals with size to be naturally weak. Further, we find abundance matching to generate BTFR curvature in 3.0 sigma disagreement with the data, and a fraction of galaxies with non-flat rotation curves somewhat larger than observed.
Hi-GAL is a large-scale survey of the Galactic plane, performed with Herschel in five infrared continuum bands between 70 and 500 $\mu$m. We present a band-merged catalogue of spatially matched sources and their properties derived from fits to the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and heliocentric distances, based on the photometric catalogs presented in Molinari et al. (2016a), covering the portion of Galactic plane $-71.0^{\circ}< \ell < 67.0^{\circ}$. The band-merged catalogue contains 100922 sources with a regular SED, 24584 of which show a 70 $\mu$m counterpart and are thus considered proto-stellar, while the remainder are considered starless. Thanks to this huge number of sources, we are able to carry out a preliminary analysis of early stages of star formation, identifying the conditions that characterise different evolutionary phases on a statistically significant basis. We calculate surface densities to investigate the gravitational stability of clumps and their potential to form massive stars. We also explore evolutionary status metrics such as the dust temperature, luminosity and bolometric temperature, finding that these are higher in proto-stellar sources compared to pre-stellar ones. The surface density of sources follows an increasing trend as they evolve from pre-stellar to proto-stellar, but then it is found to decrease again in the majority of the most evolved clumps. Finally, we study the physical parameters of sources with respect to Galactic longitude and the association with spiral arms, finding only minor or no differences between the average evolutionary status of sources in the fourth and first Galactic quadrants, or between "on-arm" and "inter-arm" positions.
Several globular clusters (GCs) in the Galaxy are observed to show internal abundance spreads in r-process elements (e.g., Eu). We here propose a new scenario which explains the origin of these GCs (e.g., M5 and M15). In this scenario, stars with no/little abundance variations first form from a massive molecular cloud (MC). After all of the remaining gas of the MC is expelled by numerous supernovae, gas ejected from asymptotic giant branch stars can be accumulated in the central region of the GC to form a high-density intra-cluster medium (ICM). Merging of neutron stars then occurs to eject r-process elements, which can be efficiently trapped in and subsequently mixed with the ICM. New stars formed from the ICM can have r-process abundances quite different from those of earlier generations of stars within the GC. This scenario can explain both (i) why r-process elements can be trapped within GCs and (ii) why GCs with internal abundance spreads in r-process elements do not show [Fe/H] spreads. Our model shows that (i) a large fraction of Eu-rich stars can be seen in Na-enhanced stellar populations of GCs, as observed in M15, and (ii) why most of the Galactic GCs do not exhibit such internal abundance spreads. Our model demonstrates that the observed internal spreads of $r$-process elements in GCs provide strong evidence for prolonged star formation (~10^8 yr).
Based on the Chandra data archive as of March 2016, we have identified 314 candidate active galactic nuclei in 719 galaxies located closer than 50 Mpc, among them late-type (Hubble types Sc and later) galaxies that previously had been classified from optical observations as containing star-forming (H II) nuclei. These late-type galaxies comprise a valuable subsample to search for low-mass (<~ 10^6 solar masses) central black holes. For the sample as a whole, the overall dependence of the fraction of active nuclei on galaxy type and nuclear spectral classification is consistent with previous results based on optical surveys. We detect 51 X-ray cores among the 163 H II nuclei and estimate that, very conservatively, ~74% of them with luminosities above 10^38 erg/s are not contaminated by X-ray binaries; the fraction increases to ~92% for X-ray cores with a luminosity of 10^39 erg/s or higher. This allows us to estimate a black hole occupation fraction of >~ 21% in these late-type, many bulgeless, galaxies.
The point sources in the Bright Source Catalogue of the AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) were classified based on their FIR and mid-IR fluxes and colours into young stellar object (YSO) and extragalactic source types using Quadratic Discriminant Analysis method (QDA) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). The reliability of the selection of YSO candidates is high, and the number of known YSO candidates were increased significantly, that we demonstrate in the case of the nearby open cluster IC348. Our results show that we can separate galactic and extragalactic AKARI point sources in the multidimensional space of FIR fluxes and colours with high reliability, however, differentiating among the extragalactic sub-types needs further information.
Taipan is a multi-object spectroscopic galaxy survey starting in 2017 that will cover 2pi steradians over the southern sky, and obtain optical spectra for about two million galaxies out to z<0.4. Taipan will use the newly-refurbished 1.2m UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory with the new TAIPAN instrument, which includes an innovative 'Starbugs' positioning system capable of rapidly and simultaneously deploying up to 150 spectroscopic fibres (and up to 300 with a proposed upgrade) over the 6-deg diameter focal plane, and a purpose-built spectrograph operating from 370 to 870nm with resolving power R>2000. The main scientific goals of Taipan are: (i) to measure the distance scale of the Universe (primarily governed by the local expansion rate, H_0) to 1% precision, and the structure growth rate of structure to 5%; (ii) to make the most extensive map yet constructed of the mass distribution and motions in the local Universe, using peculiar velocities based on improved Fundamental Plane distances, which will enable sensitive tests of gravitational physics; and (iii) to deliver a legacy sample of low-redshift galaxies as a unique laboratory for studying galaxy evolution as a function of mass and environment. The final survey, which will be completed within 5 years, will consist of a complete magnitude-limited sample (i<17) of about 1.2x10^6 galaxies, supplemented by an extension to higher redshifts and fainter magnitudes (i<18.1) of a luminous red galaxy sample of about 0.8x10^6 galaxies. Observations and data processing will be carried out remotely and in a fully-automated way, using a purpose-built automated 'virtual observer' software and an automated data reduction pipeline. The Taipan survey is deliberately designed to maximise its legacy value, by complementing and enhancing current and planned surveys of the southern sky at wavelengths from the optical to the radio.
Hubble Space Telescope SNAPshot surveys of X-ray selected galaxy clusters at
$0.3 < z < 0.5$ from the MACS sample have proven invaluable for the exploration
of a wide range of astronomical research topics. We here present an overview of
the four MACS SNAPshot surveys conducted from Cycle 14 to Cycle 20 as part of a
long-term effort aimed at identifying exceptional cluster targets for in-depth
follow up by the extragalactic community. We also release redshifts and X-ray
luminosities of all clusters observed as part of this initiative.
To illustrate the power of SNAPshot observations of MACS clusters, we explore
several aspects of galaxy evolution illuminated by the images obtained for
these programmes, including strong gravitational lensing, evolution of the
cluster red sequence, and the properties of the brightest cluster galaxies
(BCGs).
We confirm the high lensing efficiency of X-ray selected clusters at $z>0.3$.
Adding to the findings from previous studies, we also find that the bluest BCGs
reside in highly relaxed clusters, are closely aligned with the peak of the
X-ray emission, and exhibit significantly more structure than redder BCGs.
Thanks to our targets' high X-ray luminosity, the subset of our sample observed
with Chandra adds valuable leverage to the X-ray luminosity--optical richness
relation which, albeit with substantial scatter, is now clearly established
from groups to extremely massive clusters of galaxies.
We conclude that SNAPshot observations of MACS clusters stand to continue to
play a vital pathfinder role for astrophysical investigations across the entire
electromagnetic spectrum.
The jet activity of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and its interaction with the interstellar medium (ISM), may play a pivotal role in the processes which regulate the growth and star formation of its host galaxy. Observational evidence which pinpoints the conditions of such interaction is paramount to unveil the physical processes involved. We report on the discovery of extended emission line regions exhibiting an S-shaped morphology along the optical jet of the radio-loud AGN $\text{PKS}\,0521-365$ ($z=0.055$), by using long-slit spectroscopic observations obtained with FORS2 on VLT. The velocity pattern derived from the $\text{[O II]}\,\lambda 3727\,\AA,\, \text{H}\beta\, \lambda 4861\,\AA\,$ and [O III] $\lambda\lambda4959,5007\,\AA\,$ emission lines is well-fitted by a sinusoidal function of the form: $v(r)=\alpha r^{1/2}sin(\beta r^{1/2}+\gamma)$, suggesting helicoidal motions along the jet up to distances of $20\,\text{kpc}$. We estimate a lower limit for the mass of the outflowing ionized gas along the jet of $\sim$10$^4\,M_\odot$. Helical magnetic fields and jet precession have been proposed to explain helicoidal paths along the jet at pc scales; nevertheless, it is not clear yet whether these hypotheses may hold at kpc scales.
A significant number of the parameters of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) and its host galaxy are calculated from the afterglow. There are various methods obtaining extinction values for the necessary correction for galactic foreground. These are: galaxy counts, from HI 21 cm surveys, from spectroscopic measurements and colors of nearby Galactic stars, or using extinction maps calculated from infrared surveys towards the GRB. We demonstrate that AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor sky surface brightness maps are useful uncovering the fine structure of the galactic foreground of GRBs. Galactic cirrus structures of a number of GRBs are calculated with a 2 arcminute resolution, and the results are compared to that of other methods.
We report the detection of CO(2-1) emission coincident with the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) of the high-redshift galaxy cluster SpARCS1049+56, with the Redshift Search Receiver (RSR) on the Large Millimetre Telescope (LMT). We confirm a spectroscopic redshift for the gas of z = 1.7091+/-0.0004, which is consistent with the systemic redshift of the cluster galaxies of z = 1.709. The line is well-fit by a single component Gaussian with a RSR resolution-corrected FWHM of 569+/-63 km/s. We see no evidence for multiple velocity components in the gas, as might be expected from the multiple image components seen in near-infrared imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure the integrated flux of the line to be 3.6+/-0.3 Jy km/s and, using alpha_CO = 0.8 Msun (K km s^-1 pc^2)^-1 we estimate a total molecular gas mass of 1.1+/-0.1x10^11 Msun and a M_H2/M_star ~ 0.4. This is the largest gas reservoir detected in a BCG above z > 1 to date. Given the infrared-estimated star formation rate of 860+/-130 Msun/yr, this corresponds to a gas depletion timescale of ~0.1Gyr. We discuss several possible mechanisms for depositing such a large gas reservoir to the cluster center -- e.g., a cooling flow, a major galaxy-galaxy merger or the stripping of gas from several galaxies -- but conclude that these LMT data are not sufficient to differentiate between them.
Cold gas-phase water has recently been detected in a cold dark cloud, Barnard 5 located in the Perseus complex, by targeting methanol peaks as signposts for ice mantle evaporation. Observed morphology and abundances of methanol and water are consistent with a transient non-thermal evaporation process only affecting the outermost ice mantle layers, possibly triggering a more complex chemistry. We present the detection of the Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) acetaldehyde and methyl formate as well as formic acid and ketene, and the tentative detection of di-methyl ether towards the methanol hotspot of Barnard 5 located between two dense cores using the single dish OSO 20m, IRAM 30m, and NRO 45m telescopes. The high energy cis- conformer of formic acid is detected, suggesting that formic acid is mostly formed at the surface of interstellar grains and then evaporated. The detection of multiple transitions for each species allows us to constrain their abundances through LTE and non-LTE methods. All the considered COMs show similar abundances between $\sim 1$ and $\sim 10$ % relative to methanol depending on the assumed excitation temperature. The non-detection of glycolaldehyde, an isomer of methyl formate, with a [glycolaldehyde]/[methyl formate] abundance ratio lower than 6 %, favours gas phase formation pathways triggered by methanol evaporation. According to their excitation temperatures derived in massive hot cores, formic acid, ketene, and acetaldehyde have been designated as "lukewarm" COMs whereas methyl formate and di-methyl ether were defined as "warm" species. Comparison with previous observations of other types of sources confirms that "lukewarm" and "warm" COMs show similar abundances in low-density cold gas whereas the "warm" COMs tend to be more abundant than the "lukewarm" species in warm protostellar cores.
Low-luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei, i.e. L_bol/L_edd ~ 10^-6 - 10^-3, constitute the bulk population of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). Powerful jets, common in these objects, are a crucial source of feedback energy driving mass outflows into the host galaxy and the intergalactic medium. This paper reports the first direct measurement of powerful mass outflows traced by the forbidden high ionization gas in the low luminosity AGN NGC1386 at scales of a few parsecs from the central engine. The high angular resolution of the data allows us to directly measure the location, morphology and kinematic of the outflow. This the form of two symmetrical expanding hot gas shells moving in opposite directions along the line of sight. The co-spatiality of the gas shells with radio emission seen at the same parsec scales and with X-rays indicates that this is a shock-driven outflow induced by an incipient core-jet. With a minimum number of assumptions, we derive a mass outflow rate of 11 solar masses/yr, comparable to those of powerful AGN. The result has strong implications in the global accounting of feedback mass and energy driven by a low-luminosity AGN into the medium and the corresponding galaxy evolution.
Galaxy models are fundamental to exploiting surveys of our Galaxy. There is now a significant body of work on axisymmetric models. A model can be defined by giving the DF of each major class of stars and of dark matter. Then the self-consistent gravitational potential is determined. Other modelling techniques are briefly considered before an overview of some early work on non-axisymmetric models.
The gas kinetic temperature ($T_K$) of various interstellar environments is often inferred from observations that can deduce level populations of atoms, ions, or molecules using spectral line observations; H I 21 cm is perhaps the most widely used with a long history. Usually the H I 21 cm line is assumed to be in thermal equilibrium and the populations are given by the Boltzmann distribution. A variety of processes, many involving Lyman alpha ($Ly\alpha$), can affect the 21 cm line. Here we show how this is treated in the spectral simulation code Cloudy, and present numerical simulations of environments where this temperature indicator is used, with a detailed treatment of the physical processes that determine level populations within $H^0$. We discuss situations where this temperature indicator traces $T_K$, cases where they fail, as well as the effects of $Ly\alpha$ pumping on the 21 cm spin temperature. We also show that the $Ly\alpha$ excitation temperature rarely traces the gas kinetic temperature.
We present a theoretical study of intergalactic metal absorption lines imprinted in the spectra of distant quasars during and after the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). We use high resolution hydrodynamical simulations at high redshift ($4 <z<8$), assuming a uniform UV background Haardt--Madau 12, post-processing with CLOUDY photoionization models and Voigt profile fitting to accurately calculate column densities of the ions CII, CIV, SiII, SiIV and OI in the intergalactic medium (IGM). In addition, we generate mock observations of neutral Hydrogen (HI) at $z<6$. Our simulations successfully reproduce the evolution of the cosmological mass density ($\Omega$) of CII and CIV, with $\Omega_{CII}$ exceeding $\Omega_{CIV}$ at $z >6$, consistent with the current picture of the tail of the EoR. The simulated CII exhibits a bimodal distribution with large absorptions in and around galaxies, and some traces in the lower density IGM. We find some discrepancies between the observed and simulated column density relationships among different ionic species at $z=6$, probably due to uncertainties in the assumed UV background. Finally, our simulations are in good agreement with observations of the HI column density distribution function at $z = 4$ and the HI cosmological mass density $\Omega_{HI}$ at $4 < z < 6$.
In this thesis, I study the expected direct and indirect detection signals of dark matter. More precisely, I study three aspects of dark matter; I use hydrodynamic simulations to extract properties of weakly interacting dark matter that are relevant for both direct and indirect detection signals, and construct viable dark matter models with interesting experimental signatures. First, I analyze the full scale Illustris simulation, and find that Galactic indirect detection signals are expected to be largely symmetric, while extragalactic signals are not, due to recent mergers and the presence of substructure. Second, through the study of the high resolution Milky Way simulation Eris, I find that metal-poor halo stars can be used as tracers for the dark matter velocity distribution. I use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to obtain the first empirical velocity distribution of dark matter, which weakens the expected direct detection limits by up to an order of magnitude at masses $\lesssim 10$ GeV. Finally, I expand the weakly interacting dark matter paradigm by proposing a new dark matter model called boosted dark matter. This novel scenario contains a relativistic component with interesting hybrid direct and indirect detection signatures at neutrino experiments. I propose two search strategies for boosted dark matter, at Cherenkov-based experiments and future liquid-argon neutrino detectors.
We provide new observations of the LMC X-1 O star and its extended nebula structure using spectroscopic data from VLT/UVES as well as H$\alpha$ imaging from the Wide Field Imager on the Max Planck Gesellschaft / European Southern Observatory 2.2m telescope and ATCA imaging of the 2.1 GHz radio continuum. This nebula is one of the few known to be energized by an X-ray binary. We use a new spectrum extraction technique that is superior to other methods to obtain both radial velocities and fluxes. This provides an updated spatial velocity of $\simeq 21.0~\pm~4.8$ km s$^{-1}$ for the O star. The slit encompasses both the photo-ionized and shock-ionized regions of the nebula. The imaging shows a clear arc-like structure reminiscent of a wind bow shock in between the ionization cone and shock-ionized nebula. The observed structure can be fit well by the parabolic shape of a wind bow shock. If an interpretation of a wind bow shock system is valid, we investigate the N159-O1 star cluster as a potential parent of the system, suggesting a progenitor mass of $\sim 60$ M$_{\odot}$ for the black hole. We further note that the radio emission could be non-thermal emission from the wind bow shock, or synchrotron emission associated with the jet inflated nebula. For both wind and jet-powered origins, this would represent one of the first radio detections of such a structure.
Debris discs are evidence of the ongoing destructive collisions between planetesimals, and their presence around stars also suggests that planets exist in these systems. In this paper, we present submillimetre images of the thermal emission from debris discs that formed the SCUBA-2 Observations of Nearby Stars (SONS) survey, one of seven legacy surveys undertaken on the James Clerk Maxwell telescope between 2012 and 2015. The overall results of the survey are presented in the form of 850 microns (and 450 microns, where possible) images and fluxes for the observed fields. Excess thermal emission, over that expected from the stellar photosphere, is detected around 49 stars out of the 100 observed fields. The discs are characterised in terms of their flux density, size (radial distribution of the dust) and derived dust properties from their spectral energy distributions. The results show discs over a range of sizes, typically 1-10 times the diameter of the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt in our Solar System. The mass of a disc, for particles up to a few millimetres in size, is uniquely obtainable with submillimetre observations and this quantity is presented as a function of the host stars' age, showing a tentative decline in mass with age. Having doubled the number of imaged discs at submillimetre wavelengths from ground-based, single dish telescope observations, one of the key legacy products from the SONS survey is to provide a comprehensive target list to observe at high angular resolution using submillimetre/millimetre interferometers (e.g., ALMA, SMA).
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Whether BDs form as stars through gravitational collapse ("star-like") or BDs and some very low-mass stars constitute a separate population which form alongside stars comparable to the population of planets, e.g. through circumstellar disk ("peripheral") fragmentation, is one of the key questions of the star-formation problem. For young stars in Taurus-Auriga the binary fraction is large with little dependence on primary mass above ~0.2Msun, while for BDs it is <10%. We investigate a case in which BDs in Taurus formed dominantly through peripheral fragmentation. The decline of the binary frequency in the transition region between star-like and peripheral formation is modelled. A dynamical population synthesis model is employed in which stellar binary formation is universal. Peripheral objects form separately in circumstellar disks with a distinctive initial mass function (IMF), own orbital parameter distributions for binaries and a low binary fraction. A small amount of dynamical processing of the stellar component is accounted for as appropriate for the low-density Taurus-Auriga embedded clusters. The binary fraction declines strongly between the mass-limits for star-like and peripheral formation. The location of characteristic features and the steepness depend on these mass-limits. Such a trend might be unique to low density regions hosting dynamically unprocessed binary populations. The existence of a strong decline in the binary fraction -- primary mass diagram will become verifiable in future surveys on BD and VLMS binarity in the Taurus-Auriga star forming region. It is a test of the (non-)continuity of star formation along the mass-scale, the separateness of the stellar and BD populations and the dominant formation channel for BDs and BD binaries in regions of low stellar density hosting dynamically unprocessed populations.
One viable seeding mechanism for supermassive black holes is the direct gaseous collapse route in pre-galactic dark matter halos, producing objects on the order of $10^4 - 10^6$ solar masses. These events occur when the gas is prevented from cooling below $10^4$ K that requires a metal-free and relatively H$_2$-free medium. The initial collapse cools through atomic hydrogen transitions, but the gas becomes optically thick to the cooling radiation at high densities. We explore the effects ofLyman-$\alpha$ trapping in such a collapsing system with a suite of Monte Carlo radiation transport calculations in uniform density and isotropic cases that are based from a cosmological simulation. Our method includes both non-coherent scattering and two-photon line cooling. We find that Lyman-$\alpha$ radiation is marginally trapped in the parsec-scale gravitationally unstable central cloud, allowing the temperature to increase to 50,000 K at a number density of $3 \times 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$ and increasing the Jeans mass by a factor of five. The effective equation of state changes from isothermal at low densities to have an adiabatic index of 4/3 around the temperature maximum and then slowly retreats back to isothermal at higher densities. Our results suggest that Lyman-$\alpha$ trapping delays the initial collapse by raising the Jeans mass. Afterward the high density core cools back to $10^4$ K that is surrounded by a warm envelope whose inward pressure may alter the fragmentation scales at high densities.
We present radial tracks for four early-type galaxies with embedded
intermediate-scale discs in a modified spin-ellipticity diagram. Here, each
galaxy's spin and ellipticity profiles are shown as a radial track, as opposed
to a single, flux-weighted aperture-dependent value as is common in the
literature. The use of a single ellipticity and spin parameter is inadequate to
capture the basic nature of these galaxies, which transition from fast to slow
rotation as one moves to larger radii where the disc ceases to dominate. After
peaking, the four galaxy's radial tracks feature a downturn in both ellipticity
and spin with increasing radius, differentiating them from elliptical galaxies,
and from lenticular galaxies whose discs dominate at large radii. These
galaxies are examples of so-called discy elliptical galaxies, which are a
morphological hybrid between elliptical (E) and lenticular (S0) galaxies, and
have been designated ES galaxies.
The use of spin-ellipticity tracks provides extra structural information
about individual galaxies over a single aperture measure. Such tracks provide a
key diagnostic for classifying early-type galaxies, particularly in the era of
2D kinematic (and photometric) data beyond one effective radius.
We compile available constraints on the carbon monoxide (CO) 1-0 luminosity functions and abundances at redshifts 0-3. This is used to develop a data driven halo model for the evolution of the CO galaxy abundances and clustering across intermediate redshifts. It is found that the recent constraints from the CO Power Spectrum Survey ($z \sim 3$; Keating et al. 2016), when combined with existing observations of local galaxies ($z \sim 0$; Keres et al. 2003), lead to predictions which are consistent with the results of smaller surveys at intermediate redshifts ($z \sim 1-2$). We provide convenient fitting forms for the evolution of the CO luminosity - halo mass relation, and estimates of the mean and uncertainties in the CO power spectrum in the context of future intensity mapping experiments.
We have developed a novel Markov Chain Mote Carlo (MCMC) chemical "painting" technique to explore possible radial and vertical metallicity gradients for the thick disc progenitor. In our analysis we match an N-body simulation to the data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey. We assume that the thick disc has a constant scale-height and has completed its formation at an early epoch, after which time radial mixing of its stars has taken place. Under these assumptions, we find that the initial radial metallicity gradient of the thick disc progenitor should not be negative, but either flat or even positive, to explain the current negative vertical metallicity gradient of the thick disc. Our study suggests that the thick disc was built-up in an inside-out and upside-down fashion, and older, smaller and thicker populations are more metal poor. In this case, star forming discs at different epochs of the thick disc formation are allowed to have different radial metallicity gradients, including a negative one, which helps to explain a variety of slopes observed in high redshift disc galaxies. This scenario helps to explain the positive slope of the metallicity-rotation velocity relation observed for the Galactic thick disc. On the other hand, radial mixing flattens the slope of an existing gradient.
We present the discovery of 3 quasar lenses in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), selected using two novel photometry-based selection techniques. The J0941+0518 system, with two point sources separated by 5.46" on either side of a galaxy, has source and lens redshifts $z_s = 1.54$ and $z_l = 0.343$. The AO-assisted images of J2211+1929 show two point sources separated by 1.04", corresponding to the same quasar at $z_s = 1.07,$ besides the lens galaxy and Einstein ring. Images of J2257+2349 show two point sources separated by 1.67" on either side of an E/S0 galaxy. The extracted spectra show two images of the same quasar at redshift $z_s = 2.10$. In total, the two selection techniques identified 309 lens candidates, including 47 known lenses, and 6 previously ruled out candidates. 55 of the remaining candidates were observed using NIRC2 and ESI at Keck Observatory, EFOSC2 at the ESO-NTT (La Silla), and SAM and the Goodman spectrograph at SOAR. Of the candidates observed, 3 were confirmed as lenses, 36 were ruled out, and 16 remain inconclusive. Taking into account that we recovered known lenses, this gives us a success rate of at least 50/309 (16%). This initial campaign demonstrates the power of purely photometric selection techniques in finding lensed quasars. Developing and refining these techniques is essential for efficient identification of these rare lenses in ongoing and future photometric surveys.
We investigate the relationship between the MgII $\lambda2798$ emission-line and the 3000 {\AA} continuum variations using a sample of 68 intermediate-redshift ($z\sim$ 0.65$-$1.50) broad-line quasars spanning a bolometric luminosity range of 44.49 erg s$^{-1} \leq \rm{log}$$L_{\rm{bol}} \leq 46.31$ erg s$^{-1}$ (Eddington ratio from $\sim$ 0.026 to 0.862). This sample is constructed from SDSS-DR7Q and BOSS-DR12Q, each with at least 2 spectroscopic epochs in SDSS-I/II/III surveys. Additionally, we adopt the following signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) selection criteria: a) for MgII and the 3000 {\AA} continuum, S/N $\geq$ 10; b) for narrow lines, S/N $\geq$ 5. All our quasar spectra are recalibrated based on the assumption of constant narrow emission-line fluxes. In an analysis of spectrum-to-spectrum variations, we find a fairly close correlation (Spearman $\rho = 0.593$) between the variations in broad MgII and in the continuum. This is consistent with the idea that MgII is varying in response to the continuum emission variations. Adopting the modified weighted least squares regression method, we statistically constrain the slopes (i.e., the responsivity $\alpha$ of the broad MgII) between the variations in both components for the sources in different luminosity bins after eliminating intrinsic biases introduced by the rescaling process itself. It is shown that the responsivity is quite small (average $\bar{\alpha} \approx$ 0.464) and anti-correlates with the quasar luminosity. Our results indicate that high signal-to-noise flux measurements are required to robustly detect the intrinsic variability and the time lag of MgII line.
Angle/action based distribution function (DF) models can be optimised based on how well they reproduce observations thus revealing the current matter distribution in the Milky Way. Gaia data combined with data from other surveys, e.g. the RAVE/TGAS sample, and its full selection function will greatly improve their accuracy.
We have used the AMR hydrodynamic code, MG, to perform 3D hydrodynamic simulations with self-gravity of stellar feedback in a spherical clumpy molecular cloud formed through the action of thermal instability. We simulate the interaction of the mechanical energy input from 15 Msun, 40 Msun, 60 Msun and 120 Msun stars into a 100 pc-diameter 16,500 Msun cloud with a roughly spherical morphology with randomly distributed high density condensations. The stellar winds are introduced using appropriate non-rotating Geneva stellar evolution models. In the 15 Msun star case, the wind has very little effect, spreading around a few neighbouring clumps before becoming overwhelmed by the cloud collapse. In contrast, in the 40 Msun, 60 Msun and 120 Msun star cases, the more powerful stellar winds create large cavities and carve channels through the cloud, breaking out into the surrounding tenuous medium during the wind phase and considerably altering the cloud structure. After 4.97 Myrs, 3.97 Myrs and 3.01 Myrs respectively, the massive stars explode as supernovae (SNe). The wind-sculpted surroundings considerably affect the evolution of these SN events as they both escape the cloud along wind-carved channels and sweep up remaining clumps of cloud/wind material. The `cloud' as a coherent structure does not survive the SN from any of these stars, but only in the 120 Msun case is the cold molecular material completely destabilised and returned to the unstable thermal phase. In the 40 Msun and 60 Msun cases, coherent clumps of cold material are ejected from the cloud by the SN, potentially capable of further star formation.
We use Chandra X-ray data to measure the metallicity of the intracluster medium (ICM) in 245 massive galaxy clusters selected from X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect surveys, spanning redshifts $0<z<1.2$. Metallicities were measured in three different radial ranges, spanning cluster cores through their outskirts. We explore trends in these measurements as a function of cluster redshift, temperature, and surface brightness "peakiness" (a proxy for gas cooling efficiency in cluster centers). The data at large radii (0.5--1 $r_{500}$) are consistent with a constant metallicity, while at intermediate radii (0.1-0.5 $r_{500}$) we see a late-time increase in enrichment, consistent with the expected production and mixing of metals in cluster cores. In cluster centers, there are strong trends of metallicity with temperature and peakiness, reflecting enhanced metal production in the lowest-entropy gas. Within the cool-core/sharply peaked cluster population, there is a large intrinsic scatter in central metallicity and no overall evolution, indicating significant astrophysical variations in the efficiency of enrichment. The central metallicity in clusters with flat surface brightness profiles is lower, with a smaller intrinsic scatter, but increases towards lower redshifts. Our results are consistent with other recent measurements of ICM metallicity as a function of redshift. They reinforce the picture implied by observations of uniform metal distributions in the outskirts of nearby clusters, in which most of the enrichment of the ICM takes place before cluster formation, with significant later enrichment taking place only in cluster centers, as the stellar populations of the central galaxies evolve.
We observed 6 He-clump stars of the intermediate-age stellar cluster Gaia1 with the MIKE/MAGELLAN spectrograph. A possible extra-galactic origin of this cluster, recently discovered thanks to the first data release of the ESA Gaia mission, has been suggested, based on its orbital parameters. Abundances for Fe, alpha, proton- and neutron-capture elements have been obtained. We find no evidence of intrinsic abundance spreads. The iron abundance is solar ([FeI/H]=+0.00 +-0.01; sigma = 0.03 dex). All the other abundance ratios are, by and large, solar-scaled, similar to the Galactic thin disk and open clusters stars of similar metallicity. The chemical composition of Gaia1 does not support an extra-galactic origin for this stellar cluster, that can be considered as a standard Galactic open cluster.
Suzaku measurements of a homogeneous metal distribution of $Z\sim0.3$ Solar in the outskirts of the nearby Perseus cluster suggest that chemical elements were deposited and mixed into the intergalactic medium before clusters formed, likely over 10 billion years ago. A key prediction of this early enrichment scenario is that the intracluster medium in all massive clusters should be uniformly enriched to a similar level. Here, we confirm this prediction by determining the iron abundances in the outskirts ($r>0.25r_{200}$) of a sample of ten other nearby galaxy clusters observed with Suzaku for which robust measurements based on the Fe-K lines can be made. Across our sample the iron abundances are consistent with a constant value, $Z_{\rm Fe}=0.316\pm0.012$ Solar ($\chi^2=28.85$ for 25 degrees of freedom). This is remarkably similar to the measurements for the Perseus cluster of $Z_{\rm Fe}=0.314\pm0.012$ Solar, using the Solar abundance scale of Asplund et al. (2009).
We investigate rotationally supported dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies as new targets for dark matter (DM) indirect search with gamma-ray telescopes. As a difference with pressure-supported objects, their dynamic provides to well constrain the DM distribution in the halo. We calculate the astrophysical factor for a sample of 36 dIrr galaxies. The range of values turns out to be competitive with the astrophysical factor of well known dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The existence of the star forming region in dIrrs constitutes an extra background, that is instead negligible in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. On the one hand, such unresolved gamma-ray emission may represent a component of the diffuse isotropic gamma-ray background. On the other, we show that it may be masked or neglected with the intent of DM search in the extended halo. The detection of an extended DM component would constitute a smoking gun for DM particle annihilation eventually. We individuate IC10 and WLM as the best candidates in our sample of galaxies. We get the first constraints for DM annihilation cross-section with the current and next generation of gamma-ray telescopes.
In this paper we gauge the potentiality of Gaia in the distance scale
calibration of planetary nebulae (PNe) by assessing the impact of DR1
parallaxes of central stars of Galactic PNe (CSPNe) against known physical
relations. For selected PNe targets with state-of-the-art data on angular sizes
and fluxes, we derive the distance-dependent parameters of the classical
distance scales, i.e., physical radii and ionized masses, from DR1 parallaxes;
we propagate the uncertainties in the estimated quantities and evaluate their
statistical properties in the presence of large relative parallax errors; we
populate the statistical distance scale diagrams with this sample and discuss
its significance in light of existing data and current calibrations.
We glean from DR1 parallaxes 8 CSPNe with S/N$>$1. We show that this set of
potential calibrators doubles the number of extant trigonometric parallaxes
(from HST and ground-based), and increases by two orders of magnitude the
domain of physical parameters probed previously. We then use the combined
sample of suitable trigonometric parallaxes to fit the
physical-radius-to-surface-brightness relation. This distance scale
calibration, although preliminary, appears solid on statistical grounds, and
suggestive of new PNe physics.
With the tenfold improvement in PNe number statistics and astrometric
accuracy expected from future Gaia releases the new distance scale, already
very intriguing, will be definitively constrained.
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We have selected a sample of 41 extremely isolated galaxies (EIGs) from the
local universe using both optical and HI ALFALFA redshifts (Spector & Brosch
2016). Narrow band H$_\alpha$ and wide band imaging along with public data were
used to derive star formation rates (SFRs), star formation histories (SFHs),
and morphological classifications for the EIGs. We have found that the extreme
isolation of the EIGs does not affect considerably their star-formation
compared to field galaxies. EIGs are typically `blue cloud' galaxies that fit
the `main sequence of star forming galaxies' and may show asymmetric star
formation and strong compact star-forming regions.
We discovered surprising environmental dependencies of the HI content,
M$_{HI}$, and of the morphological type of EIGs; The most isolated galaxies (of
subsample EIG-1) have lower M$_{HI}$ on average (with $2.5\,\sigma$ confidence)
and a higher tendency to be early-types (with 0.94 confidence) compared to the
less isolated galaxies of subsample EIG-2. To the best of our knowledge this is
the first study that finds an effect in which an isolated sample shows a higher
fraction of early-types compared to a less isolated sample.
Both early-type and late-type EIGs follow the same colour-to-M$_{*}$,
SFR-to-M$_{*}$ (`main sequence') and M$_{HI}$-to-$M_{*}$ relations. This
indicates that the mechanisms and factors governing star formation, colour and
the M$_{HI}$-to-M$_{*}$ relation are similar in early-type and late-type EIGs,
and that the morphological type of EIGs is not governed by their M$_{HI}$
content, colour or SFR.
We present an exhaustive census of Lyman alpha (Ly$\alpha$) emission in the general galaxy population at $3<z<4.6$. We use the Michigan/Magellan Fiber System (M2FS) spectrograph to study a stellar mass (M$_*$) selected sample of 625 galaxies homogeneously distributed in the range $7.6<\log{\mbox{M$_*$/M$_{\odot}$}}<10.6$. Our sample is selected from the 3D-HST/CANDELS survey, which provides the complementary data to estimate Ly$\alpha$ equivalent widths ($W_{Ly\alpha}$) and escape fractions ($f_{esc}$) for our galaxies. We find both quantities to anti-correlate with M$_*$, star-formation rate (SFR), UV luminosity, and UV slope ($\beta$). We then model the $W_{Ly\alpha}$ distribution as a function of M$_{UV}$ and $\beta$ using a Bayesian approach. Based on our model and matching the properties of typical Lyman break galaxy (LBG) selections, we conclude that the $W_{Ly\alpha}$ distribution in such samples is heavily dependent on the limiting M$_{UV}$ of the survey. Regarding narrowband surveys, we find their $W_{Ly\alpha}$ selections to bias samples toward low M$_*$, while their line-flux limitations preferentially leave out low-SFR galaxies. We can also use our model to predict the fraction of Ly$\alpha$-emitting LBGs at $4\leqslant z\leqslant 7$. We show that reported drops in the Ly$\alpha$ fraction at $z\geqslant6$, usually attributed to the rapidly increasing neutral gas fraction of the universe, can also be explained by survey M$_{UV}$ incompleteness. This result does not dismiss reionization occurring at $z\sim7$, but highlights that current data is not inconsistent with this process taking place at $z>7$.
We present semi-analytical models of galactic outflows in high redshift galaxies driven by both hot thermal gas and non-thermal cosmic rays. Thermal pressure alone can not sustain a large scale outflow in low mass galaxies (i.e $M\sim 10^8$M$_\odot$), in the presence of supernovae (SNe) feedback with large mass loading. We show that inclusion of cosmic ray pressure allows outflow solutions even in these galaxies. In massive galaxies for the same energy efficiency, cosmic ray winds can propagate to larger distances compared to pure thermally driven winds. On an average gas in the cosmic ray driven winds has a lower temperature and detecting it through absorption lines becomes easier. Using our constrained semi-analytical models of galaxy formation (that explains the observed UV luminosity functions of galaxies) we study the influence of cosmic ray driven winds on the properties of the inter galactic medium (IGM) at different redshifts. In particular, we study the volume filling factor, average metallicity, cosmic ray and magnetic field energy density for models invoking atomic cooled and molecular cooled halos. We show that the residual cosmic rays could have enough energy that can be transferred to the thermal gas in presence of magnetic fields to influence the thermal history of the intergalactic medium. The significant volume filling and resulting strength of IGM magnetic fields can also account for recent $\gamma$-ray observations of blazars.
We present a deep search for HI 21-cm emission from the gaseous halo of Messier 31 as part of Project AMIGA, a large program Hubble Space Telescope program to study the circumgalactic medium of Andromeda. Our observations with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telesope target directions to 48 background AGNs within impact parameters $25 \lesssim \rho \lesssim 330$ kpc ($0.1 \lesssim \rho / R_{\rm vir} \lesssim 1.1$). We do not detect any 21-cm emission toward these AGNs, more than half of which have been observed in the ultraviolet with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, to limits of $N({\rm HI}) \approx 4 \times10^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$ ($5\sigma$; per 2 kpc diameter beam). This column density corresponds to an optical depth of $\sim2.5$ at the Lyman limit; thus our observations overlap with absorption line studies of Lyman limit systems at higher redshift. We limit the covering factor of such optically-thick gas around Andromeda to $f_c < 0.051$ (at 90% confidence) for $\rho \leq R_{\rm vir}$. While individual clouds have previously been found in the region between M31 and M33, the covering factor of strongly optically-thick gas is quite small. Our limits to the covering factor are consistent with expectations from recent cosmological "zoom" simulations. Recent COS-Halos results for an ensemble of galaxies show significantly higher covering factors within $\rho \lesssim 0.5 R_{\rm vir}$ at the same $N({\rm H I})$.
Fragmentation of a spiral arm is thought to drive the formation of giant clumps in galaxies. Using linear perturbation analysis for self-gravitating spiral arms, we derive an instability parameter and define the conditions for clump formation. We extend our analysis to multi-component systems that consist of gas and stars in an external potential. We then perform numerical simulations of isolated disc galaxies with isothermal gas, and compare the results with the prediction of our analytic model. Our model describes accurately the evolution of the spiral arms in our simulations, even when spiral arms dynamically interact with one another. We show that most of the giant clumps formed in the simulated disc galaxies satisfy the instability condition. The clump masses predicted by our model are in agreement with the simulation results, but the growth time-scale of unstable perturbations is overestimated by a factor of a few. We also apply our instability analysis to derive scaling relations of clump properties. The expected scaling relation between the clump size, velocity dispersion, and circular velocity is slightly different from that given by the Toomre instability analysis, but neither is inconsistent with currently available observations. We argue that the spiral-arm instability is a viable formation mechanism of giant clumps in gas-rich disc galaxies.
We report on a detailed study of the stellar populations and ionized gas properties in the merger LIRG NGC 2623, analysing optical Integral Field Spectroscopy from the CALIFA survey and PMAS LArr, multiwavelength HST imaging, and OSIRIS narrow band H$\alpha$ and [NII]$\lambda$6584 imaging. The spectra were processed with the STARLIGHT full spectral fitting code, and the results compared with those for two early-stage merger LIRGs (IC 1623 W and NGC 6090), together with CALIFA Sbc/Sc galaxies. We find that NGC 2623 went through two periods of increased star formation (SF), a first and widespread episode, traced by intermediate-age stellar populations ISP (140 Myr-1.4 Gyr), and a second one, traced by young stellar populations YSP ($<$140 Myr), which is concentrated in the central regions ($<$1.4 kpc). Our results are in agreement with the epochs of the first peri-center passage ($\sim$200 Myr ago) and coalescence ($<$100 Myr ago) predicted by dynamical models, and with high resolution merger simulations in the literature, consistent with NGC 2623 representing an evolved version of the early-stage mergers. Most ionized gas is concentrated within $<$2.8 kpc, where LINER-like ionization and high velocity dispersion ($\sim$220 km/s) are found, consistent with the previously reported outflow. As revealed by the highest resolution OSIRIS and HST data, a collection of HII regions is also present in the plane of the galaxy, which explains the mixture of ionization mechanisms in this system. It is unlikely that the outflow in NGC 2623 will escape from the galaxy, given the low SFR intensity ($\sim$0.5 M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$kpc$^{-2}$), the fact that the outflow rate is 3 times lower than the current SFR, and the escape velocity in the central areas higher than the outflow velocity.
We use the number density distributions of K and M dwarf stars with vertical height from the Galactic disk, determined using observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), to probe the structure of the Milky Way disk across the survey's footprint. Using photometric parallax as a distance estimator we analyze a sample of several million disk stars in matching footprints above and below the Galactic plane, and we determine the location and extent of vertical asymmetries in the number counts in a variety of thin and thick disk subsamples in regions of some 200 square degrees within 2 kpc in vertical distance from the Galactic disk. These disk asymmetries present wave-like features as previously observed on other scales and distances from the Sun. We additionally explore the scale height of the disk and the implied offset of the Sun from the Galactic plane at different locations, noting that the scale height of the disk can differ significantly when measured using stars only above or only below the plane. Moreover, we compare the shape of the number density distribution in the north for different latitude ranges with a fixed range in longitude and find the shape to be sensitive to the selected latitude window. We explain why this may be indicative of a change in stellar populations in the compared latitude regions, possibly allowing access to the systematic metallicity difference between thin and thick disk populations through photometry.
A fly-by interaction has been suggested to be one of the major explanations for enhanced star formation in blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies, yet no direct evidence for this scenario has been found to date. In the HI Parkes all-sky survey (HIPASS), ESO 435-IG 020 and ESO 435- G 016, a BCD pair were found in a common, extended gas envelope of atomic hydrogen, providing an ideal case to test the hypothesis that the starburst in BCDs can be indeed triggered by a fly-by interaction. Using high-resolution data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), we investigated HI properties and the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the BCD pair to study their interaction and star formation histories. The high-resolution HI data of both BCDs reveal a number of peculiarities, which are suggestive of tidal perturbation. Meanwhile, 40% of the HIPASS flux is not accounted for in the ATCA observations with no HI gas bridge found between the two BCDs. Intriguingly, in the residual of the HIPASS and the ATCA data, 10% of the missing flux appears to be located between the two BCDs. While the SED-based age of the most dominant young stellar population is old enough to have originated from the interaction with any neighbors (including the other of the two BCDs), the most recent star formation activity traced by strong H$\alpha$ emission in ESO 435-IG 020 and the shear motion of gas in ESO 435- G 016, suggest a more recent or current tidal interaction. Based on these and the residual emission between the HIPASS and the ATCA data, we propose an interaction between the two BCDs as the origin of their recently enhanced star formation activity. The shear motion on the gas disk, potentially with re-accretion of the stripped gas, could be responsible for the active star formation in this BCD pair.
To examine the evolution of a dense star cluster population in a cosmological setting, stellar dynamical model globular clusters are introduced into reconstituted versions of the dark matter halos of the Via-Lactea II (VL-2) simulation. Two separate VL-2 times are used, an age of 0.7 Gyr, redshift 7.8, and the other at age 2.07 Gyr, redshift of 3.2. A Monte Carlo scheme implements the expected level of star-star relaxation from gravitational collisions within the star clusters. The two simulations have broadly similar cluster evolution, but the stripped stars have significantly different distributions, with the high redshift start leading to a substantial diffuse stellar distribution and relatively short tidal star streams in the resulting galaxies. A plausible extrapolation to a more realistic initial population yields a surface brightness in the ultra diffuse galaxy range for the high redshift start. In contrast, the low redshift start leads to a rich set of star streams and a very low density diffuse population. The progenitor population of globular clusters above $10^5$ M_sun, is reduced in mass by about a third in number and by another third relative to the population present in the first few Gyr of their lifetimes. The cluster channel for the production of binary black holes formed at early times, but merging only now, would be proportionally increased relative to the current population, closer to the LIGO massive black hole binary merger rate.
Observations strongly suggest that filaments in galactic molecular clouds are in a non-thermal state. As a simple model of a filament we study a two-dimensional system of self-gravitating point particles by means of numerical simulations of the dynamics, with various methods: direct $N$-body integration of the equations of motion, particle-in-cell simulations and a recently developed numerical scheme that includes multiparticle collisions in a particle-in-cell approach. Studying the collapse of Gaussian overdensities we find that after the damping of virial oscillations the system settles in a non-thermal steady state whose radial density profile is similar to the observed ones, thus suggesting a dynamical origin of the non-thermal states observed in real filaments. Moreover, for sufficiently cold collapses the density profiles are anticorrelated with the kinetic temperature, i.e., exhibit temperature inversion, again a feature that has been found in some observations of filaments. The same happens in the state reached after a strong perturbation of an initially isothermal cylinder. Finally, we discuss our results in the light of recent findings in other contexts (including non-astrophysical ones) and argue that the same kind of non-thermal states may be observed in any physical system with long-range interactions.
We present new SDSS and Washington photometry of the young, outer-halo stellar system, Segue 3. Combined with archival VI-observations, our most consistent results yield: $Z=0.006$, $\log(Age)=9.42$, $(m-M)_0=17.35$, $E(B-V)=0.09$, with a high binary fraction of $0.39\pm 0.05$, using the Padova models. We confirm that mass segregation has occurred, supporting the hypothesis that this cluster is being tidally disrupted. A 3-parameter King model yields a cluster radius of $r_{cl}=0.017^\circ$, a core radius of $r_{c}=0.003^\circ$, and a tidal radius of $r_t=0.04^\circ \pm 0.02^\circ$. A comparison of Padova and Dartmouth model-grids indicates that the cluster is not significantly $\alpha$-enhanced, with a mean [Fe/H]$=-0.55^{+0.15}_{-0.12}$ dex, and a population age of only $2.6\pm 0.4$ Gyr. We rule out a statistically-significant age spread at the main sequence turnoff because of a narrow subgiant branch, and discuss the role of stellar rotation and cluster age, using Dartmouth and Geneva models: approximately 70% of the Seg 3 stars at or below the main sequence turnoff have enhanced rotation. Our results for Segue 3 indicate that it is younger and more metal-rich than all previous studies have reported to-date. From colors involving Washington-C and SDSS-u filters, we identify several giants and a possible blue-straggler for future follow-up spectroscopic studies, and we produce spectral energy distributions of previously known members and potential Segue 3 sources with Washington ($CT_1$), Sloan (ugri), and VI-filters. Segue 3 shares the characteristics of unusual stellar systems which have likely been stripped from external dwarf galaxies as they are being accreted by the Milky Way, or that have been formed during such an event. Its youth, metallicity, and location are all inconsistent with Segue 3 being a cluster native to the Milky Way.
Aims. We report our finding of a high excitation emission line nebula associated with an Ultra Luminous X-ray source (ULX) at $z=$ 0.027, which we found in our Chandra observation of the AKARI North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Deep Field. Methods. We present a Chandra X-ray and Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) optical spectral analysis of the ULX blob. We investigate the nature of the emission line nebula by using line ratio diagnostic diagrams, and its physical properties estimated from Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) fitting. Results. The optical spectrum of this ULX blob shows emission line ratios that are located on the borderlines between star-formation and Seyfert regimes in [OIII]/H$\beta$-[OI]/H$\alpha$, [OIII]/H$\beta$-[SII]/H$\alpha$ and [OIII]/H$\beta$-[OIII]/[OII] diagnostic diagrams. These are in contrast with those of a nearby blob observed with the same slit, which occupy the HII regimes. This result suggests that the ionization of the emission line nebula associated with the ULX is significantly contributed by energy input from the accretion power of the ULX, in addition to the star formation activity in the blob, suggesting the existence of an accretion disk in the ULX emitting UV radiation, or exerting shock waves.
Stellar migration, whether due to trapping by transient spirals (churning), or to scattering by non-axisymmetric perturbations, has been proposed to explain the presence of stars in outer disks. After a review of the basic theory, we present compelling, but not yet conclusive, evidence that churning has been important in the outer disks of galaxies with type II (down-bending) profiles, while scattering has produced the outer disks of type III (up-bending) galaxies. In contrast, field galaxies with type I (pure exponential) profiles appear to not have experienced substantial migration. We conclude by suggesting work that would improve our understanding of the origin of outer disks.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in astrophysical environments, as revealed by their pronounced emission features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.3, and 12.7 $\mu$m commonly ascribed to the C--H and C--C vibrational modes. Although these features have long been predicted to be polarized, previous searches for PAH polarization led to null or, at best, tentative detections. Here we report the definite detection of polarized PAH emission at 11.3 $\mu$m in the nebula associated with the Herbig Be star MWC 1080. We measure a polarization degree of 1.9$\pm$0.2\%, which is unexpectedly high compared to models. This poses a challenge in the current understanding of the alignment of PAHs, which is required to polarize the PAH emission but thought to be substantially suppressed. PAH alignment with a magnetic field via a resonance paramagnetic relaxation process may account for such a high level of polarization.
We present deep 3500$-$10000 $\AA$ spectra of H II regions and planetary nebulae (PNe) in the starburst irregular galaxy NGC 4449, acquired with the Multi Object Double Spectrograph at the Large Binocular Telescope. Using the "direct" method, we derived the abundance of He, N, O, Ne, Ar, and S in six H II regions and in four PNe in NGC 4449. This is the first case of PNe studied in a starburst irregular outside the Local Group. Our H II region and PN sample extends over a galacto-centric distance range of $\approx$2 kpc and spans $\approx$0.2 dex in oxygen abundance, with average values of $12+\log(O/H)=8.37 \pm 0.05$ and $8.3 \pm 0.1$ for H II regions and PNe, respectively. PNe and H II regions exhibit similar oxygen abundances in the galacto-centric distance range of overlap, while PNe appear more than $\sim$1 dex enhanced in nitrogen with respect to H II regions. The latter result is the natural consequence of N being mostly synthesized in intermediate-mass stars and brought to the stellar surface during dredge-up episodes. On the other hand, the similarity in O abundance between H II regions and PNe suggests that NGC 4449' s interstellar medium has been poorly enriched in $\alpha$ elements since the progenitors of the PNe were formed. Finally, our data reveal the presence of a negative oxygen gradient for both H II regions and PNe, whilst nitrogen does not exhibit any significant radial trend. We ascribe the (unexpected) nitrogen behaviour as due to local N enrichment by the conspicuous Wolf-Rayet population in NGC 4449.
We investigate the origin, the shape, the scatter, and the cosmic evolution in the observed relationship between specific angular momentum $j_\star$ and the stellar mass $M_\star$ in early-type (ETGs) and late-type galaxies (LTGs). Specifically, we exploit the observed star-formation efficiency and chemical abundance to infer the fraction $f_{\rm inf}$ of baryons that infall toward the central regions of galaxies where star formation can occur. We find $f_{\rm inf}\approx 1$ for LTGs and $\approx 0.4$ for ETGs with an uncertainty of about $0.25$ dex, consistent with a biased collapse. By comparing with the locally observed $j_\star$ vs. $M_\star$ relations for LTGs and ETGs we estimate the fraction $f_j$ of the initial specific angular momentum associated to the infalling gas that is retained in the stellar component: for LTGs we find $f_j\approx 1.11^{+0.75}_{-0.44}$, in line with the classic disc formation picture; for ETGs we infer $f_j\approx 0.64^{+0.20}_{-0.16}$, that can be traced back to a $z<1$ evolution via dry mergers. We also show that the observed scatter in the $j_{\star}$ vs. $M_{\star}$ relation for both galaxy types is mainly contributed by the intrinsic dispersion in the spin parameters of the host dark matter halo. The biased collapse plus mergers scenario implies that the specific angular momentum in the stellar components of ETG progenitors at $z\sim 2$ is already close to the local values, in pleasing agreement with observations. All in all, we argue such a behavior to be imprinted by nature and not nurtured substantially by the environment.
`Galaxy groups' have hardly been realised as a separate class of objects with specific characteristics in the structural hierarchy. The presumption that the self-similarity of dark matter structures is a valid prescription for the baryonic universe at all scales has rendered smaller structures undetectable by current observational facilities, leading to lesser dedicated studies on them. Some recent reports that indicate a deviation from $\rm{L_x}$-T scaling in groups compared to clusters have motivated us to study their physical properties in depth. In this article, we report the extensive study on physical properties of groups in comparison to the clusters through cosmological hydrodynamic plus N-body simulations using ENZO 2.2 code. As additional physics, radiative cooling, heating due to supernova and star motions, star formation and stellar feedback has been implemented. We have produced a mock sample of 362 objects with mass ranging from $5\times10^{12}\; \rm{M_{\odot}}$ to 2.5$\times 10^{15}\; \rm{M_{\odot}}$. Strikingly, we have found that objects with mass below $\sim$ $8\times 10^{13}\;\rm{M_{\odot}}$ do not follow any of the cluster self-similar laws in hydrostatics, not even in thermal and non-thermal energies. Two distinct scaling laws are observed to be followed with breaks at $\sim$ $8\times 10^{13}\;\rm{M_{\odot}}$ for mass, $\sim$1 keV for temperature and $\sim$1 Mpc for radius. This places groups as a distinct entity in the hierarchical structures, well demarcated from clusters. This study reveals that groups are mostly far away from virialization, suggesting the need for formulating new models for deciphering their physical parameters. They are also shown to have high turbulence and more non-thermal energy stored, indicating better visibility in the non-thermal regime.
The origin of narrow line region (NLR) outflows remains unknown. In this paper, we explore the scenario in which these outflows are circumnuclear clouds driven by energetic accretion disk winds. We choose the well-studied nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 as an example. By performing 3D hydrodynamical simulations, we are able to reproduce the radial distributions of velocity, mass outflow rate and kinetic luminosity of NLR outflows in the inner 100 pc deduced from spatial resolved spectroscopic observations. The demanded kinetic luminosity of disk winds is about two orders of magnitude higher than that inferred from the NLR outflows, but is close to the ultrafast outflows (UFO) detected in X-ray spectrum and a few times lower than the bolometric luminosity of the Seyfert. Our simulations imply that the scenario is viable for NGC 4151. The existence of the underlying disk winds can be confirmed by their impacts on higher density ISM, e.g., shock excitation signs, and the pressure in NLR.
We present results from a coordinated $XMM$-$Newton$+$NuSTAR$ observation of the type 1.8 Seyfert galaxy IRAS 13197-1627. This is a highly complex source, with strong contributions from relativistic reflection from the inner accretion disk, neutral absorption and further reprocessing by more distant material, and ionised absorption from an outflow. We undertake a detailed spectral analysis combining the broadband coverage provided by $XMM$-$Newton$+$NuSTAR$ with a multi-epoch approach incorporating archival observations performed by $XMM$-$Newton$ and $Suzaku$. Our focus is on characterising the reflection from the inner accretion disk, which previous works have suggested may dominate the AGN emission, and constraining the black hole spin. Using lamppost disk reflection models, we find that the results for the inner disk are largely insensitive to assumptions regarding the geometry of the distant reprocessor and the precise form of the illuminating X-ray continuum. However, these results do depend on the treatment of the iron abundance of the distant absorber/reprocessor. The multi-epoch data favour a scenario in which the AGN is chemically homogeneous, and we find that a rapidly rotating black hole is preferred, with $a^* \geq 0.7$, but a slowly-rotating black hole is not strongly excluded. In addition to the results for the inner disk, we also find that both the neutral and ionised absorbers vary from epoch to epoch, implying that both have some degree of inhomogeneity in their structure.
It is now about 30 years ago that photometric and spectroscopic surveys of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) uncovered the first examples of truly massive (> 3-4 M_s) O-rich AGB stars experiencing hot bottom burning (HBB). Massive (Li-rich) HBB AGB stars were later identified in our own Galaxy and they pertain to the Galactic population of obscured OH/IR stars. High-resolution optical spectroscopic surveys have revealed the massive Galactic AGB stars to be strongly enriched in Rb compared to other nearby s-process elements like Zr, confirming that Ne22 is the dominant neutron source in these stars. Similar surveys of OH/IR stars in the MCs disclosed their Rb-rich low-metallicity counterparts, showing that these stars are usually brighter (because of HBB flux excess) than the standard adopted luminosity limit for AGB stars (Mbol~-7.1) and that they might have stellar masses of at least ~6-7 M_s. The chemical composition and photometric variability are efficient separating the massive AGB stars from massive red supergiants (RSG) but the main difficulty is to distinguish between massive AGB and super-AGB stars because the present theoretical nucleosynthesis models predict both stars to be chemically identical. Here I review the available multiwavelength (from the optical to the far-IR) observations on massive AGB and super-AGB stars as well as the current caveats and limitations in our undestanding of these stars. Finally, I underline the expected observations on massive AGB and super-AGB stars from on-going massive surveys like Gaia and SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 and future facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope.
Measurements of the Hubble constant H(z) are increasingly being used to test the expansion rate predicted by various cosmological models. But the recent application of 2-point diagnostics, such as Om(z_i,z_j) and Omh^2(z_i,z_j), has produced considerable tension between LCDM's predictions and several observations, with other models faring even worse. Part of this problem is attributable to the continued mixing of truly model-independent measurements using the cosmic-chronomter approach, and model-dependent data extracted from BAOs. In this paper, we advance the use of 2-point diagnostics beyond their current status, and introduce new variations, which we call Delta h(z_i,z_j), that are more useful for model comparisons. But we restrict our analysis exclusively to cosmic-chronometer data, which are truly model independent. Even for these measurements, however, we confirm the conclusions drawn by earlier workers that the data have strongly non-Gaussian uncertainties, requiring the use of both "median" and "mean" statistical approaches. Our results reveal that previous analyses using 2-point diagnostics greatly underestimated the errors, thereby misinterpreting the level of tension between theoretical predictions and H(z) data. Instead, we demonstrate that as of today, only Einstein-de Sitter is ruled out by the 2-point diagnostics at a level of significance exceeding ~ 3 sigma. The R_h=ct universe is slightly favoured over the remaining models, including LCDM and Chevalier-Polarski-Linder, though all of them (other than Einstein-de Sitter) are consistent to within 1 sigma with the measured mean of the Delta h(z_i,z_j) diagnostics.
Effective temperatures and luminosities are calculated for 1,475,921 Tycho-2 and 107,145 Hipparcos stars, based on distances from Gaia Data Release 1. Parameters are derived by comparing multi-wavelength archival photometry to BT-Settl model atmospheres. The 1-sigma uncertainties for the Tycho-2 and Hipparcos stars are +/-137 K and +/-125 K in temperature and +/-35 per cent and +/-19 per cent in luminosity. The luminosity uncertainty is dominated by that of the Gaia parallax. Evidence for infrared excess between 4.6 and 25 microns is found for 4256 stars, of which 1883 are strong candidates. These include asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, Cepheids, Herbig Ae/Be stars, young stellar objects, and other sources. We briefly demonstrate the capabilities of this dataset by exploring local interstellar extinction, the onset of dust production in AGB stars, the age and metallicity gradients of the solar neighbourhood and structure within the Gould Belt. We close by discussing the potential impact of future Gaia data releases.
AMI observations towards CIZA J2242+5301, in comparison with observations of weak gravitational lensing and X-ray emission from the literature, are used to investigate the behaviour of non-baryonic dark matter (NBDM) and gas during the merger. Analysis of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signal indicates the presence of high pressure gas elongated perpendicularly to the X-ray and weak-lensing morphologies which, given the merger-axis constraints in the literature, implies that high pressure gas is pushed out into a linear structure during core passing. Simulations in the literature closely matching the inferred merger scenario show the formation of gas density and temperature structures perpendicular to the merger axis. These SZ observations are challenging for modified gravity theories in which NBDM is not the dominant contributor to galaxy-cluster gravity.
We present a photometric and spectroscopic study of multiple populations
along the asymptotic-giant branch (AGB) of the intermediate-metallicity
globular clusters (GCs) NGC2808 and NGC6121 (M4). Chemical abundances of O, Na,
Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Y, and Ce in AGB stars from
high-resolution FLAMES+UVES@VLT spectra are reported for both clusters. Our
spectroscopic results have been combined with multi-wavelength photometry from
the HST UV survey of Galactic GCs and ground-based photometry, plus proper
motions derived by combining stellar positions from ground-based images and
Gaia DR1. Our analysis reveals that the AGBs of both clusters host multiple
populations with different chemical composition.
In M4 we have identified two main populations of stars with different Na/O
content, lying on distinct AGBs in the mF438W vs. C_F275W,F336W,F438W and the V
vs.C_U,B,I pseudo-CMDs. In the more massive and complex GC NGC2808 three groups
of stars with different chemical abundances occupy different locations on the
so-called "chromosome map" photometric diagram. The spectroscopic+photometric
comparison of stellar populations along the AGB and the red giants of this GC
suggests that the AGB hosts stellar populations with a range in helium
abundances spanning from primordial up to high contents of Y~0.32. On the other
hand, from our dataset, there is no evidence for stars with extreme helium
abundance (Y~0.38) on the AGB, suggesting that the most He-rich stars of
NGC2808 do not reach this phase.
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Non-thermal photons deriving from radiative transitions among the internal ladder of atoms and molecules are an important source of photons in addition to thermal and stellar sources in many astrophysical environments. In the present work the calculation of reaction rates for the direct photodissociation of some molecules relevant in early Universe chemistry is presented; in particular, the calculations include non-thermal photons deriving from the recombination of primordial hydrogen and helium atoms for the cases of H2, HD and HeH+. New effects on the fractional abundances of chemical species are investigated and the fits for the HeH+ photodissociation rates by thermal photons are provided.
The first and second moments of stellar velocities encode important information about the formation history of the Galactic halo. However, due to the lack of tangential motion and inaccurate distances of the halo stars, the velocity moments in the Galactic halo have largely remained "known unknowns". Fortunately, our off-centric position within the Galaxy allows us to estimate these moments in the galacto-centric frame using the observed radial velocities of the stars alone. We use these velocities coupled with the Hierarchical Bayesian scheme, which allows easy marginalisation over the missing data (the proper-motion, and uncertainty-free distance and line-of-sight velocity), to measure the velocity dispersions, orbital anisotropy ($\beta$) and streaming motion ($v_{\rm rot}$) of the halo main-sequence turn-off (MSTO) and K-giant (KG) stars in the inner stellar halo (r $\lesssim 15$ kpc). We study the metallicity bias in kinematics of the halo stars and observe that the comparatively metal-rich ([Fe/H]$>-1.4$) and the metal-poor ([Fe/H]$\leq - 1.4$) MSTO samples show a clear systematic difference in $v_{\rm rot} \sim 20-40$ km s$^{-1}$, depending on how restrictive the spatial cuts to cull the disk contamination are. The bias is also detected in KG samples but with less certainty. Both MSTO and KG populations suggest that the inner stellar halo of the Galaxy is radially biased i.e. $\sigma_r>\sigma_\theta$ or $\sigma_\phi$ and $\beta \simeq 0.5$. The apparent metallicity contrariety in the rotation velocity among the halo sub-populations supports the co-existence of multiple populations in the galactic halo that may have formed through distinct formation scenarios, i.e. in-situ versus accretion.
We present results of a joint \textit{Chandra}/\textit{XMM-Newton} analysis of the early-type galaxies NGC 4649 and NGC 5846 aimed at investigating differences between mass profiles derived from X-ray data and those from optical data, to probe the state of the hot ISM in these galaxies. If the hot ISM is at a given radius in hydrostatic equilibrium (HE) the X-ray data can be used to measure the total enclosed mass of the galaxy. Differences from optically-derived mass distributions therefore yield information about departures from HE in the hot halos. The X-ray mass profiles in different angular sectors of NGC 4649 are generally smooth with no significant azimuthal asymmetries within \(12\) kpc. Extrapolation of these profiles beyond this scale yields results consistent with the optical estimate. However, in the central region (\(r < 3\) kpc) the X-ray data underpredict the enclosed mass, when compared with the optical mass profiles. Consistent with previous results we estimate a non-thermal pressure component accounting for \(30\%\) of the gas pressure, likely linked to nuclear activity. In NGC 5846 the X-ray mass profiles show significant azimuthal asymmetries, especially in the NE direction. Comparison with optical mass profiles in this direction suggests significant departures from HE, consistent with bulk gas compression and decompression due to sloshing on \(\sim 15\) kpc scales; this effect disappears in the NW direction where the emission is smooth and extended. In this sector we find consistent X-ray and optical mass profiles, suggesting that the hot halo is not responding to strong non-gravitational forces.
We apply a halo-based group finder to four large redshift surveys, the 2MRS, 6dFGS, SDSS and 2dFGRS, to construct group catalogs in the low-redshift Universe. The group finder is based on that of Yang et al. but with an improved halo mass assignment so that it can be applied uniformly to various redshift surveys of galaxies. Halo masses are assigned to groups according to proxies based on the stellar mass/luminosity of member galaxies. The performances of the group finder in grouping galaxies according to common halos and in halo mass assignments are tested using realistic mock samples constructed from hydrodynamical simulations and empirical models of galaxy occupation in dark matter halos. Our group finder finds $\sim 94\%$ of the correct true member galaxies for $90-95\%$ of the groups in the mock samples; the halo masses assigned by the group finder are un-biased with respect to the true halo masses, and have a typical uncertainty of $\sim0.2\,{\rm dex}$. The properties of group catalogs constructed from the observational samples are described and compared with other similar catalogs in the literature.
We use integral field spectroscopic (IFS) observations from the Gemini North Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS-N) to study the central H \textsc{ii} region in a nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy NGC 4449. The IFS data enable us to explore the variation of physical and chemical conditions of the star-forming region and the surrounding gas on spatial scales as small as 5.5 pc. Our kinematical analysis shows possible signatures of shock ionisation and shell structures in the surroundings of the star-forming region. The metallicity maps of the region, created using direct T$_e$ and indirect strong line methods (R$_{23}$, O3N2 and N2), do not show any chemical variation. From the integrated spectrum of the central H \textsc{ii} region, we find a metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.88 $\pm$ 0.14 ($\sim$ 0.15$^{+0.06}_{-0.04}$ Z$_{\odot}$) using the direct method. Comparing the central H \textsc{ii} region metallicity derived here with those of H \textsc{ii} regions throughout this galaxy from previous studies, we find evidence of increasing metallicity with distance from the central nucleus. Such chemical inhomogeneities can be due to several mechanisms, including gas-loss via supernova blowout, galactic winds, or metal-poor gas accretion. However, we find that the localised area of decreased metallicity aligns spatially with the peak of star-forming activity in the galaxy, suggesting that gas-accretion may be at play here. Spatially-resolved IFS data for the entire galaxy is required to confirm the metallicity inhomogeneity found in this study, and determine its possible cause.
We use the deep CANDELS observations in the GOODS North and South fields to revisit the correlations between stellar mass ($M_*$), star--formation rate (SFR) and morphology, and to introduce a fourth dimension, the mass-weighted stellar age, in galaxies at $1.2<z<4$. We do this by making new measures of $M_*$, $SFR$, and stellar age thanks to an improved SED fitting procedure that allows various star formation history for each galaxy. Like others, we find that the slope of the Main Sequence (MS) of star formation in the $(M_*;SFR)$ plane bends at high mass. We observe clear morphological differences among galaxies across the MS, which also correlate with stellar age. At all redshifts, galaxies that are quenching or quenched, and thus old, have high $\Sigma_1$ (the projected density within the central 1 kpc), while younger, star--forming galaxies span a much broader range of $\Sigma_1$, which includes the high values observed for quenched galaxies, but also extends to much lower values. As galaxies age and quench, the stellar age and the dispersion of $\Sigma_1$ for fixed values of $M_{*}$ shows two different regimes, one, at the low--mass end, where quenching is driven by causes external to the galaxies (environmental quenching); the other, at the high--mass end, where quenching is driven by internal causes, very likely the mass given the low scatter of $\Sigma_1$ (mass quenching). We suggest that the monotonic increase of central density as galaxies grow is one manifestation of a more general phenomenon of structural transformation that galaxies undergo as they evolve.
Many cosmological studies predict that early supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can only form in the most massive dark matter halos embedded within large scale structures marked by galaxy over-densities that may extend up to 10 physical Mpc. This scenario, however, has not been confirmed observationally, as the search for galaxy over-densities around high-z quasars has returned conflicting results. The field around the z=6.28 quasar SDSSJ1030+0524 (J1030) is unique for multi-band coverage and represents an excellent data legacy for studying the environment around a primordial SMBH. In this paper we present wide-area (25x25 arcmin), Y- and J-band imaging of the J1030 field obtained with the near infrared camera WIRCam at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). We built source catalogues in the Y- and J-band, and matched those with our photometric catalogue in the r, z, i bands presented in Morselli et al. (2014). We used these new infrared data together with H and K and Spitzer/IRAC data to refine our selection of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs), extending our selection criteria to galaxies in the range 25.2<zAB<25.7. We selected 21 robust high-z candidates in the J1030 field with photometric redshift around 6 and colors i-z>=1.3. We found a significant asymmetry in the distribution of the high-z galaxies in J1030, supporting the existence of a coherent large-scale structure around the quasar. We compared our results with those of Bowler et al. (2015), who adopted similar LBGs selection criteria, and estimated an over-density of galaxies in the field of delta = 2.4, which is significant at >4 sigma. The over-density value and its significance are higher than those found in Morselli et al. (2014), and we interpret this as evidence of an improved LBG selection.
Several studies support the existence of a link between the AGN and star formation activity. Radio jets have been argued to be an ideal mechanism for direct interaction between the AGN and the host galaxy. A drawback of previous surveys of AGN is that they are fundamentally limited by the degeneracy between redshift and luminosity in flux-density limited samples. To overcome this limitation, we present far-infrared Herschel observations of 74 radio-loud quasars (RLQs), 72 radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) and 27 radio galaxies (RGs), selected at 0.9<z<1.1 which span over two decades in optical luminosity. By decoupling luminosity from evolutionary effects, we investigate how the star formation rate (SFR) depends on AGN luminosity, radio-loudness and orientation. We find that: 1) the SFR shows a weak correlation with the bolometric luminosity for all AGN sub-samples, 2) the RLQs show a SFR excess of about a factor of 1.4 compared to the RQQs, matched in terms of black hole mass and bolometric luminosity, suggesting that either positive radio-jet feedback or radio AGN triggering are linked to star-formation triggering and 3) RGs have lower SFRs by a factor of 2.5 than the RLQ sub-sample with the same BH mass and bolometric luminosity. We suggest that there is some jet power threshold at which radio-jet feedback switches from enhancing star formation (by compressing gas) to suppressing it (by ejecting gas). This threshold depends on both galaxy mass and jet power.
We carried out line survey observations at the 26-30 GHz band toward the four high-mass star-forming regions containing hot cores, G10.30-0.15, G12.89+0.49, G16.86-2.16, and G28.28-0.36, with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. We have detected HC5N from all of the sources, and HC7N from the three sources, except for G10.30-0.15. We further conducted observations of HC5N at the 42-46 GHz and 82-103 GHz bands toward the three sources, G12.89+0.49, G16.86-2.16, and G28.28-0.36, with the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. The rotational lines of HC5N with the high excitation energies (Eu/k=63-100 K), which are hardly excited in the cold dark clouds, have been detected from the three sources. The rotational temperatures of HC5N are found to be 13-20 K in the three sources. The detection of the lines with the high excitation energies and the derived rotational temperatures indicate that HC5N exists in the warm gas within 0.07-0.1 pc radii around massive young stellar objects. The column densities of HC5N in the three sources are derived to be (2.0+-2.8)*10^(13) cm-2 . We compare the ratios between N(HC5N) the column density of HC5N and W(CH3OH) the integrated intensity of the thermal CH3OH emission line among the three high-mass star-forming regions. We found a possibility of the chemical differentiation in the three high-mass star-forming regions; G28.28-0.36 shows the largest N (HC5N)/W (CH3OH) ratio of > 8.0*10^(14) in units of (K km s-1 )-1 cm-2 , while G12.89+0.49 and G16.86-2.16 show the smaller values (~2*10^(13) ).
Using trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions of masers associated with massive young stars, the Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy (BeSSeL) survey has reported the most accurate values of the Galactic parameters so far. The determination of these parameters with high accuracy has a widespread impact on Galactic and extragalactic measurements. This research is aimed at establishing the confidence with which such parameters can be determined. This is relevant for the data published in the context of the BeSSeL survey collaboration, but also for future observations, in particular from the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, some astrophysical properties of the masers can be constrained, notably the luminosity function. We have simulated the population of maser-bearing young stars associated with Galactic spiral structure, generating several samples and comparing them with the observed samples used in the BeSSeL survey. Consequently, we checked the determination of Galactic parameters for observational biases introduced by the sample selection. Galactic parameters obtained by the BeSSeL survey do not seem to be biased by the sample selection used. In fact, the published error estimates appear to be conservative for most of the parameters. We show that future BeSSeL data and future observations with Southern arrays will improve the Galactic parameters estimates and smoothly reduce their mutual correlation. Moreover, by modeling future parallax data with larger distance and, thus, greater relative uncertainties for a larger numbers of sources, we found that parallax-distance biasing is an important issue. Hence, using fractional parallax uncertainty in the weighting of the motion data is imperative. Finally, the luminosity function for 6.7 GHz methanol masers was determined, allowing us to estimate the number of Galactic methanol masers.
We present the detection of a large population of ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in two massive galaxy clusters, Abell S1063 at $z=0.348$ and Abell 2744 at $z=0.308$, based on F814W and F105W images in the Hubble Frontier Fields Program. We find 47 and 40 UDGs in Abell S1063 and Abell 2744, respectively. Color-magnitude diagrams of the UDGs show that they are mostly located at the faint end of the red sequence. From the comparison with simple stellar population models, we estimate their stellar mass to range from $10^8$ to $10^9 M_\odot$. Radial number density profiles of the UDGs show a turnover or a flattening in the central region at $r<100$ kpc. We estimate the total masses of the UDGs using the galaxy scaling relations. A majority of the UDGs have total masses, $M_{200} = 10^{10}$ to $10^{11}~M_\odot$, and only a few of them have total masses, $M_{200} = 10^{11}$ to $10^{12}~M_\odot$. The total number of UDGs within the virial radius is estimated to be N(UDG)$=770\pm114$ for Abell S1063, and N(UDG)$=814\pm122$ for Abell 2744. Combining these results with data in the literature, we fit the relation between the total numbers of UDGs and the masses of their host systems for $M_{200}>10^{13} M_\odot$ with a power law, N(UDG) $= M_{200}^{1.05\pm0.09}$. These results suggest that a majority of the UDGs have a dwarf galaxy origin, while only a small number of the UDGs are massive $L_*$ galaxies that failed to form a normal population of stars.
We study the chemical evolution of the thick and thin discs of the Galaxy by comparing detailed chemical evolution models with recent data from the AMBRE Project. The data suggest that the stars in the thick and thin discs form two distinct sequences with the thick disc stars showing higher [{\alpha}/Fe] ratios. We adopt two different approaches to model the evolution of thick and thin discs. In particular, we adopt: i) a two-infall approach where the thick disc forms fast and before the thin disc and by means of a fast gas accretion episode, whereas the thin disc forms by means of a second accretion episode on a longer timescale; ii) a parallel approach, where the two discs form in parallel but at different rates. By comparing our model results with the observed [Mg/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] and the metallicity distribution functions in the two Galactic components, we conclude that the parallel approach can account for a group of {\alpha}-enhanced metal rich stars present in the data, whereas the two-infall approach cannot explain these stars unless they are the result of stellar migration. In both approaches, the thick disc has formed on a timescale of accretion of 0.1 Gyr, whereas the thin disc formed on a timescale of 7 Gyr in the solar region. In the two-infall approach a gap in star formation between the thick and thin disc formation of several hundreds of Myr should be present, at variance with the parallel approach where no gap is present.
Dark gaps are commonly seen in early-to-intermediate type barred galaxies having inner and outer rings or related features. In this paper, the morphologies of 54 barred and oval ringed galaxies have been examined with the goal of determining what the dark gaps are telling us about the structure and evolution of barred galaxies. The analysis is based mainly on galaxies selected from the Galaxy Zoo 2 database and the Catalogue of Southern Ringed Galaxies. The dark gaps between inner and outer rings are of interest because of their likely association with the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points that would be present in the gravitational potential of a bar or oval. Since the points are theoretically expected to lie very close to the corotation resonance (CR) of the bar pattern, the gaps provide the possibility of locating corotation in some galaxies simply by measuring the radius rgp of the gap region and setting rCR=rgp. With the additional assumption of generally flat rotation curves, the locations of other resonances can be predicted and compared with observed morphological features. It is shown that this "gap method" provides remarkably consistent interpretations of the morphology of early-to-intermediate type barred galaxies. The paper also brings attention to cases where the dark gaps lie inside an inner ring, rather than between inner and outer rings. These may have a different origin compared to the inner/outer ring gaps.
The Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS) is a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/IR (Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared) slitless spectroscopic survey of four deep fields. Two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) area and two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South (GOODS-S) area. One of the southern fields selected is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Each of these four fields were observed using the WFC3/G102 grism (0.8micron-1.15micron continuous coverage) with a total exposure time of 40 orbits (~ 100 kilo-seconds) per field. This reaches a 3 sigma continuum depth of ~26 AB magnitudes and probes emission lines to ~ 10e-17 erg s^-1 \ cm^-2. This paper details the four FIGS fields and the overall observational strategy of the project. A detailed description of the Simulation Based Extraction (SBE) method used to extract and combine over 10000 spectra of over 2000 distinct sources brighter than m_F105W=26.5 mag is provided. High fidelity simulations of the observations is shown to {\it significantly} improve the background subtraction process, the spectral contamination estimates, and the final flux calibration. This allows for the combination of multiple spectra to produce a final high quality, deep, 1D-spectra for each object in the survey.
We investigate the nuclear environment of galaxies with observed 22 GHz water megamaser in their subparsec edge-on accretion disks, using 33 GHz (9mm) radio continuum data from VLA, with a resolution of ~ 0.2-0.5 arcsecs, and relate the maser and host galaxy properties to those of its radio continuum emission. Eighty-seven percent (21 out of 24) galaxies in our sample show 33 GHz radio continuum emission at levels of 4.5-240 $\sigma$. Five sources show extended emission, including one source with two main components and one with three main components. The remaining detected 16 sources exhibit compact cores within the sensitivity limits. Little evidence is found for extended jets (>300 pc) in most sources. Either they do not exist, or our chosen frequency of 33 GHz is too high for a detection of these supposedly steep spectrum features. In only one source among those with known maser disk orientation, NGC4388, we found an extended jet-like feature that appears to be oriented perpendicular to the water megamaser disk. Smaller 100-300 pc sized jets might also be present, as is suggested by the beam-deconvolved morphology of our sources. Whenever possible, central positions with accuracies of 20-280 mas are provided. A correlation analysis shows that the 33 GHz luminosity weakly correlates with the infrared luminosity. The 33 GHz luminosity is anticorrelated with the circular velocity of the galaxy. The black hole masses show stronger correlations with water maser luminosity than with 1.4 GHz, 33 GHz, or hard X-ray luminosities. Furthermore, the inner radii of the disks show stronger correlations with 1.4 GHz, 33 GHz, and hard X-ray luminosities than their outer radii, suggesting that the outer radii may be affected by disk warping, star formation, or peculiar density distributions.
The two-component broad-band spectral energy distributions of blazars were suggested to form a sequence in which (1) the peak frequency of the low-energy (synchrotron) component nu_syn is anticorrelated with the synchrotron luminosity L_syn, and (2) the luminosity ratio of the high-energy (inverse Compton) to synchrotron components q = L_IC / L_syn (Compton dominance) increases with L_syn from the BL Lac objects (BL Lacs) to the flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). The Compton dominance parameter is an important probe of plasma magnetisation in the blazar zones within relativistic jets. We investigate a sample of blazars detected by WISE in the mid-infrared (MIR) band and by Fermi/LAT in the GeV gamma-ray band, with the focus on the distribution of luminosities and photon indices. Our findings are the following: (1) the MIR photon index Gamma_W12 is a useful probe of the blazar sequence, with the exception of low-luminosity BL Lacs that are most likely contaminated by their host galaxies (L_W1 ~ 10^44 erg/s and Gamma_W12 < 1); (2) Gamma_W12 is correlated with the gamma-ray photon index Gamma_1-100GeV, with the MIR luminosity L_W1, and with the Fermi/WISE Compton dominance q_FW = L_1GeV/L_W1; (3) a clean separation between FSRQs and BL Lacs can be seen in the parameter space of Gamma_W12 and q_FW; (4) the observed distribution of MIR luminosity L_W1 vs. Compton dominance q_FW for the entire sample of blazars can be modeled as a sequence of lepto-magnetic jet powers in the range (log_10 P_eB) in [42:45] with the preference for sub-equipartition magnetic fields P_B/P_e in [0.05:1], assuming fixed bulk Lorentz factor Gamma_j = 15, fixed jet opening angle Gamma_j Theta_j = 0.3, fixed radiative efficiency of jet electrons epsilon_em = 50%, and that external radiation luminosity scales like L_ext propto (P_eB)^(1.6) (parameter degeneracies are discussed).
Turbulence generated by large-scale motions during structure formation
affects the evolution of the thermal and non-thermal components of the
intracluster medium.
As enstrophy is a measure of the magnitude of vorticity, we study the
generation and evolution of turbulence by analysing the Lagrangian history of
enstrophy. For this purpose we combine cosmological simulations carried out
with the ENZO-code with our Lagrangian post-processing tool CRaTer. This way we
are able to quantify the individual source terms of enstrophy in the course of
the accretion of groups onto galaxy clusters. Here we focus on the redshift
range from $z=1$ to $z=0$. Finally, we measure the rate of dissipation of
turbulence and estimate the resulting amplification of intracluster magnetic
fields.
We find that compressive and baroclinic motions are the main sources of
enstrophy, while stretching motions and dissipation affect most of the ensuing
enstrophy evolution. The rate of turbulent dissipation is able to sustain the
amplification of intracluster magnetic fields to observed levels.
The X-ray emitting corona irradiates and ionises the surface of the inner accretion disc in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). The ionisation parameter of the inner disc at a radius $r$ from the black hole, $\xi(r)$, can be used to infer information about the location of the corona. Here, a new formula is derived that predicts $\xi(r,h)$ for a disc irradiated by a X-ray source at a height $h$ above the black hole symmetry axis (i.e., a lamppost geometry). The equation is independent of the black hole mass and the X-ray spectrum, and accounts for the effects of gravitational light-bending on the ionisation state and a variable coronal dissipation factor. We predict a strong ionisation gradient across the surface of the inner disc that depends on the black hole spin and lamppost height. For a fixed $h$, the ionisation parameter is also expected to increase as $\lambda^3$, where $\lambda$ is the observed bolometric Eddington ratio of the AGN. Comparing this formula to the observed $\xi$-$\lambda$ relationship for Mrk 335 yields $h \propto \lambda^{0.5-0.6}$, supporting the view of a dynamic X-ray corona in AGNs.
We present new Effelsberg-100 m, ATCA, and VLA observations of rotational SiS transitions in the circumstellar envelope (CSE) of IRC +10216. Thanks to the high angular resolution achieved by the ATCA observations, we unambiguously confirm that the molecule's J=1-0 transition exhibits maser action in this CSE, as first suggested more than thirty years ago. The maser emission's radial velocity peaking at a local standard of rest velocity of -39.862$\pm$0.065 km/s indicates that it arises from an almost fully accelerated shell. Monitoring observations show time variability of the SiS (1-0) maser. The two lowest-$J$ SiS quasi-thermal emission lines trace a much more extended emitting region than previous high-J SiS observations. Their distributions show that the SiS quasi-thermal emission consists of two components: one is very compact (radius<1.5", corresponding to <3$\times 10^{15}$ cm), and the other extends out to a radius >11". An incomplete shell-like structure is found in the north-east, which is indicative of existing SiS shells. Clumpy structures are also revealed in this CSE. The gain of the SiS (1-0) maser (optical depths of about -5 at the blue-shifted side and, assuming inversion throughout the entire line's velocity range, about -2 at the red-shifted side) suggests that it is unsaturated. The SiS (1-0) maser can be explained in terms of ro-vibrational excitation caused by infrared pumping, and we propose that infrared continuum emission is the main pumping source.
Determining the gas density and temperature structures of protoplanetary disks is a fundamental task to constrain planet formation theories. This is a challenging procedure and most determinations are based on model-dependent assumptions. We attempt a direct determination of the radial and vertical temperature structure of the Flying Saucer disk, thanks to its favorable inclination of 90 degrees. We present a method based on the tomographic study of an edge-on disk. Using ALMA, we observe at 0.5$"$ resolution the Flying Saucer in CO J=2-1 and CS J=5-4. This edge-on disk appears in silhouette against the CO J=2-1 emission from background molecular clouds in $\rho$ Oph. The combination of velocity gradients due to the Keplerian rotation of the disk and intensity variations in the CO background as a function of velocity provide a direct measure of the gas temperature as a function of radius and height above the disk mid-plane. The overall thermal structure is consistent with model predictions, with a cold ($< 15-12 $~K), CO-depleted mid-plane, and a warmer disk atmosphere. However, we find evidence for CO gas along the mid-plane beyond a radius of about 200\,au, coincident with a change of grain properties. Such a behavior is expected in case of efficient rise of UV penetration re-heating the disk and thus allowing CO thermal desorption or favoring direct CO photo-desorption. CO is also detected up to 3-4 scale heights while CS is confined around 1 scale height above the mid-plane. The limits of the method due to finite spatial and spectral resolutions are also discussed. This method appears to be very promising to determine the gas structure of planet-forming disks, provided that the molecular data have an angular resolution which is high enough, of the order of $0.3 - 0.1"$ at the distance of the nearest star forming regions.
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