We present (sub)millimeter imaging at 0 5 resolution of the massive star-forming region G358.93−0.03 acquired in multiple epochs at 2 and 3 months following the recent flaring of its 6.7 GHz CH3OH ...maser emission. Using the Submillimeter Array and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, we have discovered 14 new Class II CH3OH maser lines ranging in frequency from 199 to 361 GHz, which originate mostly from = 1 torsionally excited transitions and include one = 2 transition. The latter detection provides the first observational evidence that Class II maser pumping involves levels in the = 2 state. The masers are associated with the brightest continuum source (MM1), which hosts a line-rich hot core. The masers present a consistent curvilinear spatial velocity pattern that wraps around MM1, suggestive of a coherent physical structure 1200 au in extent. In contrast, the thermal lines exhibit a linear pattern that crosses MM1 but at progressive position angles that appear to be a function of either increasing temperature or decreasing optical depth. The maser spectral profiles evolved significantly over one month, and the intensities dropped by factors of 3.0-7.2, with the = 2 line showing the largest change. A small area of maser emission from only the highest excitation lines closest to MM1 has disappeared. There are seven additional dust continuum sources in the protocluster, including another hot core (MM3). We do not find evidence for a significant change in (sub)millimeter continuum emission from any of the sources during the one month interval, and the total protocluster emission remains comparable to prior single-dish measurements.
We report the discovery of a rare new form of long-term radio variability in the light curves of active galaxies (AG)-symmetric achromatic variability (SAV)-a pair of opposed and strongly skewed ...peaks in the radio flux density observed over a broad frequency range. We propose that SAV arises through gravitational milli-lensing when relativistically moving features in AG jets move through gravitational lensing caustics created by subhalo condensates or black holes located within intervening galaxies. The lower end of this mass range has been inaccessible with previous gravitational lensing techniques. This new interpretation of some AG variability can easily be tested and if it passes these tests, will enable a new and powerful probe of cosmological matter distribution on these intermediate-mass scales, as well as provide, for the first time, micro-arcsecond resolution of the nuclei of AG-a factor of 30-100 greater resolution than is possible with ground-based millimeter very-long-baseline interferometry.
Massive present-day early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies probably gained the bulk of their stellar mass and heavy elements through intense, dust-enshrouded starbursts--that is, increased ...rates of star formation--in the most massive dark-matter haloes at early epochs. However, it remains unknown how soon after the Big Bang massive starburst progenitors exist. The measured redshift (z) distribution of dusty, massive starbursts has long been suspected to be biased low in z owing to selection effects, as confirmed by recent findings of systems with redshifts as high as ~5 (refs 2-4). Here we report the identification of a massive starburst galaxy at z = 6.34 through a submillimetre colour-selection technique. We unambiguously determined the redshift from a suite of molecular and atomic fine-structure cooling lines. These measurements reveal a hundred billion solar masses of highly excited, chemically evolved interstellar medium in this galaxy, which constitutes at least 40 per cent of the baryonic mass. A 'maximum starburst' converts the gas into stars at a rate more than 2,000 times that of the Milky Way, a rate among the highest observed at any epoch. Despite the overall downturn in cosmic star formation towards the highest redshifts, it seems that environments mature enough to form the most massive, intense starbursts existed at least as early as 880 million years after the Big Bang.
Gravitational lensing is a powerful astrophysical and cosmological probe and is particularly valuable at submillimeter wavelengths for the study of the statistical and individual properties of dusty ...star-forming galaxies. However, the identification of gravitational lenses is often time-intensive, involving the sifting of large volumes of imaging or spectroscopic data to find few candidates. We used early data from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey to demonstrate that wide-area submillimeter surveys can simply and easily detect strong gravitational lensing events, with close to 100% efficiency.
We report ground-based follow-up observations of the exceptional source, ID 141, one of the brightest sources detected so far in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey cosmological ...survey. ID 141 was observed using the IRAM 30 m telescope and Plateau de Bure interferometer (PdBI), the Submillimeter Array, and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment submillimeter telescope to measure the dust continuum and emission lines of the main isotope of carbon monoxide and carbon (C I and C II). The detection of strong CO emission lines with the PdBI confirms that ID 141 is at high redshift (z = 4.243 ? 0.001). The strength of the continuum and emission lines suggests that ID 141 is gravitationally lensed. The width ( Delta *DV FWHM ~ 800 km s--1) and asymmetric profiles of the CO and carbon lines indicate orbital motion in a disk or a merger. The properties derived for ID 141 are compatible with an ultraluminous (L FIR ~ (8.5 ? 0.3) X 1013 Delta *m--1 L L , where Delta *mL is the amplification factor), dense (n 104 cm--3), and warm (T kin 40 K) starburst galaxy, with an estimated star formation rate of (0.7-1.7) X 104 Delta *m--1 L M yr--1. The carbon emission lines indicate a dense (n 104 cm--3) photon-dominated region, illuminated by a far-UV radiation field a few thousand times more intense than that in our Galaxy. In conclusion, the physical properties of the high-z galaxy ID 141 are remarkably similar to those of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies.
Abstract
We present a multiwavelength analysis using the Submillimeter Array (SMA), James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, NOEMA, JWST, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the Spitzer Space Telescope of ...two dusty strongly star-forming galaxies, 850.1 and 850.2, seen through the massive cluster lens A 1489. These SMA-located sources both lie at
z
= 4.26 and have bright dust continuum emission, but 850.2 is a UV-detected Lyman-break galaxy, while 850.1 is undetected at ≲ 2
μ
m, even with deep JWST/NIRCam observations. We investigate their stellar, interstellar medium, and dynamical properties, including a pixel-level spectral energy distribution analysis to derive subkiloparsec-resolution stellar-mass and
A
V
maps. We find that 850.1 is one of the most massive and highly obscured,
A
V
∼ 5, galaxies known at
z
> 4 with
M
*
∼10
11.8
M
⊙
(likely forming at
z
> 6), and 850.2 is one of the least massive and least obscured,
A
V
∼ 1, members of the
z
> 4 dusty star-forming population. The diversity of these two dust-mass-selected galaxies illustrates the incompleteness of galaxy surveys at
z
≳ 3–4 based on imaging at ≲ 2
μ
m, the longest wavelengths feasible from HST or the ground. The resolved mass map of 850.1 shows a compact stellar-mass distribution,
R
e
mass
∼1 kpc, but its expected evolution means that it matches both the properties of massive, quiescent galaxies at
z
∼ 1.5 and ultramassive early-type galaxies at
z
∼ 0. We suggest that 850.1 is the central galaxy of a group in which 850.2 is a satellite that will likely merge in the near future. The stellar morphology of 850.1 shows arms and a linear bar feature that we link to the active dynamical environment it resides within.
Context.
Supermassive black holes can launch highly relativistic jets with velocities reaching Lorentz factors of as high as Γ > 50. How the jets accelerate to such high velocities and where along ...the jet they reach terminal velocity are open questions that are tightly linked to their structure as well as their launching and dissipation mechanisms.
Aims.
Changes in the beaming factor along the jets could potentially reveal jet acceleration, deceleration, or bending. We aim to (1) quantify the relativistic effects in multiple radio frequencies and (2) study possible jet velocity–viewing angle variations at parsec scales.
Methods.
We used the state-of-the-art code
Magnetron
to model light curves from the University of Michigan Radio Observatory and the Metsähovi Radio Observatory’s monitoring programs in five frequencies covering about 25 years of observations in the 4.8 to 37 GHz range for 61 sources. We supplement our data set with high-frequency radio observations in the 100–340 GHz range from ALMA, CARMA, and SMA. For each frequency we estimate the Doppler factor which we use to quantify possible changes in the relativistic effects along the jets.
Results.
The majority of our sources do not show any statistically significant difference in their Doppler factor across frequencies. This is consistent with constant velocity in a conical jet structure, as expected at parsec scales. However, our analysis reveals 17 sources where relativistic beaming changes as a function of frequency. In the majority of cases, the Doppler factor increases towards lower frequencies. Only 1253–053 shows the opposite behavior. By exploring their jet properties we find that the jet of 0420–014 is likely bent across the 4.8–340 GHz range. For 0212+735, the jet is likely parabolic, and still accelerating in the 4.8–37 GHz range. We discuss possible interpretations for the trends found in the remaining sources.
ABSTRACT
We report results from our ongoing project MOMO (Multiwavelength Observations and Modelling of OJ 287). In this latest publication of a sequence, we combine our Swift UVOT–XRT and Effelsberg ...radio data (2.6–44 GHz) between 2019 and 2022.04 with public SMA data and gamma-ray data from the Fermi satellite. The observational epoch covers OJ 287 in a high state of activity from radio to X-rays. The epoch also covers two major events predicted by the binary supermassive black hole (SMBH) model of OJ 287. Spectral and timing analyses clearly establish: a new UV–optical minimum state in 2021 December at an epoch where the secondary SMBH is predicted to cross the disc surrounding the primary SMBH; an overall low level of gamma-ray activity in comparison to pre-2017 epochs; the presence of a remarkable, long-lasting UV–optical flare event of intermediate amplitude in 2020–2021; a high level of activity in the radio band with multiple flares; and particularly a bright, ongoing radio flare peaking in 2021 November that may be associated with a gamma-ray flare, the strongest in 6 yr. Several explanations for the UV–optical minimum state are explored, including the possibility that a secondary SMBH launches a temporary jet, but the observations are best explained by variability associated with the main jet.
We have used the Submillimeter Array to image a flux-limited sample of seven submillimeter galaxies, selected by the AzTEC camera on the JCMT at 1.1 mm, in the COSMOS field at 890 mu m with similar ...to 2" resolution. All of the sources-two radio-bright and five radio-dim-are detected as single point sources at high significance (>6 sigma ), with positions accurate to similar to 0.2" that enable counterpart identification at other wavelengths observed with similarly high angular resolution. All seven have IRAC counterparts, but only two have secure counterparts in deep HST ACS imaging. As compared to the two radio-bright sources in the sample, and those in previous studies, the five radio-dim sources in the sample (1) have systematically higher submillimeter-to-radio flux ratios, (2) have lower IRAC 3.6-8.0 mu m fluxes, and (3) are not detected at 24 mu m. These properties, combined with size constraints at 890 mu m ( theta unk 1.2"), suggest that the radio-dim submillimeter galaxies represent a population of very dusty starbursts, with physical scales similar to local ultraluminous infrared galaxies, with an average redshift higher than radio-bright sources.
Hard X-Ray Emission in Centaurus A Rani, B.; Mundo, S. A.; Mushotzky, R. ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
06/2022, Letnik:
932, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Abstract
We use 13 yr of Swift/BAT observations to probe the nature and origin of the hard X-ray (14–195 KeV) emission in Centaurus A. Since the beginning of the Swift operation in 2004, significant ...X-ray variability in the 14–195 KeV band has been detected, with mild changes in the source spectrum. Spectral variations became more eminent after 2013, following a softer-when-brighter trend. Using the power spectral density (PSD) method, we find that the observed hard X-ray photon flux variations are consistent with a red-noise process of slope, −1.3, with no evidence for a break in the PSD. We find a significant correlation between the hard X-ray and 230 GHz radio flux variations, with no time delay longer than 30 days. The temporal and spectral analysis confirms that the X-ray emission generated by the accretion in the ADAF model is sub-dominant as compared with the emission arising from that produced by the inner regions of the radio jet.