Context. Although studying outflows in the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have moved to the forefront of extragalactic astronomy in recent years, estimating the energy associated with ...these outflows has been a major challenge. Determining the energy associated with an outflow often involves an assumption of uniform density in the narrow line region (NLR), which spans a wide range in the literature, leading to large systematic uncertainties in energy estimation. Aims. In this paper we present electron density maps for a sample of outflowing and non-outflowing Seyfert galaxies at z < 0.02 drawn from the Siding Spring Southern Seyfert Spectroscopic Snapshot Survey (S7) and try to understand the origin and values of the observed density structures to reduce the systematic uncertainties in outflow energy estimation. Methods. We use the ratio of the S IIλ6716,6731 emission lines to derive spatially resolved electron densities (≲50–2000 cm−3). Using optical Integral Field Unit observations from the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS), we are able to measure densities across the central 2–5 kpc of the selected AGN host galaxies. We compare the density maps with the positions of the H II regions derived from the narrow Hα component, ionization maps from O III and spatially resolved BPT diagrams to infer the origin of the observed density structures. We also use the electron density maps to construct density profiles as a function of distance from the central AGN. Results. We find a spatial correlation between the sites of high star formation and high electron density for targets without an active ionized outflow. The non-outflowing targets also show an exponential drop in the electron density as a function of distance from the centre, with a mean exponential index of ∼0.15. The correlation between the star forming sites and electron density ceases for targets with an outflow. The density within the outflowing medium is not uniform and shows both low- and high-density sites, most likely due to the presence of shocks and highly turbulent medium. We compare these results in the context of previous results obtained from fibre and slit spectra.
We present X-shooter at Very Large Telescope observations of a sample of 10 luminous, X-ray obscured quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) at z ~ 1.5 from the XMM-COSMOS survey, expected to be caught in the ...transitioning phase from starburst to active galactic nucleus (AGN)-dominated systems. The main selection criterion is X-ray detection at bright fluxes (...) coupled to red optical-to-near-infrared-to-mid-infrared colours. Thanks to its large wavelength coverage, X-shooter allowed us to determine accurate redshifts from the presence of multiple emission lines for five out of six targets for which we had only a photometric redshift estimate, with an 80 per cent success rate, significantly larger than what is observed in similar programs of spectroscopic follow-up of red QSOs. We report the detection of broad and shifted components in the OIII ...5007, 4959 complexes for six out of eight sources with these lines observable in regions free from strong atmospheric absorptions. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) associated with the broad components are in the range FWHM ~ 900-1600 km s..., larger than the average value observed in Sloan Digital Sky Survey type 2 AGN samples at similar observed OIII luminosity, but comparable to those observed for QSO/ultraluminous infrared galaxies systems for which the presence of kpc scale outflows has been revealed through integral field unit spectroscopy. Although the total outflow energetics (inferred under reasonable assumptions) may be consistent with winds accelerated by stellar processes, we favour an AGN origin for the outflows given the high outflow velocities observed (...) and the presence of strong winds also in objects undetected in the far-infrared. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Active galactic nuclei: what’s in a name? Padovani, P.; Alexander, D. M.; Assef, R. J. ...
The Astronomy and astrophysics review,
08/2017, Letnik:
25, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are energetic astrophysical sources powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes in galaxies, and present unique observational signatures that cover the full ...electromagnetic spectrum over more than twenty orders of magnitude in frequency. The rich phenomenology of AGN has resulted in a large number of different “flavours” in the literature that now comprise a complex and confusing AGN “zoo”. It is increasingly clear that these classifications are only partially related to intrinsic differences between AGN and primarily reflect variations in a relatively small number of astrophysical parameters as well the method by which each class of AGN is selected. Taken together, observations in different electromagnetic bands as well as variations over time provide complementary windows on the physics of different sub-structures in the AGN. In this review, we present an overview of AGN multi-wavelength properties with the aim of painting their “big picture” through observations in each electromagnetic band from radio to
γ
-rays as well as AGN variability. We address what we can learn from each observational method, the impact of selection effects, the physics behind the emission at each wavelength, and the potential for future studies. To conclude, we use these observations to piece together the basic architecture of AGN, discuss our current understanding of unification models, and highlight some open questions that present opportunities for future observational and theoretical progress.
ABSTRACT
We use a sample of powerful $z\, \approx \, 0.1$ type 2 quasars (‘obscured’; log LAGN/erg s$^{-1}\, \gtrsim \, 45$), which host kpc-scale ionized outflows and jets, to identify possible ...signatures of AGN feedback on the total molecular gas reservoirs of their host galaxies. Specifically, we present Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) observations of the CO(2–1) transition for nine sources and the CO(6–5) for a subset of three. We find that the majority of our sample reside in starburst galaxies (average specific star formation rates – sSFR – of 1.7 Gyr−1), with the seven CO-detected quasars also having large molecular gas reservoirs (average Mgas = 1.3 × 1010 M⊙), even though we had no pre-selection on the star formation or molecular gas properties. Despite the presence of quasars and outflows, we find that the molecular gas fractions (Mgas/M⋆ = 0.1–1.2) and depletion times (Mgas/SFR = 0.16–0.95 Gyr) are consistent with those expected for the overall galaxy population with matched stellar masses and sSFRs. Furthermore, for at least two of the three targets with the required measurements, the CO(6–5)/CO(2–1) emission-line ratios are consistent with star formation dominating the CO excitation over this range of transitions. The targets in our study represent a gas-rich phase of galaxy evolution with simultaneously high levels of star formation and nuclear activity; furthermore, the jets and outflows do not have an immediate appreciable impact on the global molecular gas reservoirs.
Context. Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is thought to play an important role in quenching star formation in galaxies. However, the efficiency with which AGN dissipate their radiative ...energy into the ambient medium remains strongly debated. Aims. Enormous observational efforts have been made to constrain the energetics of AGN feedback by mapping the kinematics of the ionized gas on kpc scale. We study how the observed kinematics and inferred energetics are affected by beam smearing of a bright unresolved narrow-line region (NLR) due to seeing. Methods. We re-analyse optical integral-field spectroscopy of a sample of twelve luminous unobscured quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) (0.4 <z< 0.7) previously presented in the literature. The point-spread function (PSF) for the observations is directly obtained from the light distribution of the broad Hbeta line component. Therefore, we are able to compare the ionized gas kinematics and derived energetics of the total, truly spatially extended, and unresolved Oiii emission. Results. We find that the spatially resolved Oiii line width on kpc scales is significantly narrower than the one before PSF deblending. The extended NLRs (ENLRs) appear intrinsically offset from the QSO position or more elongated which can be interpreted in favour of a conical outflow on large scales while a spherical geometry cannot be ruled out for the unresolved NLR. We find that the kinetic power at 5 kpc distance based on a spherical model is reduced by two orders of magnitude for a conical outflow and one order of magnitude for the unresolved NLR after PSF deblending. This reduced kinetic power corresponds to only 0.01-0.1 per cent of the bolometric AGN luminosity. This is smaller than the 5-10% feedback efficiency required by some cosmological simulations to reproduce the massive galaxy population. The injected momentum fluxes are close or below the simple radiation-pressure limit L sub(bol)/c for the conical outflow model for the NLR and ENLR when beam smearing is considered. Conclusions. Integral-field spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate the energetics of AGN outflows, but the impact of beam smearing has to be taken into account in the high contrast regime of QSOs. For the majority of observations in the literature, this has not been addressed carefully so that the incidence and energetics of presumed kpc-scale AGN-driven outflows still remain an unsolved issue, from an observational perspective.
ABSTRACT We present X-ray source catalogs for the 7 Ms exposure of the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S), which covers a total area of 484.2 arcmin2. Utilizing wavdetect for initial source detection ...and ACIS Extract for photometric extraction and significance assessment, we create a main source catalog containing 1008 sources that are detected in up to three X-ray bands: 0.5-7.0 keV, 0.5-2.0 keV, and 2-7 keV. A supplementary source catalog is also provided, including 47 lower-significance sources that have bright ( ) near-infrared counterparts. We identify multiwavelength counterparts for 992 (98.4%) of the main-catalog sources, and we collect redshifts for 986 of these sources, including 653 spectroscopic redshifts and 333 photometric redshifts. Based on the X-ray and multiwavelength properties, we identify 711 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the main-catalog sources. Compared to the previous 4 Ms CDF-S catalogs, 291 of the main-catalog sources are new detections. We have achieved unprecedented X-ray sensitivity with average flux limits over the central 1 arcmin2 region of 1.9 × 10−17, 6.4 × 10−18, and 2.7 × 10−17 erg cm−2 s−1 in the three X-ray bands, respectively. We provide cumulative number-count measurements observing, for the first time, that normal galaxies start to dominate the X-ray source population at the faintest 0.5-2.0 keV flux levels. The highest X-ray source density reaches 50,500 deg−2, and 47% 4% of these sources are AGNs ( 23,900 deg−2).
Hyperluminous starburst gives up its secrets Ivison, R J; Page, M J; Cirasuolo, M ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
10/2019, Letnik:
489, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract
HATLAS J084933.4 + 021443 was identified as a dusty starburst via its rest-frame far-infrared (far-IR) emission. Multifrequency imaging and spectroscopy revealed a cluster of four dusty ...galaxies at z = 2.41, covering 80 kpc. Here, we use Atacama Large Millimetre Array to confirm a more distant, fifth protocluster member, and present X-ray and rest-frame optical imaging spectroscopy of the brightest, an unlensed hyperluminous IR galaxy (HyLIRG). The data reveal broad Hα and bright N ii lines, and bright X-ray emission, characteristics that betray a Type-1 active galactic nucleus (AGN), strengthening evidence that AGN are ubiquitous amongst HyLIRGs. The accreting black hole is supermassive, Mbh ≈ 2 × 109 M⊙, with little intrinsic absorption, NH ≈ 5 × 1021 cm−2. The X-ray properties suggest the accretion luminosity rivals that of the starburst, yet it is not obvious where this emerges in its panchromatic spectral energy distribution. We outline three scenarios that could give rise to the observed characteristics, and how we might distinguish between them. In the first, we see the AGN through the host galaxy because of the cavity it excavates. In the others, the AGN is not cospatial with the starburst, having been ejected via asymmetric gravitational radiation, or having evolved towards the naked quasar phase in an unseen companion.
ABSTRACT
We present a study of a luminous, $z\, =\, 0.15$, type-2 quasar ($L_{\rm O III}$ = 1042.8 erg s−1) from the Quasar Feedback Survey. It is classified as ‘radio-quiet’ ($L_{\mathrm{1.4\, ...GHz}}$ = 1023.8 W Hz−1); however, radio imaging reveals ∼ 1 kpc low-power radio jets (Pjet = 1044 erg s−1) inclined into the plane of the galaxy disc. We combine MUSE and ALMA observations to map stellar kinematics and ionized and molecular gas properties. The jets are seen to drive galaxy-wide bi-conical turbulent outflows, reaching W80 = 1000 – 1300 km s−1, in the ionized phase (traced via optical emission lines), which also have increased electron densities compared to the quiescent gas. The turbulent gas is driven perpendicular to the jet axis and is escaping along the galaxy minor axis, reaching 7.5 kpc on both sides. Traced via CO(3–2) emission, the turbulent material in molecular gas phase is one-third as spatially extended and has three times lower velocity-dispersion as compared to ionized gas. The jets are seen to be strongly interacting with the interstellar medium (ISM) through enhanced ionized emission and disturbed/depleted molecular gas at the jet termini. We see further evidence for jet-induced feedback through significantly higher stellar velocity-dispersion aligned, and co-spatial with, the jet axis ($\lt 5\, ^{\circ }$). We discuss possible negative and positive feedback scenarios arising due to the interaction of the low-power jets with the ISM in the context of recent jet–ISM interaction simulations, which qualitatively agree with our observations. We discuss how jet-induced feedback could be an important feedback mechanism even in bolometrically luminous ‘radio-quiet’ quasars.
ABSTRACT
We present results from a combined radio polarization and emission-line study of five type 2 quasars at z < 0.2 with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) B-array at 5 GHz and Hubble ...Space Telescope (HST) O iii observations. These five sources are known to exhibit close association between radio structures and ionized gas morphology and kinematics. Four sources (J0945+1737, J1000+1242, J1356+1026, and J1430+1339) show polarization in the current data. J1010+1413 is the unpolarized source in our sample. We detect $0.5{-}1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ fractional polarization in the radio cores and a high fractional polarization ($10{-}30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) in the lobes of these sources. The morphological, spectral, and polarization properties suggest a jet origin for radio emission in J0945+1737, J1000+1242, J1010+1413, and J1430+1339 whereas the current data cannot fully discern the origin of radio emission (jet or wind) in J1356+1026. An anticorrelation between various polarized knots in the radio and O iii emission is observed in our sources, similar to that observed in some radio-loud AGN in the literature. This suggests that the radio emission is likely to be depolarized by the emission-line gas. By modelling the depolarization effects, we estimate the size of the emission-line gas clouds to be ∼(2.8 ± 1.7) × 10−5 parsec and the amount of thermal material mixed with the synchrotron plasma to be ∼(1.01 ± 0.08) × 106 M⊙ in the lobe of J0945+1737 (which exhibits the most prominent polarization signature in its lobe). The current work demonstrates that the interplay of jets/winds and emission-line gas is most likely responsible for the nature of radio outflows in radio-quiet AGN.
We present a census of the active black hole population at 1 < z < 2, by constructing the bivariate distribution function of black hole mass and Eddington ratio, employing a maximum likelihood ...fitting technique. The study of the active black hole mass function (BHMF) and the Eddington ratio distribution function (ERDF) allows us to clearly disentangle the active galactic nuclei (AGN) downsizing phenomenon, present in the AGN luminosity function, into its physical processes of black hole mass downsizing and accretion rate evolution. We are utilizing type-1 AGN samples from three optical surveys (VVDS, zCOSMOS and SDSS), that cover a wide range of 3 dex in luminosity over our redshift interval of interest. We investigate the cosmic evolution of the AGN population as a function of AGN luminosity, black hole mass and accretion rate. Compared to z = 0, we find a distinct change in the shape of the BHMF and the ERDF, consistent with downsizing in black hole mass. The active fraction or duty cycle of type-1 AGN at z ~ 1.5 is almost flat as a function of black hole mass, while it shows a strong decrease with increasing mass at z = 0. We are witnessing a phase of intense black hole growth, which is largely driven by the onset of AGN activity in massive SMBHs (supermassive black holes) towards z = 2. We finally compare our results to numerical simulations and semi-empirical models and while we find reasonable agreement over certain parameter ranges, we highlight the need to refine these models in order to match our observations.
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