Prof. Dimitra Rigopoulou

Abstract:

We report on our observations of the 79 and 119 μm doublet transitions of OH for 24 local (z < 0.262) ULIRGs observed with Herschel-PACS as part of the Herschel ULIRG Survey (HERUS). Some OH 119 μm profiles display a clear P-Cygni shape and therefore imply outflowing OH gas, while other profiles are predominantly in absorption or are completely in emission. We find that the relative strength of the OH emission component decreases as the silicate absorption increases. This result locates the OH outflows inside the obscured nuclei. The maximum outflow velocities for our sources range from less than 100 to 2000 km s-1, with 15/24 (10/24) sources showing OH absorption at velocities exceeding 700 km s-1 (1000 km s-1). Three sources show maximum OH outflow velocities exceeding that of Mrk231. Since outflow velocities above 500-700 km s-1 are thought to require an active galactic nucleus (AGN) to drive them, about two-thirds of our ULIRG sample may host AGN-driven molecular outflows. This finding is supported by the correlation we find between the maximum OH outflow velocity and the IR-derived bolometric AGN luminosity. No such correlation is found with the IR-derived star formation rate. The highest outflow velocities are found among sources that are still deeply embedded. We speculate that the molecular outflows in these sources may be in an early phase of disrupting the nuclear dust veil before these sources evolve into less-obscured AGNs. Four of our sources show high-velocity wings in their [C II] fine-structure line profiles, implying neutral gas outflow masses of at least (2-4.5) × 108 M. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

Abstract:

Dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) are an ultraviolet-faint, infrared-bright galaxy population that reside at z ∼ 2 and are believed to be in a phase of dusty star-forming and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. We present far-infrared (far-IR) observations of a complete sample of DOGs in the 2 deg2 of the Cosmic Evolution Survey. The 3077 DOGs have 〈z〉 = 1.9 ± 0.3 and are selected from 24 μm and r + observations using a color cut of r +-[24] ≥ 7.5 (AB mag) and S 24 ≥ 100 μJy. Based on the near-IR spectral energy distributions, 47% are bump DOGs (star formation dominated) and 10% are power-law DOGs (AGN-dominated). We use SPIRE far-IR photometry from the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey to calculate the IR luminosity and characteristic dust temperature for the 1572 (51%) DOGs that are detected at 250 μm (≥3σ). For the remaining 1505 (49%) that are undetected, we perform a median stacking analysis to probe fainter luminosities. Herschel-detected and undetected DOGs have average luminosities of (2.8 ± 0.4) × 1012 L⊙ and (0.77 ± 0.08) × 10 12 L⊙, and dust temperatures of (33 ± 7) K and (37 ± 5) K, respectively. The IR luminosity function for DOGs with S 24 ≥ 100 μJy is calculated, using far-IR observations and stacking. DOGs contribute 10%-30% to the total star formation rate (SFR) density of the universe at z = 1.5-2.5, dominated by 250 μm detected and bump DOGs. For comparison, DOGs contribute 30% to the SFR density for all z = 1.5-2.5 galaxies with S 24 ≥ 100 μJy. DOGs have a large scatter about the star formation main sequence and their specific SFRs show that the observed phase of star formation could be responsible for their total observed stellar mass at z ∼ 2. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.