Astronomical instrumentation

Abstract:

We present the results of an attempt to detect the hottest 'hot Jupiter' planets directly in the thermal infrared. A simple method based upon high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopy of the central star at low spectral resolution is described. In the 2-4 μm region the contrast ratio between planet and star is expected to be relatively low and the planetary spectrum should appear as a faint signal on top of the stellar spectrum, distinguished by edges of H2O absorption. No water edges were found to 3σ limits of one part in a few hundred in each case. These upper limits are compared with the irradiated planetary atmosphere models of Barman, Hauschildt & Allard to derive upper limits on the size of the hot Jupiters, which are expected to be somewhat larger than Jupiter. If reasonably strong H2O absorption occurs in these objects then typical upper limits of R < 3 RJup are derived, the precision being limited by the stability of telluric transmission. Only a modest improvement in precision is needed (e.g. with space-based instruments) to reach the range of greatest interest (1 < R < 2 RJup).

Abstract:

We present submillimetre (sub-mm) photometry for 11 hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HLIRGs, LIR > 10^13.0 h^-265 L⊙) and use radiative transfer models for starbursts and active galactic nuclei (AGN) to examine the nature of the IR emission. In all the sources both a starburst and AGN are required to explain the total IR emission. The mean starburst fraction is 35 per cent, with a range spanning 80 per cent starburst-dominated to 80 per cent AGN-dominated. In all cases the starburst dominates at rest-frame wavelengths longwards of 50 μm, with star formation rates > 500 M⊙ yr^-1. The trend of increasing AGN fraction with increasing IR luminosity observed in IRAS galaxies is observed to peak in the HLIRG population, and not increase beyond the fraction seen in the brightest ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). The AGN and starburst luminosities correlate, suggesting that a common physical factor, plausibly the dust masses, govern the luminosities of starbursts and AGN in HLIRGs. Our results suggest that the HLIRG population is composed both of ULIRG-like galaxy mergers and of young galaxies going through their maximal star formation periods whilst harbouring an AGN. The detection of coeval AGN and starburst activity in our sources implies that starburst and AGN activity, and the peak starburst and AGN luminosities, can be coeval in active galaxies generally. When extrapolated to high z our sources have comparable observed frame sub-mm fluxes to sub-mm survey sources. At least some high-z sub-mm survey sources are therefore likely to be composed of similar galaxy populations to those found in the HLIRG population. It is also plausible from these results that high-z sub-mm sources harbour heavily obscured AGN. The differences in X-ray and sub-mm properties between HLIRGs at z ∼ 1 and sub-mm sources at ∼3 implies some level of evolution between the two epochs. Either the mean AGN obscuration level is greater at z ∼ 3 than at z ∼ 1, or the fraction of IR-luminous sources at z ∼ 3 that contain AGN is smaller than that at z ∼ 1.

Abstract:

We present 7-180 μm photometry of a sample of hyperluminous infrared galaxies (HyLIGs) obtained with the photometer and camera mounted on the Infrared Space Observatory. We have used radiative transfer models of obscured starbursts and dusty torii to model their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We find that IRAS F00235+1024, IRAS F14218+3845 and IRAS F15307+3252 require a combination of starburst and active galactic nuclei (AGN) components to explain their mid-to far-infrared (FIR) emission, while for TXS 0052+471 a dust torus AGN model alone is sufficient. For IRAS F00235+1024 and IRAS F14218+3845 the starburst component is the predominant contributor, whereas for IRAS F15307+3252 the dust torus component dominates. The implied star formation rates (SFRs) for these three sources estimated from their infrared luminosities are M*,all > 3000 M⊙ yr^-1 h^-250 and are amongst the highest SFRs estimated to date. We also demonstrate that the well-known radio-FIR correlation extends into both higher radio and infrared power than previously investigated. The relation for HyLIGs has a mean q value of 1.94. The results of this study imply that better sampling of the infrared spectral energy distributions of HyLIGs may reveal that both AGN and starburst components are required to explain all the emission from the near-infrared to the submillimetre.

Abstract:

We compute the bispectrum of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and use it to measure the bias parameter of the galaxies. This parameter quantifies the strength of clustering of the galaxies relative to the mass in the Universe. By analysing 80 × 106 triangle configurations in the wavenumber range 0.1 < k < 0.5 h Mpc-1 (i.e. on scales roughly between 5 and 30 h-1 Mpc) we find that the linear bias parameter is consistent with unity: b1 = 1.04 ± 0.11, and the quadratic (non-linear) bias is consistent with zero: b2 = -0.054 ± 0.08. Thus, at least on large scales, optically selected galaxies do indeed trace the underlying mass distribution. The bias parameter can be combined with the 2dFGRS measurement of the redshift distortion parameter β ≃ Ω0.6m/b1, to yield Ωm = 0.27 ± 0.06 for the matter density of the Universe, a result that is determined entirely from this survey, independent of other data sets. Our measurement of the matter density of the Universe should be interpreted as Ωm at the effective redshift of the survey (z = 0.17).