Cosmology

Abstract:

We announce the discovery of an extended emission-line region associated with a high-redshift type-2 quasi-stellar object (QSO). The halo, which was discovered in our new wide-field narrow-band survey, resides at z = 2.85 in the Spitzer First Look Survey region and is extended over ∼80 kpc. Deep very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations imply that approximately 50 per cent of the radio emission is extended on scales >200 pc. The inferred active galactic nuclei (AGN) luminosity is sufficient to ionize the extended halo, and the optical emission is consistent with being triggered coevally with the radio source. The Lyα halo is as luminous as those found around high-redshift radio galaxies; however, the active nucleus is several orders of magnitude less luminous at radio wavelengths than those Fanarof-Riley type II (FRIIs) more commonly associated with extended emission-line regions. AMS05 appears to be a high-redshift analogue to the radio-quiet quasar E1821+643 which is core dominated, but which also exhibits extended Fanarof-Riley type I (FRI)-like structure and contains an optically powerful AGN. We also find evidence for more quiescent kinematics in the Lyα emission line in the outer regions of the halo, reminiscent of the haloes around the more powerful FRIIs. The optical to mid-infrared spectral energy distribution is well described by a combination of an obscured QSO (Lbol ∼ 3.4 ± 0.2 × 10¹³ L⊙) and a 1.4 Gyr old simple stellar population with mass ∼3.9 ± 0.3 × 10 ¹¹ M⊙. © 2009 RAS.

Abstract:

We present a preliminary analysis of the H I properties of early-type galaxies in the ATLAS3D sample. Using WSRT data for ~100 galaxies outside the Virgo cluster and data from the Alfalfa project for galaxies inside Virgo, we discuss the dependence of H I properties on environment. We detect H I in about half of the galaxies outside Virgo. For these systems, the H I morphology and kinematics change as a function of environment, going from regular, rotating systems around “isolated” galaxies to progressively more disturbed structures for galaxies with neighbours or in groups. In denser environment, inside Virgo, nearly none of the galaxies contains H I. We discuss future work in this field which will be enabled by next-generation, pre-SKA radio instruments. We present a simulated Apertif H I observation of an ATLAS3D early-type galaxy, showing how its appearance and detection level vary as a function of redshift.

Abstract:

We present evidence for anomalous microwave emission in the RCW175 H II region. Motivated by 33 GHz 13′ resolution data from the Very Small Array (VSA), we observed RCW175 at 31 GHz with the Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) at a resolution of 4′. The region consists of two distinct components, G29.0-0.6 and G29.1-0.7, which are detected at high signal-to-noise ratio. The integrated flux density is 5.97 0.30 Jy at 31 GHz, in good agreement with the VSA. The 31 GHz flux density is 3.28 0.38 Jy (8.6σ) above the expected value from optically thin free-free emission based on lower frequency radio data and thermal dust constrained by IRAS and WMAP data. Conventional emission mechanisms such as optically thick emission from ultracompact H II regions cannot easily account for this excess. We interpret the excess as evidence for electric dipole emission from small spinning dust grains, which does provide an adequate fit to the data. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We present a statistical study of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) populations of three nearby, old elliptical galaxies: NGC 3379, NGC 4278, and NGC 4697. With a cumulative 1 Ms Chandra ACIS observing time, we detect 90-170 LMXBs within the D25 ellipse of each galaxy. Cross-correlating Chandra X-ray sources and HST optical sources, we identify 75 globular cluster (GC) LMXBs and 112 field LMXBs with LX > 10³⁶ erg s^-1 (detections of these populations are 90% complete down to luminosities in the range of 6 × 10³⁶ to 1.5 × 10 ³⁷ergs^-1). At the higher luminosities explored in previous studies, the statistics of this sample are consistent with the properties of GC-LMXBs reported in the literature. In the low-luminosity range allowed by our deeper data (LX < 5 × 10³⁷ erg s^-1), we find a significant relative lack of GC-LMXBs, when compared with field sources. Using the co-added sample from the three galaxies, we find that the incompleteness-corrected X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) of GC and field LMXBs differ at 4σ significance at LX < 5 × 10³⁷ erg s^-1. As previously reported, these XLFs are consistent at higher luminosities. The presently available theoretical models for LMXB formation and evolution in clusters are not sophisticated enough to provide a definite explanation for the shape of the observed GC-LMXB XLF. Our observations may indicate a potential predominance of GC-LMXBs with donors evolved beyond the main sequence, when compared to current models, but their efficient formation requires relatively high initial binary fractions in clusters. The field LMXB XLF can be fitted with either a single power-law model plus a localized excess at a luminosity of (5-6) × 10³⁷ erg s^-1, or a broken power law with a similar low-luminosity break. This XLF may be explained with NS-red-giant LMXBs, contributing to 15% of total LMXBs population at 5 × 10³⁷ erg s^-1. The difference in the GC and field XLFs is consistent with different origins and/or evolutionary paths between the two LMXB populations, although a fraction of the field sources are likely to have originated in GCs. © 2009 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We present observations of early-type galaxies NGC 524 and 2549 with laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) obtained at GEMINI North telescope using the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) integral field unit (IFU) in the K band. The purpose of these observations is to determine high spatial resolution stellar kinematics within the nuclei of these galaxies and, in combination with previously obtained large-scale observations with the SAURON IFU, to determine the masses (M•) of the supermassive black holes (SMBH). The targeted galaxies were chosen to have central light profiles showing a core (NGC 524) and a cusp (NGC 2549), to probe the feasibility of using the galaxy centre as the natural guide source required for LGS AO. We employ an innovative technique where the focus compensation due to the changing distance to the sodium layer is made 'open loop', allowing the extended galaxy nucleus to be used only for tip-tilt correction. The data have spatial resolution of 0.23 and 0.17 arcsec full-width at half maximum (FWHM), where at least ∼40 per cent of flux comes within 0.2, showing that high quality LGS AO observations of these objects are possible. The achieved signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ∼ 50) is sufficiently high to reliably determine the shape of the line-of-sight velocity distribution. We construct axisymmetric three-integral dynamical models which are constrained with both the NIFS and SAURON data. The best-fitting models yield M• = (8.3^+2.7 -1.3) × 10⁸ M⊙ and (M/L)I = 5.8 ± 0.4 for NGC 524 and M• = (1.4 ^+0.2-1.3) × 10⁷ M⊙ and (M/L)R = 4.7 ± 0.2 for NGC 2549 (all errors are at the 3σ level). We demonstrate that the wide-field SAURON data play a crucial role in the M/L determination increasing the accuracy of M/L by a factor of at least 5, and constraining the upper limits on black hole masses. The NIFS data are crucial in constraining the lower limits of M• and in combination with the large-scale data reducing the uncertainty by a factor of 2 or more. We find that the orbital structure of NGC 524 shows significant tangential anisotropy, while at larger radii both galaxies are consistent with having almost perfectly oblate velocity ellipsoids. Tangential anisotropy in NGC 524 coincides with the size of SMBH sphere of influence and the core region in the light profile. This agrees with predictions from numerical simulations where core profiles are the result of SMBH binaries evacuating the centre nuclear regions following a galaxy merger. However, being a disc dominated fast rotating galaxy, NGC 524 has probably undergone through a more complex evolution. We test the accuracy to which M• can be measured using seeings obtained from typical LGS AO observations, and conclude that for a typical conditions and M• the expected uncertainty is of the order of 50 per cent. © 2009 RAS.