Extremely Large Telescope

Abstract:

We present two-dimensional line-of-sight stellar kinematics of the lens galaxy in the Einstein Cross, obtained with the GEMINI 8 m telescope, using the GMOS integral-field spectrograph. The stellar kinematics extend to a radius of 4″ (with 0.″2 spaxels), covering about two-thirds of the effective (or half-light) radius Re - 6″ of this early-type spiral galaxy at redshift zl ≃ 0.04, of which the bulge is lensing a background quasar at redshift zs ≃ 1.7. The velocity map shows regular rotation up to ∼100 km s-1 around the minor axis of the bulge, consistent with axisymmetry. The velocity dispersion map shows a weak gradient increasing toward a central (R < 1″) value of σ0 = 170 ± 9 km s-1. We deproject the observed surface brightness from Hubble Space Telescope imaging to obtain a realistic luminosity density of the lens galaxy, which in turn is used to build axisymmetric dynamical models that fit the observed kinematic maps. We also construct a gravitational lens model that accurately fits the positions and relative fluxes of the four quasar images. We combine these independent constraints from stellar dynamics and gravitational lensing to study the total mass distribution in the inner parts of the lens galaxy. We find that the resulting luminous and total mass distribution are nearly identical around the Einstein radius Re = 0″.89, with a slope that is close to isothermal, but which becomes shallower toward the center if indeed mass follows light. The dynamical model fits to the observed kinematic maps result in a total mass-to-light ratio γdyn = 3.7 ± 0.5 γ⊙,I (in the I band). This is consistent with the Einstein mass Me = 1.54 × 1010 M⊙ divided by the (projected) luminosity within Re, which yields a total mass-to-light ratio of γE = 3.4 γ⊙,I, with an error of at most a few percent. We estimate from stellar population model fits to colors of the lens galaxy a stellar mass-to-light ratio γ* from 2.8 to 4.1 γ⊙,I. Although a constant dark matter fraction of 20% is not excluded, dark matter may play no significant role in the bulge of this ∼L* early-type spiral galaxy. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

Aims. We aim to demonstrate that the Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) is suitable for a blind and unbiased survey for debris disks by identifying candidate debris disks associated with main sequence stars in the initial science demonstration field of the survey. We show that H-ATLAS reveals a population of far-infrared/sub-mm sources that are associated with stars or star-like objects on the SDSS main-sequence locus. We validate our approach by comparing the properties of the most likely candidate disks to those of the known population. Methods. We use a photometric selection technique to identify main sequence stars in the SDSS DR7 catalogue and a Bayesian Likelihood Ratio method to identify H-ATLAS catalogue sources associated with these main sequence stars. Following this photometric selection we apply distance cuts to identify the most likely candidate debris disks and rule out the presence of contaminating galaxies using UKIDSS LAS K-band images. Results. We identify 78 H-ATLAS sources associated with SDSS point sources on the main-sequence locus, of which two are the most likely debris disk candidates: H-ATLAS J090315.8 and H-ATLAS J090240.2. We show that they are plausible candidates by comparing their properties to the known population of debris disks. Our initial results indicate that bright debris disks are rare, with only 2 candidates identified in a search sample of 851 stars. We also show that H-ATLAS can derive useful upper limits for debris disks associated with Hipparcos stars in the field and outline the future prospects for our debris disk search programme. © 2010 ESO.

Abstract:

To investigate the poorly constrained sub-mm counts and spectral properties of blazars we searched for these in the Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) science demonstration phase (SDP) survey catalog. We cross-matched 500 μm sources brighter than 50 mJy with the FIRST radio catalogue. We found two blazars, both previously known. Our study is among the first blind blazar searches at sub-mm wavelengths, i.e., in the spectral regime where little is still known about the blazar SEDs, but where the synchrotron peak of the most luminous blazars is expected to occur. Our early results are consistent with educated extrapolations of lower frequency counts and question indications of substantial spectral curvature downwards and of spectral upturns at mm wavelengths. One of the two blazars is identified with a Fermi/LAT γ-ray source and a WMAP source. The physical parameters of the two blazars are briefly discussed. These observations demonstrate that the H-ATLAS survey will provide key information about the physics of blazars and their contribution to sub-mm counts. © 2010 ESO.