Galaxy formation and evolution

Abstract:

In order to try and understand its origins, we present high-quality long-slit spectral observations of the counter-rotating stellar discs in the strange S0 galaxy NGC 4550. We kinematically decompose the spectra into two counter-rotating stellar components (plus a gaseous component), in order to study both their kinematics and their populations. The derived kinematics largely confirm what was known previously about the stellar discs, but trace them to larger radii with smaller errors; the fitted gaseous component allows us to trace the hydrogen emission lines for the first time, which are found to follow the same rather strange kinematics previously seen in the [OIII] line. Analysis of the populations of the two separate stellar components shows that the secondary disc has a significantly younger mean age than the primary disc, consistent with later star formation from the associated gaseous material. In addition, the secondary disc is somewhat brighter, also consistent with such additional star formation. However, these measurements cannot be self-consistently modelled by a scenario in which extra stars have been added to initially identical counter-rotating stellar discs, which rules out the Evans & Collett's elegant 'separatrix-crossing' model for the formation of such massive counter-rotating discs from a single galaxy, leaving some form of unusual gas accretion history as the most likely formation mechanism. © 2012 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

It has been speculated that low-luminosity radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) have the potential to serve as an important source of AGN feedback, and may be responsible for suppressing star formation activity in massive elliptical galaxies at late times. As such the cosmic evolution of these sources is vitally important to understand the significance of such AGN feedback processes and their influence on the global star formation history of the Universe. In this paper, we present a new investigation of the evolution of faint radio sources out to z ~ 2.5. We combine a 1 square degree Very Large Array radio survey, complete to a depth of 100 μJy, with accurate 10 band photometric redshifts from the following surveys: Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy Deep Extragalactic Observations and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The results indicate that the radio population experiences mild positive evolution out to z ~ 1.2 increasing their space density by a factor of ~3, consistent with results of several previous studies. Beyond z = 1.2, there is evidence of a slowing down of this evolution. Star-forming galaxies drive the more rapid evolution at low redshifts, z < 1.2, while more slowly evolving AGN populations dominate at higher redshifts resulting in a decline in the evolution of the radio luminosity function at z > 1.2. The evolution is best fitted by pure luminosity evolution with star-forming galaxies evolving as (1 + z)2.47 ± 0.12 and AGN as (1 + z)1.18 ± 0.21M. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

We report on Herschel/PACS observations of absorption lines of OH +, H2O+ and H3O+ in NGC 4418 and Arp 220. Excited lines of OH+ and H2O+ with Elower of at least 285 and ∼200 K, respectively, are detected in both sources, indicating radiative pumping and location in the high radiation density environment of the nuclear regions. Abundance ratios OH +/H2O+ of 1-2.5 are estimated in the nuclei of both sources. The inferred OH+ column and abundance relative to H nuclei are (0.5-1) × 1016 cm-2 and ∼ 2 × 10-8, respectively. Additionally, in Arp 220, an extended low excitation component around the nuclear region is found to have OH +/H2O+ ∼ 5-10. H3O+ is detected in both sources with N(H3O+) ∼ (0.5-2) × 1016 cm-2, and in Arp 220 the pure inversion, metastable lines indicate a high rotational temperature of ∼500 K, indicative of formation pumping and/or hot gas. Simple chemical models favor an ionization sequence dominated by H+ → O+ → OH+ → H2O+ → H3O +, and we also argue that the H+ production is most likely dominated by X-ray/cosmic ray ionization. The full set of observations and models leads us to propose that the molecular ions arise in a relatively low density (≥104 cm-3) interclump medium, in which case the ionization rate per H nucleus (including secondary ionizations) is ζ > 10-13 s-1, a lower limit that is several × 102 times the highest current rate estimates for Galactic regions. In Arp 220, our lower limit for ζ is compatible with estimates for the cosmic ray energy density inferred previously from the supernova rate and synchrotron radio emission, and also with the expected ionization rate produced by X-rays. In NGC 4418, we argue that X-ray ionization due to an active galactic nucleus is responsible for the molecular ion production. © 2013 ESO.

Abstract:

We present a list of 13 candidate gravitationally lensed submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) from 95 deg2 of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey, a surface density of 0.14 ± 0.04 deg-2. The selected sources have 500 μm flux densities (S 500) greater than 100 mJy. Gravitational lensing is confirmed by follow-up observations in 9 of the 13 systems (70%), and the lensing status of the four remaining sources is undetermined. We also present a supplementary sample of 29 (0.31 ± 0.06 deg-2) gravitationally lensed SMG candidates with S 500 = 80-100 mJy, which are expected to contain a higher fraction of interlopers than the primary candidates. The number counts of the candidate lensed galaxies are consistent with a simple statistical model of the lensing rate, which uses a foreground matter distribution, the intrinsic SMG number counts, and an assumed SMG redshift distribution. The model predicts that 32%-74% of our S 500 ≥ 100 mJy candidates are strongly gravitationally lensed (μ ≥ 2), with the brightest sources being the most robust; this is consistent with the observational data. Our statistical model also predicts that, on average, lensed galaxies with S 500 = 100 mJy are magnified by factors of ∼9, with apparently brighter galaxies having progressively higher average magnification, due to the shape of the intrinsic number counts. 65% of the sources are expected to have intrinsic 500 μm flux densities less than 30 mJy. Thus, samples of strongly gravitationally lensed SMGs, such as those presented here, probe below the nominal Herschel detection limit at 500 μm. They are good targets for the detailed study of the physical conditions in distant dusty, star-forming galaxies, due to the lensing magnification, which can lead to spatial resolutions of ∼0.″01 in the source plane. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.