MeerKAT

Abstract:

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. We have combined spectroscopic and photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with 1.4 GHz radio observations, conducted as part of the Stripe 82 1-2 GHz Snapshot Survey using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, which covers ~100 sq deg, to a flux limit of 88 μJy rms. Cross-matching the 11 768 radio source components with optical data via visual inspection results in a final sample of 4794 cross-matched objects, of which 1996 have spectroscopic redshifts and 2798 objects have photometric redshifts. Three previously undiscovered giant radio galaxies were found during the cross-matching process, which would have been missed using automated techniques. For the objects with spectroscopy, we separate radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxies (SFGs) using three diagnostics and then further divide our radio-loud AGN into the high and low excitation radio galaxy (HERG and LERG) populations. A control-matched sample of HERGs and LERGs, matched on stellar mass, redshift, and radio luminosity, reveals that the host galaxies of LERGs are redder and more concentrated than HERGs. By combining with near-infrared data, we demonstrate that LERGs also follow a tight K - z relationship. These results imply the LERG populations are hosted by population ofmassive, passively evolving early-type galaxies. We go on to show that HERGs, LERGs, quasars, and SFGs in our sample all reside in different regions of aWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer colour-colour diagram. This cross-matched sample bridges the gap between previous 'wide but shallow' and 'deep but narrow' samples and will be useful for a number of future investigations.

Abstract:

A sample of 1161 radio galaxies with 0.01 <z< 0.7 and 1021 < L1.4 GHz/W ˜Hz−1 < 1027 is selected from the Stripe 82 1–2 GHz Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array Snapshot Survey, which covers 100 sq. deg. and has a 1σ noise level of 88 μJy beam−1. Optical spectra are used to classify these sources as high excitation and low excitation radio galaxies (HERGs and LERGs), resulting in 60 HERGs, 149 LERGs, and 600 ‘probable LERGs’. The host galaxies of the LERGs have older stellar populations than those of the HERGs, in agreement with previous results in the literature. We find that the HERGs tend to have higher Eddington-scaled accretion rates than the LERGs but that there is some overlap between the two distributions. We show that the properties of the host galaxies vary continuously with accretion rate, with the most slowly accreting sources having the oldest stellar populations, consistent with the idea that these sources lack a supply of cold gas. We find that 84 per cent of our sample releases more than 10 per cent of their accretion power in their jets, showing that mechanical active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback is significantly underestimated in many hydrodynamical simulations. There is a scatter of ∼2 dex in the fraction of the accreted AGN power deposited back into the interstellar medium in mechanical form, showing that the assumption in many simulations that there is a direct scaling between accretion rate and radio-mode feedback does not necessarily hold. We also find that mechanical feedback is significant for many of the HERGs in our sample as well as the LERGs.

Abstract:

We investigate the relation between the radio (Fr) and optical (Fo) flux densities of a variety of classes of radio transients and variables, with the aim of analysing whether this information can be used, in the future, to classify such events. Using flux density values between 1 and 10 GHz and the optical bands V and R, we build a sample with a total of 12 441 Fr and Fo measurements. The sample contains both Galactic objects, such as stellar sources and X-ray binaries, and extragalactic objects, such as gamma-ray bursts and quasars. By directly comparing the two parameters, it is already possible to distinguish between the Galactic and extragalactic populations. Although individual classes are harder to separate from the Fr − Fo parameter space to a high accuracy, and can only provide approximations, the basic approach provides an already useful foundation to develop a more accurate classification technique. In addition, we illustrate how example objects from different classes move in the parameter space as they evolve over time, offering a feature that could be used to reduce the confusion between classes. A small, blind test of the classification performance is also undertaken using a catalogue of VLA FIRST transient and variable sources, to demonstrate the advantages and current limitations of the approach. With more multiwavelength data becoming available in the future, we discuss other classification techniques which the Fr − Fo method could be combined with and potentially become an important part of an automatic radio transient classification system.