We have searched 11304 quasars from the NVSS catalog for radio emission and obtained 2626 positive detections, of which 301 are new radio detections. We made statistical studies of the radio spectral index, radio luminosity and the fraction of radio-loud quasars versus absolute B magnitude and redshift. We found that the fraction rises between M_B_=-22 and -30 and that it increases at z=0.0 until z=0.8, then goes down at z=1.5. The degree of polarization shows no dependence on redshift.
We select a sample of 90 obscured (type 2) AGN with 1.45<z<3.05 from the zCOSMOS-deep galaxy sample by 5 sigma-detection of the high-ionization CIV {lambda}1549 narrow emission line. The presence of this feature in a galaxy spectrum is often associated with nuclear activity, and the selection effectiveness has been also confirmed by ultraviolet (UV) emission line ratio diagnostic diagrams. Applying the same selection technique, a sample of 102 unobscured (type 1) AGN was collected. Taking advantage of the large amount of multi-band data available in the COSMOS field, we investigate the properties of the CIV-selected type 2 AGN, focusing on their host galaxies, X-ray emission and UV emission lines. Finally, we investigate the physical properties of the ionized gas in the Narrow Line Region (NLR) of this type 2 AGN sample, combining the analysis of strong UV emission lines with predictions from photo-ionization models. We find that, in order to successfully reproduce the relative intensity of UV emission lines of the selected high-z type 2 AGN, two new ingredients in the photo-ionization models are fundamental,i.e. small inner radii of the NLR (~90pc for LAGN=10^45^erg/s) and the internal dissipative micro-turbulence of the gas emitting clouds (with v_micr_~100km/s). With these modified models, we compute the gas-phase metallicity of the NLR, and our measurements indicate a statistically significant evolution of the metal content with redshift. Finally, we do not observe, in our CIV-selected type 2 AGN sample, a strong relationship between the NLR gas metallicity and the stellar mass of the host galaxy.
OI abs. search in Keck and VLT spectra of 199 QSOs
Short Name:
J/ApJ/883/163
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present a survey for metal absorption systems traced by neutral oxygen over 3.2<z<6.5. Our survey uses Keck/ESI and VLT/X-Shooter spectra of 199 QSOs with redshifts up to 6.6. In total, we detect 74 OI absorbers, of which 57 are separated from the background QSO by more than 5000km/s. We use a maximum likelihood approach to fit the distribution of OI{lambda}1302 equivalent widths in bins of redshift and from this determine the evolution in number density of absorbers with W_1302_>0.05{AA}, of which there are 49 nonproximate systems in our sample. We find that the number density does not monotonically increase with decreasing redshift, as would naively be expected from the buildup of metal-enriched circumgalactic gas with time. The number density over 4.9<z<5.7 is a factor of 1.7-4.1 lower (68% confidence) than that over 5.7<z<6.5, with a lower value at z<5.7 favored with 99% confidence. This decrease suggests that the fraction of metals in a low-ionization phase is larger at z~6 than at lower redshifts. Absorption from highly ionized metals traced by CIV is also weaker in higher-redshift OI systems, supporting this picture. The evolution of OI absorbers implies that metal-enriched circumgalactic gas at z~6 is undergoing an ionization transition driven by a strengthening ultraviolet background. This in turn suggests that the reionization of the diffuse intergalactic medium may still be ongoing at or only recently ended by this epoch.
The emission-line flux ratio of [OIII]4363/[OIII]5007 (R_OIII_) is a useful diagnostic for the ionization mechanism and physical properties of emission-line regions in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, it is known that simple photoionization models underpredict the [OIII]4363 intensity, being inconsistent with observations. In this paper we report on several pieces of evidence that a large fraction of the [OIII]4363 emission arises from the dense gas obscured by putative tori: (1) the visibility of high-R_OIII_ regions is correlated to that of broad-line regions, (2) higher R_OIII_ objects show hotter mid-infrared colors, (3) higher R_OIII_ objects show stronger highly ionized emission lines such as [FeVII] 6087 and [FeX]6374, and (4) higher R_OIII_ objects have broader line width of [OIII]4363 normalized by that of [OIII]5007.
The [OIII] {lambda}{lambda} 4959, 5007 lines are a useful proxy to test the kinematic of the narrow-line region (NLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGN). In AGN, and particularly in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) these lines often show few peculiar features, such as blue wings, often interpreted as outflowing component, and a shift - typically toward lower wavelengths - of the whole spectroscopic feature in some exceptional sources, the so-called blue outliers, which are often associated to strong winds. We investigated the incidence of these peculiarities in two samples of radio-emitting NLS1s, one radio-loud and one radio-quiet. We also studied a few correlations between the observational properties of the [OIII] lines and those of the AGN. Our aim was to understand the difference between radio-quiet and radio-loud NLS1s, which may in turn provide useful information on the jet formation mechanism. We find that the NLR gas is much more perturbed in radio-loud than in radio-quiet NLS1s. In particular the NLR dynamics in {gamma}-ray emitting NLS1s appears to be highly disturbed, and this might be a consequence of interaction with the relativistic jet. The less frequently perturbed NLR in radio-quiet NLS1s suggests instead that these sources likely do not harbor a fully developed relativistic jet. Nonetheless blue-outliers in radio-quiet NLS1s are observed, and we interpret them as a product of strong winds.
Optical astrometry of Benchmark radio sources. III
Short Name:
J/A+AS/115/75
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
Optical positions, relative to the International Reference Stars catalogue (IRS), and therefore in the system of the FK5, have been obtained for the optical counterparts of 35 extragalactic radio sources south of {delta}~+3deg. Many of these sources are being considered as possible Benchmark objects for the establishment of a quasi-inertial unified radio/optical reference frame. Precision levels better than 0.2" in both coordinates were achieved. A comparison with VLBI radio positions available for these sources is presented. We give evidence for a possible offset in RA between the radio and optical reference frames.
We measure the distribution of carbon in the intergalactic medium as a function of redshift z and overdensity {delta}. Using a hydrodynamical simulation to link the H I absorption to the density and temperature of the absorbing gas, and a model for the UV background radiation, we convert ratios of C IV to H I pixel optical depths into carbon abundances. For the median metallicity this technique was described and tested in Paper I (Aguirre et al., 2002ApJ...576....1A) of this series. Here we generalize it to reconstruct the full probability distribution of the carbon abundance and apply it to 19 high-quality quasar absorption spectra.
Even with several thousand Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) blazar detections, the {gamma}-ray emission mechanism is poorly understood. We explore correlated optical/{gamma}-ray flux variations for 178 Fermi-LAT blazars regularly monitored by the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope, the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System, and the Steward Observatory. Out of the 178 sources, 121 show a measurable (>1{sigma}) discrete correlation function peak. Using the derived time lags and Bayesian block light-curve decompositions, we measure the fraction of common and orphan flares between the two bands. After accounting for sampling and sensitivity limitations we quantify for the first time the true orphan flare rates of optical and {gamma}-ray flares: 54.5% of optical and 20% of {gamma}-ray flares are orphan events. Both the intraband temporal relation and the small orphan {gamma}-ray flare fraction point toward leptonic processes as the likely mechanisms for the high-energy emission. Motivated to discriminate between synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) and external-Compton dominance in individual sources, we use the flux-flux variations to determine the slope m of the log fopt-log f{gamma} dependence. The slope distribution suggests a bimodal population with high and intermediate synchrotron peak objects showing larger m than low synchrotron peak objects. We find that m is naturally decreased through pollution from the orphan (typically optical) flares and develop a method to statistically recover, given the sources' measured orphan flare rate, the intrinsic m. While source classes show composite behavior, the majority of BL Lac objects favor m=2, indicating an SSC origin for the {gamma}-rays. No preference for either m is found in flat spectrum radio quasars.
We use optical data from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) to study the variability of {gamma}-ray-detected and non-detected objects in a large population of active galactic nuclei selected from the Candidate Gamma-Ray Blazar Survey and Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope catalogues. Our samples include 714 sources with PTF data and 1244 sources with CRTS data. We calculate the intrinsic modulation index to quantify the optical variability amplitude in these samples.
Optical identifications, magnitudes, and redshifts have been compiled for the 185 radio sources of the S5 catalogue, representing its current optical identification status. Reliable optical counterparts are found for more than 75% of the sources, nearly 50% of which have measured redshifts. Our tabulation also includes radio positions, radio fluxes, and radio spectral indices. References to other catalogues and detailed supplementary notes are given for a large fraction of the sources.
