The YSOVAR (Young Stellar Object VARiability) Spitzer Space Telescope observing program obtained the first extensive mid-infrared (IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 micron) time series photometry of the Orion Nebula Cluster plus smaller fields in 11 other star-forming cores (AFGL 490, NGC 1333, Mon R2, GGD 12-15, NGC 2264, L1688, Serpens Main, Serpens South, IRAS 20050+2720, IC 1396A, and Ceph C). There are ~29,000 unique objects with light curves in either or both IRAC channels in the YSOVAR data set. YSOVAR is a sister project to the Coordinated Synoptic Investigation of NGC 2264 (CSI 2264; Cody et al. 2014). Initial YSOVAR results were described in Morales-Calderon et al. (2011). Rebull et al. (2014) describes the details of target selection, data reduction, and other conventions established for this project.
Eclipsing binaries (EBs) provide critical laboratories for empirically testing predictions of theoretical models of stellar structure and evolution. Pre-main-sequence (PMS) EBs are particularly valuable, both due to their rarity and the highly dynamic nature of PMS evolution, such that a dense grid of PMS EBs is required to properly calibrate theoretical PMS models. Analyzing multi-epoch, multi-color light curves for ~2400 candidate Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) members from our Warm Spitzer Exploration Science Program YSOVAR, we have identified 12 stars whose light curves show eclipse features. Four of these 12 EBs are previously known. Supplementing our light curves with follow-up optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, we establish two of the candidates as likely field EBs lying behind the ONC. We confirm the remaining six candidate systems, however, as newly identified ONC PMS EBs. These systems increase the number of known PMS EBs by over 50% and include the highest mass ({theta}^1^ Ori E, for which we provide a complete set of well-determined parameters including component masses of 2.807 and 2.797M_{sun}_) and longest-period (ISOY J053505.71-052354.1, P~20 days) PMS EBs currently known. In two cases ({theta}^1^ Ori E and ISOY J053526.88-044730.7), enough photometric and spectroscopic data exist to attempt an orbit solution and derive the system parameters. For the remaining systems, we combine our data with literature information to provide a preliminary characterization sufficient to guide follow-up investigations of these rare, benchmark systems.
The positions of 53 FK5, 70 FK5 Extension and 486 GC stars are given for equator and the equinox J2000.0 and for the mean observation epoch of each star which are determined with the photoelectric astrolabe of Yunnan Observatory. The internal mean errors in right ascension and declination are 0.046" and 0.059", respectively. The mean observation epoch is 1989.51.
We present a sample of 151 dwarf galaxies (10^8.5^<~M_*_<~10^9.5^M_{sun}_) that exhibit optical spectroscopic signatures of accreting massive black holes (BHs), increasing the number of known active galaxies in this stellar-mass range by more than an order of magnitude. Utilizing data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 and stellar masses from the NASA-Sloan Atlas, we have systematically searched for active BHs in ~25000 emission-line galaxies with stellar masses comparable to the Magellanic Clouds and redshifts z<0.055. Using the narrow-line [OIII]/H{beta} versus [NII]/H{alpha} diagnostic diagram, we find photoionization signatures of BH accretion in 136 galaxies, a small fraction of which also exhibit broad H{alpha} emission. For these broad-line active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates, we estimate BH masses using standard virial techniques and find a range of 10^5^<~M_BH_<~10^6^M_{sun}_ and a median of M_BH_~2x10^5^M_{sun}_. We also detect broad H{alpha} in 15 galaxies that have narrow-line ratios consistent with star-forming galaxies. Follow-up observations are required to determine if these are true type 1 AGN or if the broad H{alpha} is from stellar processes. The median absolute magnitude of the host galaxies in our active sample is M_g_=-18.1mag, which is ~1-2mag fainter than previous samples of AGN hosts with low-mass BHs. This work constrains the smallest galaxies that can form a massive BH, with implications for BH feedback in low-mass galaxies and the origin of the first supermassive BH seeds.
We investigate early black hole (BH) growth through the methodical search for z>~5 active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the Chandra} Deep Field South. We base our search on the Chandra 4-Ms data with flux limits of 9.1x10^-18^erg/s/cm2 (soft, 0.5-2keV) and 5.5x10^-17^erg/s/cm2 (hard, 2-8keV). At z~5, this corresponds to luminosities as low as ~10^42^erg/s/cm2 (~10^43^erg/s) in the soft (hard) band and should allow us to detect Compton-thin AGN with M_BH_>10^7^M_{sun}_ and Eddington ratios >0.1. Our field (0.03deg^2^) contains over 600 z~5 Lyman Break Galaxies. Based on lower redshift relations, we would expect ~20 of them to host AGN. After combining the Chandra data with Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), CANDELS/Wide Field Camera 3 and Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera data, the sample consists of 58 high-redshift candidates. We run a photometric redshift code, stack the GOODS/ACS data, apply colour criteria and the Lyman Break Technique and use the X-ray Hardness Ratio. We combine our tests and using additional data find that all sources are most likely at low redshift. We also find five X-ray sources without a counterpart in the optical or infrared which might be spurious detections. We conclude that our field does not contain any convincing z>~5 AGN. Explanations for this result include a low BH occupation fraction, a low AGN fraction, short, super-Eddington growth modes, BH growth through BH-BH mergers or in optically faint galaxies. By searching for z>~5 AGN, we are setting the foundation for constraining early BH growth and seed formation scenarios.
We present the results from a stellar population modeling analysis of a sample of 162 z=4.5 and 14 z=5.7 Ly{alpha} emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the Bootes field, using deep Spitzer/IRAC data at 3.6 and 4.5 {mu}m from the Spitzer Ly{alpha} Survey, along with Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS and WFC3 imaging at 1.1 and 1.6 {mu}m for a subset of the LAEs. This represents one of the largest samples of high-redshift LAEs imaged with Spitzer IRAC. We find that 30/162 (19%) of the z=4.5 LAEs and 9/14 (64%) of the z=5.7 LAEs are detected at >=3{sigma} in at least one IRAC band. Individual z=4.5 IRAC-detected LAEs have a large range of stellar mass, from 5x10^8^-10^11^ M_{sun}_. One-third of the IRAC-detected LAEs have older stellar population ages of 100 Myr^-1^ Gyr, while the remainder have ages <100 Myr. A stacking analysis of IRAC-undetected LAEs shows this population to be primarily low mass (8-20x10^8^ M_{sun}_) and young (64-570 Myr). We find a correlation between stellar mass and the dust-corrected ultraviolet-based star formation rate (SFR) similar to that at lower redshifts, in that higher mass galaxies exhibit higher SFRs. However, the z=4.5 LAE correlation is elevated 4-5 times in SFR compared to continuum-selected galaxies at similar redshifts. The exception is the most massive LAEs which have SFRs similar to galaxies at lower redshifts suggesting that they may represent a different population of galaxies than the traditional lower-mass LAEs, perhaps with a different mechanism promoting Ly{alpha} photon escape.
Scaling relations between central black hole (BH) mass and host galaxy properties are of fundamental importance to studies of BH and galaxy evolution throughout cosmic time. Here we investigate the relationship between BH mass and host galaxy total stellar mass using a sample of 262 broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the nearby universe (z<0.055), as well as 79 galaxies with dynamical BH masses. The vast majority of our AGN sample is constructed using Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy and searching for Seyfert-like narrow-line ratios and broad H{alpha} emission. BH masses are estimated using standard virial techniques. We also include a small number of dwarf galaxies with total stellar masses M_stellar_<~10^9.5^M_{sun}_ and a subsample of the reverberation-mapped AGNs. Total stellar masses of all 341 galaxies are calculated in the most consistent manner feasible using color-dependent mass-to-light ratios. We find a clear correlation between BH mass and total stellar mass for the AGN host galaxies, with M_BH_{propto}M_stellar_, similar to that of early-type galaxies with dynamically detected BHs. However, the relation defined by the AGNs has a normalization that is lower by more than an order of magnitude, with a BH-to-total stellar mass fraction of M_BH_/M_stellar_~0.025% across the stellar mass range 10^8^<=M_stellar_/M_{sun}_<=10^12^. This result has significant implications for studies at high redshift and cosmological simulations in which stellar bulges cannot be resolved.
We report a definitive confirmation of a large-scale structure around the super rich cluster CL0016+1609 at z=0.55. We made spectroscopic follow-up observations with Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on Subaru along the large filamentary structure identified in our previous photometric studies, including some subclumps already found by other authors.
To investigate the evolution of metal-enriched gas over recent cosmic epochs as well as to characterize the diffuse, ionized, metal-enriched circumgalactic medium, we have conducted a blind survey for CIV absorption systems in 89 QSO sightlines observed with the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. We have identified 42 absorbers at z<0.16, comprising the largest uniform blind sample size to date in this redshift range. Our measurements indicate an increasing CIV absorber number density per comoving path length (dN/dX=7.5+/-1.1) and modestly increasing mass density relative to the critical density of the universe ({Omega}_CIV_=10.0+/-1.5x10^-8^) from z~1.5 to the present epoch, consistent with predictions from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. Furthermore, the data support a functional form for the column density distribution function that deviates from a single power law, also consistent with independent theoretical predictions. As the data also probe heavy element ions in addition to CIV at the same redshifts, we identify, measure, and search for correlations between column densities of these species where components appear to be aligned in velocity. Among these ion-ion correlations, we find evidence for tight correlations between CII and SiII, CII and SiIII, and CIV and SiIV, suggesting that these pairs of species arise in similar ionization conditions. However, the evidence for correlations decreases as the difference in ionization potential increases. Finally, when controlling for observational bias, we find only marginal evidence for a correlation (86.8% likelihood) between the Doppler line width b(CIV) and column density N(CIV).
Metal absorption systems are products of star formation. They are believed to be associated with massive star-forming galaxies, which have significantly enriched their surroundings. To test this idea with high column density CIV absorption systems at z~5.7, we study the projected distribution of galaxies and characterize the environment of CIV systems in two independent quasar lines of sight: J103027.01+052455.0 and J113717.73+354956.9. Using wide-field photometry (~80x60h^-1^ comoving Mpc), we select bright (M_UV(1350{AA})_<~-21.0mag) Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z~5.7 in a redshift slice {Delta}z~0.2 and we compare their projected distribution with z~5.7 narrow-band selected Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs, {Delta}z~0.08). We find that the CIV systems are located more than 10h^-1^ projected comoving Mpc from the main concentrations of LBGs and no candidate is closer than ~5h^-1^ projected comoving Mpc. In contrast, an excess of LAEs - lower mass galaxies - is found on scales of ~10h^-1^ comoving Mpc, suggesting that LAEs are the primary candidates for the source of the CIV systems. Furthermore, the closest object to the system in the field J1030+0524 is a faint LAE at a projected distance of 212h^-1^ physical kpc. However, this work cannot rule out undiscovered lower mass galaxies as the origin of these absorption systems. We conclude that, in contrast with lower redshift examples (z<~3.5), strong CIV absorption systems at z~5.7 trace low-to-intermediate density environments dominated by low-mass galaxies. Moreover, the excess of LAEs associated with high levels of ionizing flux agrees with the idea that faint galaxies dominate the ionizing photon budget at this redshift.