Number of results to display per page
Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/887/5
- Title:
- COS CGM compendium (CCC). III. z<=1 Ly{alpha} syst.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/887/5
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We characterize the metallicities and physical properties of cool, photoionized gas in a sample of 152 z<=1 strong Ly{alpha} forest systems (SLFSs, absorbers with 15<logN_HI_<16.2). The sample is drawn from our Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) circumgalactic medium compendium (CCC), an ultraviolet survey of HI-selected circumgalactic gas around z<=1 galaxies that targets 261 absorbers with 15<logN_HI_<19. We show that the metallicity probability distribution function of the SLFSs at z<=1 is unimodal, skewed to low metallicities with a mean and median of [X/H]=-1.47 and -1.18dex. Very metal-poor gas with [X/H]{<}-1.4 represents about half of the population of absorbers with 15<logN_HI_<=18, while it is rare at higher N_HI_. Thus, there are important reservoirs of primitive (though not pristine) diffuse ionized gas around z<=1 galaxies. The photoionized gas around z<=1 galaxies is highly inhomogeneous based on the wide range of metallicities observed (-3<=[X/H]<=+0.4) and the fact that there are large metallicity variations (factors of 2 to 25) for most of the closely spaced absorbers ({Delta}v<=300km/s) along the same sightlines. These absorbers show a complex evolution with redshift and HI column density, and we identify subtle cosmic evolution effects that affect the interpretation of metallicity distributions and comparison with other absorber samples. We discuss the physical conditions and cosmic baryon and metal budgets of the CCC absorbers. Finally, we compare the CCC results to recent cosmological zoom simulations and explore the origins of the 15<logN_HI_<19 absorbers within the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) high-resolution simulations.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/669/821
- Title:
- CO Tully-Fisher relation for host galaxies of QSOs
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/669/821
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The integrated line width derived from CO spectroscopy provides a powerful tool to study the internal kinematics of extragalactic objects, including quasars at high redshift, provided that the observed line width can be properly translated to more conventionally used kinematical parameters of galaxies. We show, through the construction of a Ks-band CO Tully-Fisher relation for nearby galaxies spanning a wide range in infrared luminosity, that the CO line width measured at 20% of the peak intensity, when corrected for inclination and other effects, successfully recovers the maximum rotation velocity of the disk. The line width at 50% of the peak intensity performs much more poorly, in large part because CO lines have a wide range of profiles, which are shown to vary systematically with infrared luminosity. We present a practical prescription for converting observed CO line widths into the stellar velocity dispersion of the bulge ({sigma}*) and then apply it to a sample of low-redshift (z<~0.2) and high-redshift (1.4<~z<~6.4) quasars to study their host galaxies.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/430/3445
- Title:
- Covering factor of warm dust in quasars
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/430/3445
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- By combining newly obtained infrared photometric data from the All-Sky Data Release of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with spectroscopic data from the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we study the covering factor of warm dust (CFWD) for a large quasar sample, as well as the relations between CFWD and other physical parameters of quasars. We find a strong correlation between the flux ratio in the mid-infrared to near-ultraviolet and the slope of the near-ultraviolet spectra, which is interpreted as a dust extinction effect. After correcting for dust extinction utilizing the above correlation, we examine the relations between CFWD and active galactic nucleus properties: bolometric luminosity (L_bol_), black hole mass (M_BH_) and Eddington ratio (L/L_Edd_). We confirm the anticorrelation between CFWD and L_bol_. Further, we find that CFWD is anticorrelated with M_BH_ but is independent of L/L_Edd_. Radio-loud quasars are found to follow the same correlations as radio-quiet quasars. Monte Carlo simulations show that the anisotropy of the UV-optical continuum of the accretion disc can have a significant effect, but is not likely to dominate the CFWD-L_bol_ correlation.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/623/A111
- Title:
- 3C273 polarization over ALMA 1.3mm band
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/623/A111
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We studied the polarization behavior of the quasar 3C 273 over the 1mm wavelength band at ALMA with a total bandwidth of 7.5GHz across 223-243GHz at 0.8" resolution, corresponding to 2.1kpc at the distance of 3C 273. With these observations we were able to probe the optically thin polarized emission close to the jet base, and constrain the magnetic field structure. We computed the Faraday rotation measure using simple linear fitting and Faraday rotation measure synthesis. In addition, we modeled the broadband behavior of the fractional Stokes Q and U parameters (qu-fitting). The systematic uncertainties in the polarization observations at ALMA were assessed through Monte Carlo simulations. We find the unresolved core of 3C 273 to be 1.8% linearly polarized. We detect a very high rotation measure (RM) of (5.0+/-0.3)x10^5^rad/m^2^ over the 1 mm band when assuming a single polarized component and an external RM screen. This results in a rotation of >40{deg} of the intrinsic electric vector position angle, which is significantly higher than typically assumed for millimeter wavelengths. The polarization fraction increases as a function of wavelength, which according to our qu-fitting could be due to multiple polarized components of different Faraday depth within our beam or to internal Faraday rotation. With our limited wavelength coverage we cannot distinguish between the cases, and additional multifrequency and high angular resolution observations are needed to determine the location and structure of the magnetic field of the Faraday active region. Comparing our RM estimate with values obtained at lower frequencies, the RM increases as a function of observing frequency, following a power law with an index of 2.0+/-0.2, consistent with a sheath surrounding a conically expanding jet. We also detect ~0.2% circular polarization, although further observations are needed to confirm this result.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/778/98
- Title:
- Cross-correlation of SDSS QSOs and BOSS galaxies
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/778/98
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the measurement of the two-point cross-correlation function (CCF) of 8198 Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 quasars and 349608 Data Release 10 CMASS galaxies from the Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) at 0.3<z<0.9. The CCF can be reasonably well fit by a power-law model {xi}_QG_(r)=(r/r_0_)^-{gamma}^ on projected scales of r_p_=2-25h^-1^Mpc with r_0_=6.61+/-0.25h^-1^Mpc and {gamma}=1.69+/-0.07. We estimate a quasar linear bias of b_Q_=1.38+/-0.10 at <z>{=}0.53 from the CCF measurements, which corresponds to a characteristic host halo mass of ~4x10^12^h^-1^M_{sun}_, compared with a ~10^13^h^-1^M_{sun}_ characteristic host halo mass for CMASS galaxies. Based on the clustering measurements, most quasars at {overline}{z}~0.5 are not the descendants of their higher luminosity counterparts at higher redshift, which would have evolved into more massive and more biased systems at low redshift. We divide the quasar sample in luminosity and constrain the luminosity dependence of quasar bias to be db_Q_/dlogL=0.20+/-0.34 or 0.11+/-0.32 (depending on different luminosity divisions) for quasar luminosities -23.5>M_i_(z=2)>-25.5, implying a weak luminosity dependence of clustering for luminous quasars at {overline}{z}~0.5. We compare our measurements with theoretical predictions, halo occupation distribution (HOD) models, and mock catalogs. These comparisons suggest that quasars reside in a broad range of host halos. The host halo mass distributions significantly overlap with each other for quasars at different luminosities, implying a poor correlation between halo mass and instantaneous quasar luminosity. We also find that the quasar HOD parameterization is largely degenerate such that different HODs can reproduce the CCF equally well, but with different satellite fractions and host halo mass distributions. These results highlight the limitations and ambiguities in modeling the distribution of quasars with the standard HOD approach.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/453/1562
- Title:
- CRTS close supermassive black hole binaries
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/453/1562
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Hierarchical assembly models predict a population of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. These are not resolvable by direct imaging but may be detectable via periodic variability (or nanohertz frequency gravitational waves). Following our detection of a 5.2-year periodic signal in the quasar PG 1302-102, we present a novel analysis of the optical variability of 243 500 known spectroscopically confirmed quasars using data from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) to look for close (<0.1pc) SMBH systems. Looking for a strong Keplerian periodic signal with at least 1.5 cycles over a baseline of nine years, we find a sample of 111 candidate objects. This is in conservative agreement with theoretical predictions from models of binary SMBH populations. Simulated data sets, assuming stochastic variability, also produce no equivalent candidates implying a low likelihood of spurious detections. The periodicity seen is likely attributable to either jet precession, warped accretion discs or periodic accretion associated with a close SMBH binary system. We also consider how other SMBH binary candidates in the literature appear in CRTS data and show that none of these are equivalent to the identified objects. Finally, the distribution of objects found is consistent with that expected from a gravitational-wave-driven population. This implies that circumbinary gas is present at small orbital radii and is being perturbed by the black holes. None of the sources is expected to merge within at least the next century. This study opens a new unique window to study a population of close SMBH binaries that must exist according to our current understanding of galaxy and SMBH evolution.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/458/3786
- Title:
- CSS and GPS radio sources sample
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/458/3786
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The dependence of the turnover frequency on the linear size is presented for a sample of Giga-hertz Peaked Spectrum and Compact Steep Spectrum radio sources derived from complete samples. The dependence of the luminosity of the emission at the peak frequency with the linear size and the peak frequency is also presented for the galaxies in the sample. The luminosity of the smaller sources evolve strongly with the linear size. Optical depth effects have been included to the 3D model for the radio source of Kaiser to study the spectral turnover. Using this model, the observed trend can be explained by synchrotron self-absorption. The observed trend in the peak-frequency-linear-size plane is not affected by the luminosity evolution of the sources.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/570/A53
- Title:
- CTS C30.10 SALT long-slit spectra
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/570/A53
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Quasars can be used as a complementary tool to SN Ia to probe the distribution of dark energy in the Universe by measuring the time delay of the emission line with respect to the continuum. The understanding of the MgII emission line structure is important for cosmological application and for the black hole mass measurements of intermediate redshift quasars. Knowing the shape of MgII line and its variability allows for identification which part of the line should be used to measure the time delay and the black hole mass. We thus aim at determining the structure and the variability of the MgII line, as well as the underlying FeII pseudo-continuum. We performed five spectroscopic observations of a quasar CTS C30.10 (z=0.9000) with the SALT telescope between December 2012 and March 2014, and we studied the variations in the spectral shape in the 2700{AA}-2900{AA} rest frame. We show that the MgII line in this source consists of two kinematic components, which makes the source representative of type B quasars. Both components were modeled well with a Lorentzian shape, and they vary in a similar way. The FeII contribution seems to be related only to the first (blue) MgII component. Broad band spectral fitting instead favor the use of the whole line profile. The contribution of the narrow line region to MgII is very low, below 2%. The MgII variability is lower than the variability of the continuum, which is consistent with the simple reprocessing scenario. The variability level of CTS C30.10 and the measurement accuracy of the line and continuum is high enough to expect that further monitoring will allow the time delay between the MgII line and continuum to be measured.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/636/610
- Title:
- Damped Ly{alpha} systems at z<1.65
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/636/610
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present results of our Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 11 survey for low-redshift (z<1.65) damped Ly{alpha} (DLA) systems in the UV spectra of quasars selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Early Data Release (Cat. <J/AJ/123/567>). These quasars have strong intervening MgII-FeII systems that are known signatures of high column density neutral gas. In total, including our previous surveys, UV observations of Ly{alpha} absorption in 197 MgII systems with z<1.65 and rest equivalent width (REW) W_0_^{lambda}2796^>=0.3{AA} have now been obtained.
