We present the Large Area Radio Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Survey (LARGESS), a spectroscopic catalogue of radio sources designed to include the full range of radio AGN populations out to redshift z~0.8. The catalogue covers ~800deg^2^ of sky, and provides optical identifications for 19179 radio sources from the 1.4GHz Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey down to an optical magnitude limit of i_mod_<20.5 in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images. Both galaxies and point-like objects are included, and no colour cuts are applied. In collaboration with the WiggleZ and Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) spectroscopic survey teams, we have obtained new spectra for over 5000 objects in the LARGESS sample. Combining these new spectra with data from earlier surveys provides spectroscopic data for 12329 radio sources in the survey area, of which 10 856 have reliable redshifts. 85 per cent of the LARGESS spectroscopic sample are radio AGN (median redshift z=0.44), and 15 per cent are nearby star-forming galaxies (median z=0.08). Low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) comprise the majority (83 per cent) of LARGESS radio AGN at z<0.8, with 12 per cent being high-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs) and 5 per cent radio-loud QSOs. Unlike the more homogeneous LERG and QSO sub-populations, HERGs are a heterogeneous class of objects with relatively blue optical colours and a wide dispersion in mid-infrared colours. This is consistent with a picture in which most HERGs are hosted by galaxies with recent or ongoing star formation as well as a classical accretion disc.
The Las Campanas Observatory and Anglo-Australian Telescope Rich Cluster Survey (LARCS) is a panoramic imaging and spectroscopic survey of an X-ray luminosity-selected sample of 21 clusters of galaxies at 0.97<z<0.16. Charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging was obtained in B and R of typically 2{deg} wide regions centred on the 21 clusters, and the galaxy sample selected from the imaging is being used for an on-going spectroscopic survey of the clusters with the 2dF spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope.
We present deep Keck spectroscopy, using the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph and the Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer spectrographs, of a large and representative sample of 67 extremely red objects (EROs) to H=20.5 in three fields (SSA22, Chandra Deep Field South and NTT Deep Field) drawn from the Las Campanas Infrared Survey (LCIRS). Using the colour cut (I-H)>3.0 (Vega magnitudes) adopted in earlier papers in this series, we verify the efficiency of this selection for locating and studying distant old sources. Spectroscopic redshifts are determined for 44 sources, of which only two are contaminating low-mass stars. When allowance is made for incompleteness, the spectroscopic redshift distribution closely matches that predicted earlier on the basis of photometric data.
The Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS) consists of 26,418 redshifts of galaxies selected from a CCD-based catalog obtained in the R band. The survey covers over 700deg^2 in six strips, each 1.5x80deg, three each in the north and south Galactic caps. The median redshift in the survey is about 30,000km/s. Essential features of the galaxy selection and redshift measurement methods are described and tabulated here. These details are important for subsequent analysis of the LCRS data. Two-dimensional representations of the redshift distributions reveal many repetitions of voids, on the scale of about 5000km/s, sharply bounded by large walls of galaxies as seen in nearby surveys. Statistical investigations of the mean galaxy properties and of clustering on the large scale are reported elsewhere. These include studies of the luminosity function, power spectrum in two and three dimensions, correlation function, pairwise velocity distribution, identification of large-scale structures, and a group catalog.
Using a multisplit spectrograph, LDSS, we have obtained intermediate dispersion spectroscopy for a new sample of 149 faint objects selected randomly from the magnitude range 21<=bJ<=22.5 in three high-latitude fields.
The statistics of strongly lensed arcs in samples of galaxy clusters provide information on cluster structure that is complementary to that from individual clusters. However, samples of clusters that have been analysed to date have been either small, heterogeneous or observed with limited angular resolution. We measure the lensed-arc statistics of 97 clusters imaged at high angular resolution with the Hubble Space Telescope, identifying lensed arcs using two automated arc-detection algorithms. The sample includes similar numbers of X-ray-selected [MAssive Cluster Survey (MACS)] and optically selected [Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS)] clusters, and spans cluster redshifts in the range 0.2<z<1. We compile a catalogue of 42 arcs in the X-ray-selected subsample and seven arcs in the optical subsample. All but five of these arcs are reported here for the first time.
This is the second of two papers describing the observations and source catalogues derived from sensitive $3$-GHz images of the Lockman Hole North using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We describe the reduction and cataloguing process, which yielded an image with 8-arcsec resolution and instrumental noise of {sigma}_n=1.01uJy/beam rms (before primary beam corrections) and a catalogue of 558 sources detected above 5{sigma}_n. We include details of how we estimate source spectral indices across the 2GHz VLA bandwidth, finding a median index of -0.76+/-0.04. Stacking of source spectra reveals a flattening of spectral index with decreasing flux density. We present a source count derived from the catalogue. We show a traditional count estimate compared with a completely independent estimate made via a P(D) confusion analysis, and find very good agreement. Cross-matches of the catalogue with X-ray, optical, infrared, radio, and redshift catalogues are also presented. The X-ray, optical and infrared data, as well as AGN selection criteria allow us to classify 10 per cent as radio-loud AGN, 28 percent as radio-quiet AGN, and 58 per cent as star-forming galaxies, with only 4 per cent unclassified.
Using spatially resolved spectroscopy from SDSS-IV MaNGA we have demonstrated that low ionization emission-line regions (LIERs) in local galaxies result from photoionization by hot evolved stars, not active galactic nuclei, hence tracing galactic region hosting old stellar population where, despite the presence of ionized gas, star formation is no longer occurring. LIERs are ubiquitous in both quiescent galaxies and in the central regions of galaxies where star formation takes place at larger radii. We refer to these two classes of galaxies as extended LIER (eLIER) and central LIER (cLIER) galaxies, respectively. cLIERs are late-type galaxies primarily spread across the green valley, in the transition region between the star formation main sequence and quiescent galaxies. These galaxies display regular disc rotation in both stars and gas, although featuring a higher central stellar velocity dispersion than star-forming galaxies of the same mass. cLIERs are consistent with being slowly quenched inside-out; the transformation is associated with massive bulges, pointing towards the importance of bulge growth via secular evolution. eLIERs are morphologically early types and are indistinguishable from passive galaxies devoid of line emission in terms of their stellar populations, morphology and central stellar velocity dispersion. Ionized gas in eLIERs shows both disturbed and disc-like kinematics. When a large-scale flow/rotation is observed in the gas, it is often misaligned relative to the stellar component. These features indicate that eLIERs are passive galaxies harbouring a residual cold gas component, acquired mostly via external accretion. Importantly, quiescent galaxies devoid of line emission reside in denser environments and have significantly higher satellite fraction than eLIERs. Environmental effects thus represent the likely cause for the existence of line-less galaxies on the red sequence.
Using new integral field observations of 106 galaxies in three nearby clusters, we investigate how the intrinsic scatter of the Fundamental Plane depends on the way in which the velocity dispersion and effective radius are measured. Our spatially resolved spectroscopy, combined with a cluster sample with negligible relative distance errors, allows us to derive a Fundamental Plane with minimal systematic uncertainties. From the apertures we tested, we find that velocity dispersions measured within a circular aperture with radius equal to one effective radius minimizes the intrinsic scatter of the Fundamental Plane. Using simple yet powerful Jeans dynamical models, we determine dynamical masses for our galaxies. Replacing luminosity in the Fundamental Plane with dynamical mass, we demonstrate that the resulting Mass Plane has further reduced scatter, consistent with zero intrinsic scatter. Using these dynamical models, we also find evidence for a possibly non-linear relationship between dynamical mass-to-light ratio and velocity dispersion.
We study the environments of low-redshift (z<0.5) quasars based on a large and homogeneous data set from the Stripe 82 region of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We have compared the <1Mpc scale environments of 302 quasars that were resolved in our recent study to those of 288 inactive galaxies with closely matched redshifts. Crucially, the luminosities of the inactive galaxies and the quasar host galaxies are also closely matched, unlike in most previous studies. The environmental overdensities were studied by measuring the number density of galaxies within a projected distance of 200kpc to 1Mpc. The galaxy number density of the quasar environments is comparable to that of the inactive galaxies with similar luminosities, both classes of objects showing significant excess compared to the background galaxy density for distances <400kpc. There is no significant dependence of the galaxy number density on redshift, quasar or host galaxy luminosity, black hole mass or radio loudness. This suggests that the fuelling and triggering of the nuclear activity is only weakly dependent on the local environment of quasars, and the quasar phase may be a short-lived common phase in the life cycle of all massive galaxies.
