- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/217/11
- Title:
- HeI* in broad absorption line QSOs
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/217/11
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Neutral helium multiplets, HeI*{lambda}{lambda}3189, 3889, 10830, are very useful diagnostics for the geometry and physical conditions of the absorbing gas in quasars. So far only a handful of HeI* detections have been reported. Using a newly developed method, we detected the HeI*{lambda}3889 absorption line in 101 sources of a well-defined sample of 285 MgII broad absorption line (BAL) quasars selected from SDSS DR5. This has increased the number of HeI* BAL quasars by more than one order of magnitude. We further detected HeI*{lambda}3189 in 50% (52/101) of the quasars in the sample. The detection fraction of HeI* BALs in MgII BAL quasars is ~35% as a whole, and it increases dramatically with increasing spectral signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), from ~18% at S/N<=10 to ~93% at S/N>=35. This suggests that HeI* BALs could be detected in most MgII LoBAL quasars, provided the spectra S/N is high enough. Such a surprisingly high HeI* BAL fraction is actually predicted from photoionization calculations based on a simple BAL model. The result indicates that HeI* absorption lines can be used to search for BAL quasars at low z, which cannot be identified by ground-based optical spectroscopic surveys with commonly seen UV absorption lines. Using HeI*{lambda}3889, we discovered 19 BAL quasars at z<0.3 from the available SDSS spectral database. The fraction of HeI* BAL quasars is similar to that of LoBAL objects.
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Search Results
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/847/81
- Title:
- HeII photoionization rates of quasars
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/847/81
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The HeII transverse proximity effect-enhanced HeII Ly{alpha} transmission in a background sightline caused by the ionizing radiation of a foreground quasar-offers a unique opportunity to probe the morphology of quasar-driven HeII reionization. We conduct a comprehensive spectroscopic survey to find z~3 quasars in the foreground of 22 background quasar sightlines with Hubble Space Telescope/COS HeII Ly{alpha} transmission spectra. With our two-tiered survey strategy, consisting of a deep pencil-beam survey and a shallow wide-field survey, we discover 131 new quasars, which we complement with known SDSS/BOSS quasars in our fields. Using a restricted sample of 66 foreground quasars with inferred HeII photoionization rates greater than the expected UV background at these redshifts ({Gamma}_QSO_^HeII^>5x10^-16^s^-1^) we perform the first statistical analysis of the HeII transverse proximity effect. Our results show qualitative evidence for a large object-to-object variance: among the four foreground quasars with the highest {Gamma}_QSO_^HeII^ only one (previously known) quasar is associated with a significant HeII transmission spike. We perform a stacking analysis to average down these fluctuations, and detect an excess in the average HeII transmission near the foreground quasars at 3{sigma} significance. This statistical evidence for the transverse proximity effect is corroborated by a clear dependence of the signal strength on {Gamma}_QSO_^HeII^. Our detection places a purely geometrical lower limit on the quasar lifetime of t_Q_>25Myr. Improved modeling would additionally constrain quasar obscuration and the mean free path of HeII-ionizing photons.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/409/79
- Title:
- HELLAS2XMM survey. IV.
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/409/79
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present results from the photometric and spectroscopic identification of 122 X-ray sources recently discovered by XMM-Newton in the 2-10keV band (the HELLAS2XMM 1dF sample). Their flux cover the range 8x10^-15^-4x10^-13^erg/cm^2^/s and the total area surveyed is 0.9 square degrees. One of the most interesting results (which is found also in deeper surveys) is that about 20% of the hard X-ray selected sources have an X-ray to optical flux ratio (X/O) ten times or more higher than that of optically selected AGN. Unlike the faint sources found in the ultra-deep Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys, which reach X-ray (and optical) fluxes more than one order of magnitude lower than the HELLAS2XMM survey sources, many of the extreme X/O sources in our sample have R<~25 and are therefore accessible to optical spectroscopy. We report the identification of 13 sources with X/O>~10 (to be compared with 9 sources known from the deeper, pencil-beam surveys). Eight of them are narrow line QSO (seemingly the extension to very high luminosity of the type 2 Seyfert galaxies), four are broad line QSO. The results from our survey are also used to make reliable predictions about the luminosity of the sources not yet spectroscopically identified, both in our sample and in deeper Chandra and XMM-Newton samples. We then use a combined sample of 317 hard X-ray selected sources (HELLAS2XMM 1dF, Chandra Deep Field North 1Msec, Chandra SSA13 and XMM-Newton Lockman Hole flux limited samples), 221 with measured redshifts, to evaluate the cosmological evolution of the hard X-ray source's number and luminosity densities.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/462/4197
- Title:
- HI 21-cm absorption in redshifted galaxies
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/462/4197
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The star-forming reservoir in the distant Universe can be detected through HI 21-cm absorption arising from either cool gas associated with a radio source or from within a galaxy intervening the sightline to the continuum source. In order to test whether the nature of the absorber can be predicted from the profile shape, we have compiled and analysed all of the known redshifted (z>=0.1) HI 21-cm absorption profiles. Although between individual spectra there is too much variation to assign a typical spectral profile, we confirm that associated absorption profiles are, on average, wider than their intervening counterparts. It is widely hypothesized that this is due to high-velocity nuclear gas feeding the central engine, absent in the more quiescent intervening absorbers. Modelling the column density distribution of the mean associated and intervening spectra, we confirm that the additional low optical depth, wide dispersion component, typical of associated absorbers, arises from gas within the inner parsec. With regard to the potential of predicting the absorber type in the absence of optical spectroscopy, we have implemented machine learning techniques to the 55 associated and 43 intervening spectra, with each of the tested models giving a >=80 per cent accuracy in the prediction of the absorber type. Given the impracticability of follow-up optical spectroscopy of the large number of 21-cm detections expected from the next generation of large radio telescopes, this could provide a powerful new technique with which to determine the nature of the absorbing galaxy.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/465/588
- Title:
- HI 21-cm absorption survey of QSO-galaxy pairs
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/465/588
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the results from our survey of HI 21-cm absorption, using Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, Very Large Array and Westerbork Radio Synthesis Telescope, in a sample of 55 z<0.4 galaxies towards radio sources with impact parameters (b) in the range ~0-35kpc. In our primary sample (defined for statistical analyses) of 40 quasar-galaxy pairs, probed by 45 sightlines, we have found seven HI 21-cm absorption detections, two of which are reported here for the first time. Combining our primary sample with measurements having similar optical depth sensitivity ({int}{tau}dv<=0.3km/s) from the literature, we find a weak anti-correlation (rank correlation coefficient =-0.20 at 2.42{sigma} level) between {int}{tau}dv and b, consistent with previous literature results. The covering factor of HI 21-cm absorbers (C21) is estimated to be 0.24^+0.12^_-0.08_ at b<=15kpc and 0.06^+0.09^_-0.04_ at b=15-35kpc. {int}{tau}dv and C_21_ show similar declining trend with radial distance along the galaxy's major axis and distances scaled with the effective HI radius. There is also tentative indication that most of the HI 21-cm absorbers could be co-planar with the extended HI discs. No significant dependence of {int}{tau}dv and C_21_ on galaxy luminosity, stellar mass, colour and star formation rate is found, though the HI 21-cm absorbing gas cross-section may be larger for the luminous galaxies. The higher detection rate (by a factor of ~4) of HI 21-cm absorption in z<1 damped Lyman-{alpha} systems compared to the quasar-galaxy pairs indicates towards small covering factor and patchy distribution of cold gas clouds around low-z galaxies.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/452/217
- Title:
- HI cosmological mass density at z=5
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/452/217
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the largest homogeneous survey of z>4.4 damped Ly{alpha} systems (DLAs) using the spectra of 163 QSOs that comprise the Giant Gemini GMOS (GGG) survey. With this survey we make the most precise high-redshift measurement of the cosmological mass density of neutral hydrogen, Omega_HI_. At such high redshift, important systematic uncertainties in the identification of DLAs are produced by strong intergalactic medium absorption and QSO continuum placement. These can cause spurious DLA detections, result in real DLAs being missed or bias the inferred DLA column density distribution. We correct for these effects using a combination of mock and higher resolution spectra, and show that for the GGG DLA sample the uncertainties introduced are smaller than the statistical errors on Omega_HI_. We find Omega_HI_=0.98^+0.20^_-0.18_x10^-3^ at <z>=4.9, assuming a 20 percent contribution from lower column density systems below the DLA threshold. By comparing to literature measurements at lower redshifts, we show that Omega_HI_ can be described by the functional form Omega_HI_(z){prop.to}(1+z)^0.4^. This gradual decrease from z=5 to 0 is consistent with the bulk of HI gas being a transitory phase fuelling star formation, which is continually replenished by more highly ionized gas from the intergalactic medium and from recycled galactic winds.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/429/2143
- Title:
- Hidden population of AM CVns in the SDSS
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/429/2143
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the latest results from a spectroscopic survey designed to uncover the hidden population of AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) binaries in the photometric database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We selected ~2000 candidates based on their photometric colours, a relatively small sample which is expected to contain the majority of all AM CVn binaries in the SDSS (expected to be ~50). We present two new candidate AM CVn binaries discovered using this strategy: SDSS J104325.08+563258.1 and SDSS J173047.59+554518.5. We also present spectra of 29 new cataclysmic variables, 23 DQ white dwarfs and 21 DZ white dwarfs discovered in this survey. The survey is now approximately 70 per cent complete, and the discovery of seven new AM CVn binaries indicates a lower space density than previously predicted. From the essentially complete g~19 sample, we derive an observed space density of (5+/-3)*10^-7^pc^-3^; this is lower than previous estimates by a factor of 3. The sample has been cross-matched with the GALEX All-Sky Imaging Survey database, and with Data Release 9 of the UKIRT (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The addition of UV photometry allows new colour cuts to be applied, reducing the size of our sample to ~1100 objects. Optimising our followup should allow us to uncover the remaining AM CVn binaries present in the SDSS, providing the larger homogeneous sample required to more reliably estimate their space density.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/437/2017
- Title:
- HI-galaxy cross-correlation at z<~1
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/437/2017
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a new optical spectroscopic survey of 1777 'star-forming' ('SF') and 366 'non-star-forming' ('non-SF') galaxies at redshifts z~0-1 (2143 in total), 22 AGN and 423 stars, observed by instruments such as the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph, the Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph and the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph, in three fields containing five quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ultraviolet spectroscopy. We also present a new spectroscopic survey of 173 'strong' (10^14^<=N_HI_<~10^17^cm^-2^) and 496 'weak' (10^13^<~N_HI_<10^14^cm^-2^) intervening HI (Ly{alpha}) absorption-line systems at z<~1 (669 in total), observed in the spectra of eight QSOs at z~1 by the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Faint Object Spectrograph on the HST. Combining these new data with previously published galaxy catalogues such as the Very Large Telescope Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph Deep Survey and the Gemini Deep Deep Survey, we have gathered a sample of 654 HI absorption systems and 17509 galaxies at transverse scales <~50Mpc, suitable for a two-point correlation function analysis. We present observational results on the HI-galaxy ({xi}_ag_) and galaxy-galaxy ({xi}_gg_) correlations at transverse scales r_perp_<~10Mpc, and the HI-HI autocorrelation ({xi}_aa_) at transverse scales r_perp_<~2Mpc.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/601/A35
- Title:
- High-fidelity VLA imaging of 3C273
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/601/A35
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- 3C 273, the nearest bright quasar, comprises a strong nuclear core and a bright, one-sided jet extending ~23 arcseconds to the SW. The source has been the subject of imaging campaigns in all wavebands. Extensive observations of this source have been made with the Very Large Array and other telescopes as part of a campaign to understand the jet emission mechanisms. Partial results from the VLA radio campaign have been published, but to date, the complete set of VLA imaging results has not been made available. We have utilized the VLA to determine the radio structure of 3C273 in Stokes I, Q, and U, over the widest possible frequency and resolution range. The VLA observed the source in all four of its configurations, and with all eight of its frequency bands, spanning 73.8MHz to 43GHz. The data were taken in a pseudo-spectral line mode to minimize the VLA's correlator errors, and were fully calibrated with subsequent self-calibration techniques to maximise image fidelity. Images in Stokes parameters I, Q, and U, spanning a resolution range from 6 arcseconds to 88 milliarcseconds are presented. Spectral index images, showing the evolution of the jet component are shown. Polarimetry demonstrates the direction of the magnetic fields responsible for the emission, and rotation measure maps show the RM to be very small with no discernible trend along or across the jet. This paper presents a small subset of these images to demonstrate the major characteristics of the source emission. A library of all ~500 images has been made available for open, free access by interested parties.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/363/887
- Title:
- High frequency peakers. I. The bright sample
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/363/887
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Here we present a sample of sources with convex radio spectra peaking at frequencies above a few GHz. We call these radio sources High Frequency Peakers (HFPs). This sample extends to higher turnover frequencies than the samples of Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) and GHz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) radio sources. HFPs are rare due to the strong bias against them caused by their turnover occurring at frequencies about one order of magnitude higher than in CSS-GPS samples. he sample has been selected by a comparison between the Green Bank survey (87GB) at 4.9 GHz and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) at 1.4 GHz. Then the candidates have been observed with the VLA at 1.365, 1.665, 4.535, 4.985, 8.085, 8.485, 14.96 and 22.46 GHz in order to derive a simultaneous radio spectrum, and remove variable sources from the sample. The final list of genuine HFP sources consists of 55 objects with flux density exceeding 300 mJy at 4.9 GHz at the time of the 87GB observation. Optical identifications are available for 29 of them; 24 are high redshift quasars, 3 are galaxies (one of them has indeed broad lines in the optical spectrum) and 2 are BL Lac objects. The remaining sources are mostly empty fields (17) on the digitised POSS or have uncertain classification (9).
