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Start Over Subject active galactic nuclei
301. Galaxies as tracers of the circumgalactic gas
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/716/1514
Title:
Galaxies as tracers of the circumgalactic gas
Short Name:
J/ApJ/716/1514
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies is believed to record various forms of galaxy feedback and contain a significant portion of the "missing baryons" of individual dark matter halos. However, clear observational evidence for the existence of the hot CGM is still absent. We use intervening galaxies along 12 background active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as tracers to search for X-ray absorption lines produced in the corresponding CGM. Stacking Chandra grating observations with respect to galaxy groups and different luminosities of these intervening galaxies, we obtain spectra with signal-to-noise ratios of 46-72 per 20m{AA} spectral bin at the expected OVIIK{alpha} line. We find no detectable absorption lines of CVI, NVII, OVII, OVIII, or NeIX. The high spectral quality allows us to tightly constrain upper limits to the corresponding ionic column densities (in particular log[N_OVII_(cm^-2^)]<=14.2-14.8). These nondetections are inconsistent with the Local Group hypothesis of the X-ray absorption lines at z~0 commonly observed in the spectra of AGNs. These results indicate that the putative CGM in the temperature range of 10^5.5^-10^6.3^K may not be able to account for the missing baryons unless the metallicity is less than 10% solar.
302. Galaxies in the Perseus cluster field
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/640/A30
Title:
Galaxies in the Perseus cluster field
Short Name:
J/A+A/640/A30
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We investigate the galaxies brighter than B~20 in the field of the Perseus cluster. The galaxies were selected on Schmidt CCD images in B and Halpha in combination with SDSS images. The survey field roughly covers the virial radius of the cluster. The galaxy sample is used for analysing cluster properties, such as radial profiles, indications of sub-structure, virial mass, and viral radius and is applied for a study of the cluster galaxy population with an emphasis on morphological types and peculiarities, star formation rates and active galactic nuclei.
303. Galaxies probing galaxies in PRIMUS. I.
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/853/95
Title:
Galaxies probing galaxies in PRIMUS. I.
Short Name:
J/ApJ/853/95
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The spectroscopy of background QSO sightlines passing close to foreground galaxies is a potent technique for studying the circumgalactic medium (CGM). However, QSOs are effectively point sources, limiting their potential to constrain the size of circumgalactic gaseous structures. Here we present the first large Keck/Low-resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) and Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Focal Reducer/Low-dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) spectroscopic survey of bright (B_AB_<22.3) background galaxies whose lines of sight probe MgII{lambda}{lambda}2796,2803 absorption from the CGM around close projected foreground galaxies at transverse distances 10kpc<R_{perp}_<150kpc. Our sample of 72 projected pairs, drawn from the PRIsm MUlti-object Survey, includes 48 background galaxies that do not host bright active galactic nuclei, and both star-forming and quiescent foreground galaxies with stellar masses of 9.0<logM_*_/M_{sun}_<11.2 at redshifts of 0.35<z_f/g_<0.8. We detect MgII absorption associated with these foreground galaxies with equivalent widths of 0.25{AA}<W_2796_<2.6{AA} at >2{sigma} significance in 20 individual background sightlines passing within R_{perp}_<50kpc and place 2{sigma} upper limits on W_2796_ of <~0.5{AA} in an additional 11 close sightlines. Within R_{perp}_<50kpc, W_2796_ is anticorrelated with R_{perp}_, consistent with analyses of Mg ii absorption detected along background QSO sightlines. Subsamples of these foreground hosts divided at logM_*_/M_{sun}_=9.9 exhibit statistically inconsistent W_2796_ distributions at 30kpc<R_{perp}_<50kpc, with the higher-M* galaxies yielding a larger median W_2796_ by 0.9{AA}. Finally, we demonstrate that foreground galaxies with similar stellar masses exhibit the same median W_2796_ at a given R_{perp}_ to within <0.2{AA} toward both background galaxies and toward QSO sightlines drawn from the literature. Analysis of these data sets constraining the spatial coherence scale of circumgalactic MgII absorption is presented in a companion paper.
304. Galaxies within 150Mpc observed with Chandra
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/900/124
Title:
Galaxies within 150Mpc observed with Chandra
Short Name:
J/ApJ/900/124
Date:
21 Jan 2022 09:06:38
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
She+ (Paper I, 2017, J/ApJ/835/223) assembled a catalog of nearby galaxies observed with the Chandra X-ray observatory, by cross-matching galaxies in the NASA Extragalactic Database within 50Mpc and the Chandra archive. That sample has enabled searches of low-mass black holes associated with late-type, bulgeless galaxies and studies of the accretion physics related to low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Using a similar approach, here we construct an extended catalog up to 150Mpc and make a cross-correlation with a catalog of nearby galaxy groups. The new catalog consists of 1964 galaxies, out of which 1692 have a redshift-independent distance, 1557 are listed in the galaxy group catalog with group properties available, and 782 are identified to be X-ray AGN candidates. Compared with the AGN sample in Paper I, the new sample is 2.5 times larger in size (782 versus 314), with ~80% of the new members having an Eddington ratio less than 10^-4^. We confirm that the conclusions based on the previous sample remain. With the new sample, we compare AGN fractions between early-type and late-type galaxies, and between central and satellite galaxies in groups, and find no significant difference. This suggests that the secular process is not the dominant mechanism feeding AGNs in the local universe.
305. Galaxy mergers and AGN activity
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/470/755
Title:
Galaxy mergers and AGN activity
Short Name:
J/MNRAS/470/755
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs), particularly the most luminous AGNs, are commonly assumed to be triggered through major mergers; however, observational evidence for this scenario is mixed. To investigate any influence of galaxy mergers on AGN triggering and luminosities through cosmic time, we present a sample of 106 luminous X-ray-selected type 1 AGNs from the COSMOS survey. These AGNs occupy a large redshift range (0.5<z<2.2) and two orders of magnitude in X-ray luminosity (~10^43^-10^45^erg/s). AGN hosts are carefully mass and redshift matched to 486 control galaxies. A novel technique for identifying and quantifying merger features in galaxies is developed, subtracting GALFIT galaxy models and quantifying the residuals. Comparison to visual classification confirms this measure reliably picks out disturbance features in galaxies. No enhancement of merger features with increasing AGN luminosity is found with this metric, or by visual inspection. We analyse the redshift evolution of AGNs associated with galaxy mergers and find no merger enhancement in lower redshift bins. Contrarily, in the highest redshift bin (z~2) AGNs are ~4 times more likely to be in galaxies exhibiting evidence of morphological disturbance compared to control galaxies, at 99 per cent confidence level (~2.4{sigma}) from visual inspection. Since only ~15 per cent of these AGNs are found to be in morphologically disturbed galaxies, it is implied that major mergers at high redshift make a noticeable but subdominant contribution to AGN fuelling. At low redshifts, other processes dominate and mergers become a less significant triggering mechanism.
306. Galaxy Zoo: AGN host galaxies
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/711/284
Title:
Galaxy Zoo: AGN host galaxies
Short Name:
J/ApJ/711/284
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and visual classifications of morphology from the Galaxy Zoo project to study black hole growth in the nearby universe (z<0.05) and to break down the active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxy population by color, stellar mass, and morphology. We find that the black hole growth at luminosities L[OIII]>10^40^erg/s in early- and late-type galaxies is fundamentally different. AGN host galaxies as a population have a broad range of stellar masses (10^10^-10^11^M_{sun}_), reside in the green valley of the color-mass diagram and their central black holes have median masses around 10^6.5^M_{sun}_. However, by comparing early- and late-type AGN host galaxies to their non-active counterparts, we find several key differences: in early-type galaxies, it is preferentially the galaxies with the least massive black holes that are growing, while in late-type galaxies, it is preferentially the most massive black holes that are growing. At high-Eddington ratios (L/L_Edd_>0.1), the only population with a substantial fraction of AGNs are the low-mass green valley early-type galaxies.
307. GALEX Time Domain Survey I. UV variable sources
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/766/60
Title:
GALEX Time Domain Survey I. UV variable sources
Short Name:
J/ApJ/766/60
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
We present the selection and classification of over a thousand ultraviolet (UV) variable sources discovered in ~40deg^2^ of GALEX Time Domain Survey (TDS) NUV images observed with a cadence of 2 days and a baseline of observations of ~3 years. The GALEX TDS fields were designed to be in spatial and temporal coordination with the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey, which provides deep optical imaging and simultaneous optical transient detections via image differencing. We characterize the GALEX photometric errors empirically as a function of mean magnitude, and select sources that vary at the 5{sigma} level in at least one epoch. We measure the statistical properties of the UV variability, including the structure function on timescales of days and years. We report classifications for the GALEX TDS sample using a combination of optical host colors and morphology, UV light curve characteristics, and matches to archival X-ray, and spectroscopy catalogs. We classify 62% of the sources as active galaxies (358 quasars and 305 active galactic nuclei), and 10% as variable stars (including 37 RR Lyrae, 53 M dwarf flare stars, and 2 cataclysmic variables). We detect a large-amplitude tail in the UV variability distribution for M-dwarf flare stars and RR Lyrae, reaching up to |{Delta}m|=4.6mag and 2.9mag, respectively. The mean amplitude of the structure function for quasars on year timescales is five times larger than observed at optical wavelengths. The remaining unclassified sources include UV-bright extragalactic transients, two of which have been spectroscopically confirmed to be a young core-collapse supernova and a flare from the tidal disruption of a star by dormant supermassive black hole. We calculate a surface density for variable sources in the UV with NUV<23mag and |{Delta}m|>0.2mag of ~8.0, 7.7, and 1.8deg^-2^ for quasars, active galactic nuclei, and RR Lyrae stars, respectively. We also calculate a surface density rate in the UV for transient sources, using the effective survey time at the cadence appropriate to each class, of ~15 and 52deg^-2^/yr for M dwarfs and extragalactic transients, respectively.
308. Gal. redshift survey near HST/COS AGN sight lines
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/237/11
Title:
Gal. redshift survey near HST/COS AGN sight lines
Short Name:
J/ApJS/237/11
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
To establish the connection between galaxies and UV-detected absorption systems in the local universe, a deep (g<=20) and wide (~20' radius) galaxy redshift survey is presented around 47 sight lines to UV-bright AGNs observed by the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS). Specific COS science team papers have used this survey to connect absorbers to galaxies, groups of galaxies, and large-scale structures, including voids. Here we present the technical details of the survey and the basic measurements required for its use, including redshifts for individual galaxies and uncertainties determined collectively by spectral class (emission-line, absorption-line, and composite spectra) and completeness for each sight line as a function of impact parameter and magnitude. For most of these sight lines, the design criteria of >90% completeness over a >1Mpc region down to <~0.1L* luminosities at z<=0.1 allows a plausible association between low-z absorbers and individual galaxies. Ly{alpha} covering fractions are computed to approximate the star-forming and passive galaxy populations using the spectral classes above. In agreement with previous results, the covering fraction of star-forming galaxies with L>=0.3L* is consistent with unity inside one virial radius and declines slowly to >50% at four virial radii. On the other hand, passive galaxies have lower covering fractions (~60%) and a shallower decline with impact parameter, suggesting that their gaseous halos are patchy but have a larger scale-length than star-forming galaxies.
309. Gamma-ray AGN type determination
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/428/220
Title:
Gamma-ray AGN type determination
Short Name:
J/MNRAS/428/220
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) is producing the most detailed inventory of the gamma-ray sky to date. Despite tremendous achievements approximately 25 per cent of all Fermi extragalactic sources in the Second Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalogue (2FGL) are listed as active galactic nuclei (AGN) of uncertain type. Typically, these are suspected blazar candidates without a conclusive optical spectrum or lacking spectroscopic observations. Here, we explore the use of machine-learning algorithms - random forests and support vector machines - to predict specific AGN subclass based on observed gamma-ray spectral properties. After training and testing on identified/associated AGN from the 2FGL we find that 235 out of 269 AGN of uncertain type have properties compatible with gamma-ray BL Lacertae and flat-spectrum radio quasars with accuracy rates of 85 per cent. Additionally, direct comparison of our results with class predictions made after following the infrared colour-colour space of Massaro et al. shows that the agreement rate is over four-fifths for 54 overlapping sources, providing independent cross-validation. These results can help tailor follow-up spectroscopic programmes and inform future pointed surveys with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes.
310. gamma-ray bright blazars optical polarization
ID:
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/833/77
Title:
gamma-ray bright blazars optical polarization
Short Name:
J/ApJ/833/77
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
Blazars are highly variable active galactic nuclei that emit radiation at all wavelengths from radio to gamma rays. Polarized radiation from blazars is one key piece of evidence for synchrotron radiation at low energies, and it also varies dramatically. The polarization of blazars is of interest for understanding the origin, confinement, and propagation of jets. However, even though numerous measurements have been performed, the mechanisms behind jet creation, composition, and variability are still debated. We performed simultaneous gamma-ray and optical photopolarimetry observations of 45 blazars between 2008 July and 2014 December to investigate the mechanisms of variability and search for a basic relation between the several subclasses of blazars. We identify a correlation between the maximum degree of optical linear polarization and the gamma-ray luminosity or the ratio of gamma-ray to optical fluxes. Since the maximum polarization degree depends on the condition of the magnetic field (chaotic or ordered), this result implies a systematic difference in the intrinsic alignment of magnetic fields in parsec-scale relativistic jets between different types of blazars (flat-spectrum radio quasars vs. BL Lacs) and consequently between different types of radio galaxies (FR I versus FR II).