We present a catalog of the 26 currently known magnetars and magnetar candidates. We tabulate astrometric and timing data for all catalog sources, as well as their observed radiative properties, particularly the spectral parameters of the quiescent X-ray emission. We show histograms of the spatial and timing properties of the magnetars, comparing them with the known pulsar population, and we investigate and plot possible correlations between their timing, X-ray, and multiwavelength properties. We find the scale height of magnetars to be in the range of 20-31pc, assuming they are exponentially distributed. This range is smaller than that measured for OB stars, providing evidence that magnetars are born from the most massive O stars. From the same fits, we find that the Sun lies ~13-22pc above the Galactic plane, consistent with previous measurements. We confirm previously identified correlations between quiescent X-ray luminosity, L_X_, and magnetic field, B, as well as X-ray spectral power-law indexes, {Gamma} and B, and show evidence for an excluded region in a plot of L_X_ versus {Gamma}. We also present an updated kT versus characteristic age plot, showing that magnetars and high-B radio pulsars are hotter than lower-B neutron stars of similar age. Finally, we observe a striking difference between magnetars detected in the hard X-ray and radio bands; there is a clear correlation between the hard and soft X-ray fluxes, whereas the radio-detected magnetars all have low, soft X-ray flux, suggesting, if anything, that the two bands are anticorrelated.
Observations of H_2_O masers from circumnuclear disks in active galaxies for the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP) allow accurate measurement of the mass of supermassive black holes (BH) in these galaxies. We present the Very Long Baseline Interferometry images and kinematics of water maser emission in six active galaxies: NGC 1194, NGC 2273, NGC 2960 (Mrk 1419), NGC 4388, NGC 6264 and NGC 6323. We use the Keplerian rotation curves of these six megamaser galaxies, plus a seventh previously published, to determine accurate enclosed masses within the central ~0.3pc of these galaxies, smaller than the radius of the sphere of influence of the central mass in all cases.
As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project, we present VLBI maps of nuclear water masers toward five galaxies. The masers originate in sub-parsec circumnuclear disks. For three of the galaxies, we fit Keplerian rotation curves to estimate their supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses, and determine (2.9+/-0.3)x10^6^M_{sun}_ for J0437+2456, (1.7+/-0.1)x10^7^M_{sun}_ for ESO 558-G009, and (1.1+/-0.2)x10^7^M_{sun}_ for NGC 5495. In the other two galaxies, Mrk 1029 and NGC 1320, the geometry and dynamics are more complicated and preclude robust black hole mass estimates. Including our new results, we compiled a list of 15 VLBI-confirmed disk maser galaxies with robust SMBH mass measurements. With this sample, we confirm the empirical relation of R_out_{propto}0.3M_SMBH_ reported in Wardle & Yusef-Zadeh (2012ApJ...750L..38W). We also find a tentative correlation between maser disk outer radii and Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer luminosity. We find no correlations of maser disk size with X-ray 2-10keV luminosity or [OIII] luminosity.
We present high-resolution (submas) Very Long Baseline Interferometry maps of nuclear H_2_O megamasers for seven galaxies. In UGC 6093, the well-aligned systemic masers and high-velocity masers originate in an edge-on, flat disk and we determine the mass of the central supermassive black holes (SMBH) to be M_SMBH_=2.58x10^7^M_{sun}_ (+/-7%). For J1346+5228, the distribution of masers is consistent with a disk, but the faint high-velocity masers are only marginally detected, and we constrain the mass of the SMBH to be in the range (1.5-2.0)x10^7^M_{sun}_. The origin of the masers in Mrk 1210 is less clear, as the systemic and high-velocity masers are misaligned and show a disorganized velocity structure. We present one possible model in which the masers originate in a tilted, warped disk, but we do not rule out the possibility of other explanations including outflow masers. In NGC 6926, we detect a set of redshifted masers, clustered within a parsec of each other, and a single blueshifted maser about 4.4pc away, an offset that would be unusually large for a maser disk system. Nevertheless, if it is a disk system, we estimate the enclosed mass to be M_SMBH_<4.8x10^7^M_{sun}_. For NGC 5793, we detect redshifted masers spaced about 1.4pc from a clustered set of blueshifted features. The orientation of the structure supports a disk scenario as suggested by Hagiwara+ (2001ApJ...560..119H). We estimate the enclosed mass to be M_SMBH_<1.3x10^7^M_{sun}_. For NGC 2824 and J0350-0127, the masers may be associated with parsec- or subparsec-scale jets or outflows.
This database contains a log of MERLIN archive data since 1992 which have been partially reduced and are electronically available. It is managed and updated by the MERLIN staff. All data are taken using a single IF and correlated using 2-bit digitisation.
Within this use case you meet representatives of the most interesting
categories of celestial objects. From stellar clusters to galaxies.
All objects are from the Messier catalog that includes some of the
most viewed objects of the deep sky.
Peculiar velocities arise from gravitational instability, and thus are linked to the surrounding distribution of matter. In order to understand the motion of the Local Group with respect to the cosmic microwave background, a deep all-sky map of the galaxy distribution is required. Here we present a new redshift compilation of 69160 galaxies, dubbed 2M++, to map large-scale structures of the local Universe over nearly the whole sky, and reaching depths of K<=12.5, or 200h^-1^Mpc. The target catalogue is based on the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey Extended Source Catalog (2MASS-XSC). The primary sources of redshifts are the 2MASS Redshift Survey, the 6dF galaxy redshift survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 7). We assess redshift completeness in each region and compute the weights required to correct for redshift incompleteness and apparent magnitude limits, and discuss corrections for incompleteness in the zone of avoidance. We present the density field for this survey, and discuss the importance of large-scale structures such as the Shapley Concentration.
We describe a search for MgII(2796, 2803) absorption lines in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra of QSOs whose lines of sight pass within impact parameters {rho}~200kpc of galaxies with photometric redshifts of z=0.46-0.6 and errors {Delta}z~0.05. The galaxies selected have the same colors and luminosities as the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) population previously selected from the SDSS. A search for MgII lines within a redshift interval of +/-0.1 of a galaxy's photometric redshift shows that absorption by these galaxies is rare: the covering fraction is f({rho})~10%-15% between {rho}=20kpc and {rho}=100kpc, for MgII lines with rest equivalent widths of W_r_>=0.6{AA}, falling to zero at larger {rho}. There is no evidence that W_r_ correlates with impact parameter or galaxy luminosity.
We present the most extensive combined photometric and spectroscopic study to date of the enormous globular cluster (GC) system around M87, the central giant elliptical galaxy in the nearby Virgo Cluster. Using observations from DEIMOS and the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at Keck, and Hectospec on the Multiple Mirror Telescope, we derive new, precise radial velocities for 451 GCs around M87, with projected radii from ~5 to 185kpc. We combine these measurements with literature data for a total sample of 737 objects, which we use for a re-examination of the kinematics of the GC system of M87. The velocities are analyzed in the context of archival wide-field photometry and a novel Hubble Space Telescope catalog of half-light radii, which includes sizes for 344 spectroscopically confirmed clusters. We use this unique catalog to identify 18 new candidate ultracompact dwarfs and to help clarify the relationship between these objects and true GCs.
We present the results from two deep radio integrations at 8.4 GHz using the Very Large Array. One of the fields, at 13h, +43{deg} (SA 13 field), has an rms noise level of 1.49{mu}Jy and is the deepest radio image yet made. Thirty-four sources in a complete sample were detected above 7.5{mu}Jy, and 25 are optically identified to a limit of I=25.8, using our deep Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based images. The radio sources are usually located within 0.5" (typically 5kpc) of a galaxy nucleus and generally have a diameter less than 2.5". We have also analyzed a complete flux density-limited sample at 8.4GHz of 89 sources from five deep radio surveys, including the Hubble deep and flanking fields, as well as the two new fields. Half of all the optical counterparts are with galaxies brighter than I=23mag, but 20% are fainter than I=25.5mag. There may be a small tendency for the microJansky radio sources to prefer multigalaxy systems. The distribution of the radio spectral index between 1.4 and 8.4GHz peaks at {alpha}~-0.75 (S~{nu}^+{alpha}^) with a median value of -0.6. The average spectral index becomes steeper (lower values) for sources below 35{mu}Jy and for sources identified with optical counterparts fainter than I=25.5mag. This correlation suggests that there is an increasing contribution from starburst galaxies compared to AGNs at lower radio flux densities and fainter optical counterparts. The differential radio count between 7.5 and 1000{mu}Jy has a slope of -2.11+/-0.13 and a surface density of 0.64 sources (arcmin)^-2^ with a flux density greater than 7.5{mu}Jy.