16 research outputs found
Infrared-Faint Radio Sources: A New Population of High-redshift Radio Galaxies
We present a sample of 1317 Infrared-Faint Radio Sources (IFRSs) that, for
the first time, are reliably detected in the infrared, generated by
cross-correlating the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky survey
with major radio surveys. Our IFRSs are brighter in both radio and infrared
than the first generation IFRSs that were undetected in the infrared by the
Spitzer Space Telescope. We present the first spectroscopic redshifts of IFRSs,
and find that all but one of the IFRSs with spectroscopy has z > 2. We also
report the first X-ray counterparts of IFRSs, and present an analysis of radio
spectra and polarization, and show that they include Gigahertz-Peaked Spectrum,
Compact Steep Spectrum, and Ultra-Steep Spectrum sources. These results,
together with their WISE infrared colours and radio morphologies, imply that
our sample of IFRSs represents a population of radio-loud Active Galactic
Nuclei at z > 2. We conclude that our sample consists of lower-redshift
counterparts of the extreme first generation IFRSs, suggesting that the fainter
IFRSs are at even higher redshift.Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures. Submitted to MNRA
Polarized Radio Sources: A Study of Luminosity, Redshift and Infrared Colors
The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Deep Field polarization study
has been matched with the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic survey of
the European Large Area Infrared Space Observatory Survey North 1 field. We
have used VLA observations with a total intensity rms of 87 microJy beam^-1 to
match SWIRE counterparts to the radio sources. Infrared color analysis of our
radio sample shows that the majority of polarized sources are elliptical
galaxies with an embedded active galactic nucleus. Using available redshift
catalogs, we found 429 radio sources of which 69 are polarized with redshifts
in the range of 0.04 < z <3.2. We find no correlation between redshift and
percentage polarization for our sample. However, for polarized radio sources,
we find a weak correlation between increasing percentage polarization and
decreasing luminosity.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Radio Galaxy Zoo: host galaxies and radio morphologies derived from visual inspection
We present results from the first 12 months of operation of Radio Galaxy Zoo, which upon
completion will enable visual inspection of over 170 000 radio sources to determine the host
galaxy of the radio emission and the radio morphology. Radio Galaxy Zoo uses 1.4 GHz
radio images from both the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST)
and the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) in combination with mid-infrared
images at 3.4 µm from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and at 3.6 µm from
the Spitzer Space Telescope. We present the early analysis of the WISE mid-infrared colours
of the host galaxies. For images in which there is >75 per cent consensus among the Radio
Galaxy Zoo cross-identifications, the project participants are as effective as the science experts
at identifying the host galaxies. The majority of the identified host galaxies reside in the midinfrared
colour space dominated by elliptical galaxies, quasi-stellar objects and luminous
infrared radio galaxies. We also find a distinct population of Radio Galaxy Zoo host galaxies
residing in a redder mid-infrared colour space consisting of star-forming galaxies and/or dustenhanced
non-star-forming galaxies consistent with a scenario of merger-driven active galactic
nuclei (AGN) formation. The completion of the full Radio Galaxy Zoo project will measure
the relative populations of these hosts as a function of radio morphology and power while
providing an avenue for the identification of rare and extreme radio structures. Currently, we
are investigating candidates for radio galaxies with extreme morphologies, such as giant radio
galaxies, late-type host galaxies with extended radio emission and hybrid morphology radio
sources.
Key words: methods: data analysis – infrared: galaxies – radio continuum: ga
A search for radio afterglows from gamma-ray bursts with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
We present a search for radio afterglows from long gamma-ray bursts using the
Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). Our search used the Rapid
ASKAP Continuum Survey, covering the entire celestial sphere south of
declination , and three epochs of the Variables and Slow Transients
Pilot Survey (Phase 1), covering square degrees per epoch. The
observations we used from these surveys spanned a nine-month period from 2019
April 21 to 2020 January 11. We crossmatched radio sources found in these
surveys with 779 well-localised (to ) long gamma-ray bursts
occurring after 2004 and determined whether the associations were more likely
afterglow- or host-related through the analysis of optical images. In our
search, we detected one radio afterglow candidate associated with GRB 171205A,
a local low-luminosity gamma-ray burst with a supernova counterpart SN 2017iuk,
in an ASKAP observation 511 days post-burst. We confirmed this detection with
further observations of the radio afterglow using the Australia Telescope
Compact Array at 859 days and 884 days post-burst. Combining this data with
archival data from early-time radio observations, we showed the evolution of
the radio spectral energy distribution alone could reveal clear signatures of a
wind-like circumburst medium for the burst. Finally, we derived semi-analytical
estimates for the microphysical shock parameters of the burst: electron
power-law index , normalised wind-density parameter ,
fractional energy in electrons , and fractional energy in
magnetic fields .Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA
Gems of the Galaxy Zoos—A Wide-ranging Hubble Space Telescope Gap-filler Program*
We describe the Gems of the Galaxy Zoos (Zoo Gems) project, a gap-filler project using short windows in the Hubble Space Telescope's schedule. As with previous snapshot programs, targets are taken from a pool based on position; we combine objects selected by volunteers in both the Galaxy Zoo and Radio Galaxy Zoo citizen-science projects. Zoo Gems uses exposures with the Advanced Camera for Surveys to address a broad range of topics in galaxy morphology, interstellar-medium content, host galaxies of active galactic nuclei, and galaxy evolution. Science cases include studying galaxy interactions, backlit dust in galaxies, post-starburst systems, rings and peculiar spiral patterns, outliers from the usual color–morphology relation, Green Pea compact starburst systems, double radio sources with spiral host galaxies, and extended emission-line regions around active galactic nuclei. For many of these science categories, final selection of targets from a larger list used public input via a voting process. Highlights to date include the prevalence of tightly wound spiral structure in blue, apparently early-type galaxies, a nearly complete Einstein ring from a group lens, redder components at lower surface brightness surrounding compact Green Pea starbursts, and high-probability examples of spiral galaxies hosting large double radio sources
Radio Galaxy Zoo: A Search for hybrid morphology radio galaxies
Hybrid morphology radio sources (HyMoRS) are a rare type of radio galaxy that display different Fanaroff–Riley classes on opposite sides of their nuclei. To enhance the statistical analysis of HyMoRS, we embarked on a large-scale search of these sources within the international citizen science project, Radio Galaxy Zoo (RGZ). Here, we present 25 new candidate hybrid morphology radio galaxies. Our selected candidates are moderate power radio galaxies (Lmedian = 4.7 x 10^24 W Hz^-1 sr^-1) at redshifts 0.14 1 Mpc) radio galaxies, one resides at the center of a galaxy cluster, and one is hosted by a rare green bean galaxy. Although the origin of the hybrid morphology radio galaxies is still unclear, this type of radio source starts depicting itself as a rather diverse class. We discuss hybrid radio morphology formation in terms of the radio source environment (nurture) and intrinsically occurring phenomena (nature; activity cessation and amplification), showing that these peculiar radio galaxies can be formed by both mechanisms. While high angular resolution follow-up observations are still necessary to confirm our candidates, we demonstrate the efficacy of the RGZ in the pre-selection of these sources from all-sky radio surveys, and report the reliability of citizen scientists in identifying and classifying complex radio sources
Radio Galaxy Zoo : observational evidence for environment as the cause of radio source asymmetry
We investigate the role of environment on radio galaxy properties by constructing a sample of large (100 kpc), nearby (z < 0.3) radio sources identified as part of the Radio Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. Our sample consists of 16 Fanaroff-Riley Type II (FR-II) sources, 6 FR-I sources, and 1 source with a hybrid morphology. FR-I sources appear to be hosted by more massive galaxies, consistent with previous studies. In the FR-II sample, we compare the degree of asymmetry in radio lobe properties to asymmetry in the radio source environment, quantified through optical galaxy clustering. We find that the length of radio lobes in FR-II sources is anticorrelated with both galaxy clustering and lobe luminosity. These results are in quantitative agreement with predictions from radio source dynamical models and suggest that galaxy clustering provides a useful proxy for the ambient gas density distribution encountered by the radio lobes