Radio imaging of core-dominated high redshift quasars

VLA imaging at kiloparsec-scale resolution of sixteen core-dominated radio-loud QSOs is presented. Many objects appear to display variable radio emission and their radio morphologies are significantly smaller than those of steep-spectrum quasars, consistent with these objects being observed at sight lines close to their (relativistic, $\gamma \approx$ 4-7) jet axes. The usefulness of the radio source orientation indicator R_V, being defined as ratio of radio core and rest frame optical V-band luminosity, is confirmed.Comment: 11 pages, 11 postscript figures, uses aa.cls 4.03 for LaTeX2e To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

1245+676 - a CSO/GPS source being an extreme case of a double-double structure

AGN with the so-called `double-double' radio structure have been interpreted as restarted AGN where the inner structure is a manifestation of a new phase of activity which happened to begin before the outer radio lobes resulting from the previous one had faded completely. The radio galaxy 1245+676 is an extreme example of such a double-double object - its outer structure, measuring 970 h^{-1} kpc, is five orders of magnitude larger than the 9.6 h^{-1} pc inner one. We present a series of VLBI observations of the core of 1245+676 which appears to be a compact symmetric object (CSO). We have detected the motion of the CSO's lobes, measured its velocity, and inferred the kinematic age of that structure.Comment: A contribution to The Third Workshop on Compact Steep Spectrum and GHz-Peaked Spectrum Radio Sources, Kerastari, Greece May 28-31, 2002. Refereed and accepted by Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. 4 pages. Final version copyedited by PASA Edito

Nature of 60 micron emission in 3C47, 3C207 and 3C334

We try to explain the unusually high far-infrared emission seen by IRAS in the double-lobed radio-loud quasars 3C47, 3C207 and 3C334. High resolution cm--mm observations were carried out to determine their radio core spectra, which are subsequently extrapolated to the far-infrared in order to determine the strength of the synchrotron far-infrared emission. The extrapolated flux densities being considerably lower than the observed values, a significant nonthermal far-infrared component is unlikely in the case of 3C47 and 3C334. However, this component could be responsible for the far-infrared brightness of 3C207. Our analysis demonstrates that nonthermal emission cannot readily account for the difference between quasars and radio galaxies in the amount of their far-infrared luminosity. On the other hand, a significant role for this mechanism is likely; full sampling of the mm-submm spectral energy distributions is needed to address the issue quantitatively.Comment: 7 pages, incl. 3 figures; accepted for publication in A&

3C 220.3: a radio galaxy lensing a submillimeter galaxy

Herschel Space Observatory photometry and extensive multiwavelength followup have revealed that the powerful radio galaxy 3C 220.3 at z=0.685 acts as a gravitational lens for a background submillimeter galaxy (SMG) at z=2.221. At an observed wavelength of 1mm, the SMG is lensed into three distinct images. In the observed near infrared, these images are connected by an arc of 1.8" radius forming an Einstein half-ring centered near the radio galaxy. In visible light, only the arc is apparent. 3C 220.3 is the only known instance of strong galaxy-scale lensing by a powerful radio galaxy not located in a galaxy cluster and therefore it offers the potential to probe the dark matter content of the radio galaxy host. Lens modeling rejects a single lens, but two lenses centered on the radio galaxy host A and a companion B, separated by 1.5", provide a fit consistent with all data and reveal faint candidates for the predicted fourth and fifth images. The model does not require an extended common dark matter halo, consistent with the absence of extended bright X-ray emission on our Chandra image. The projected dark matter fractions within the Einstein radii of A (1.02") and B (0.61") are about 0.4 +/- 0.3 and 0.55 +/- 0.3. The mass to i-band light ratios of A and B, M/L ~ 8 +/- 4 Msun/Lsun, appear comparable to those of radio-quiet lensing galaxies at the same redshift in the CASTLES, LSD, and SL2S samples. The lensed SMG is extremely bright with observed f(250um) = 440mJy owing to a magnification factor mu~10. The SMG spectrum shows luminous, narrow CIV 154.9nm emission, revealing that the SMG houses a hidden quasar in addition to a violent starburst. Multicolor image reconstruction of the SMG indicates a bipolar morphology of the emitted ultraviolet (UV) light suggestive of cones through which UV light escapes a dust-enshrouded nucleus.Comment: 17 pages, 14 Figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The Radio Properties of Composite LINER/HII Galaxies

Arcsec-resolution VLA observations -- newly obtained as well as published -- of 40 nearby galaxies are discussed, completing a study of the radio properties of a magnitude-limited sample of nearby galaxies of the composite LINER/HII type. Our results reveal an overall detection rate of at least 25% AGN candidates among these composite sources. The general properties of these AGN candidates, as compared to non-AGN composite sources and HII galaxies, are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

The Nature of Composite LINER/HII Galaxies, As Revealed from High-Resolution VLA Observations

A sample of 37 nearby galaxies displaying composite LINER/HII and pure HII spectra was observed with the VLA in an investigation of the nature of their weak radio emission. The resulting radio contour maps overlaid on optical galaxy images are presented here, together with an extensive literature list and discussion of the individual galaxies. Radio morphological data permit assessment of the ``classical AGN'' contribution to the global activity observed in these ``transition'' LINER galaxies. One in five of the latter objects display clear AGN characteristics: these occur exclusively in bulge-dominated hosts.Comment: 31 pages, 27 figures, accepted by ApJ

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) for AKARI

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) is one of two focal plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. FIS has four photometric bands at 65, 90, 140, and 160 um, and uses two kinds of array detectors. The FIS arrays and optics are designed to sweep the sky with high spatial resolution and redundancy. The actual scan width is more than eight arcmin, and the pixel pitch is matches the diffraction limit of the telescope. Derived point spread functions (PSFs) from observations of asteroids are similar to the optical model. Significant excesses, however, are clearly seen around tails of the PSFs, whose contributions are about 30% of the total power. All FIS functions are operating well in orbit, and its performance meets the laboratory characterizations, except for the two longer wavelength bands, which are not performing as well as characterized. Furthermore, the FIS has a spectroscopic capability using a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS). Because the FTS takes advantage of the optics and detectors of the photometer, it can simultaneously make a spectral map. This paper summarizes the in-flight technical and operational performance of the FIS.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in the AKARI special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japa