304 research outputs found
Spitzer Observations of High Redshift Radio Galaxies
We present the results of a comprehensive Spitzer survey of 70 radio galaxies
across 1<z<5.2. Using IRAC, IRS and MIPS imaging we determine the rest-frame
AGN contribution to the stellar emission peak at 1.6um. The stellar
luminosities are found to be consistent with that of a giant elliptical with a
stellar mass of 10^11-12Msun. The mean stellar mass remains constant at
\~10^11.5Msun up to z=3 indicating that the upper end of the mass function is
already in place by this redshift. The mid-IR luminosities imply bolometric IR
luminosities that would classify all sources as ULIRGs. The mid-IR to radio
luminosity generally correlate implying a common origin for these emissions.
The ratio is higher than that found for lower redshift, ie z<1, radio galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "The Spitzer
Science Center 2005 Conference: Infrared Diagnostics of Galaxy Evolution",
held in Pasadena, November 200
A new view on the ISM of galaxies: far-infrared and submillimetre spectroscopy with Herschel
The FIR/submm window is amongst the least explored spectral regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. It is, however, a key to study the general properties
of the interstellar medium of galaxies, as it contains important spectral line
diagnostics from the neutral, ionized and molecular ISM. The Herschel Space
Observatory, successfully launched on 14 May 2009, is the first observatory to
cover the entire FIR/submm range between 57 and 672 mum. We discuss the main
results from the ISO era on FIR spectroscopy of galaxies and the enormous
science potential of the Herschel mission through a presentation of its
spectroscopic extragalactic key programs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in New Astronomy
Review
Wide-field mid-infrared and millimetre imaging of the high-redshift radio galaxy, 4C41.17
We present deep 350- and 1200-micron imaging of the region around 4C41.17 --
one of the most distant (z = 3.792) and luminous known radio galaxies --
obtained with the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera (SHARC-II) and
the Max Planck Millimeter Bolometer Array (MAMBO). The radio galaxy is robustly
detected at 350- and 1200-micron, as are two nearby 850-micron-selected
galaxies; a third 850-micron source is detected at 350-micron and coincides
with a ~ 2-sigma feature in the 1200-micron map. Further away from the radio
galaxy an additional nine sources are detected at 1200-micron, bringing the
total number of detected (sub)millimeter selected galaxies (SMGs) in this field
to 14. Using radio images from the Very Large Array (VLA) and Spitzer
mid-infrared (mid-IR) data, we find statistically robust radio and/or 24-micron
counterparts to eight of the 14 SMGs in the field around 4C41.17. Follow-up
spectroscopy with Keck/LRIS has yielded redshifts for three of the eight
robustly identified SMGs, placing them in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 2.7,
i.e. well below that of 4C41.17. We infer photometric redshifts for a further
four sources using their 1.6-micron (rest-frame) stellar feature as probed by
the IRAC bands; only one of them is likely to be at the same redshift as
4C41.17. Thus at least four, and as many as seven, of the SMGs within the
4C41.17 field are physically unrelated to the radio galaxy. With the redshift
information at hand we are able to constrain the observed over-densities of
SMGs within radial bins stretching to R=50 and 100" (~ 0.4 and ~ 0.8Mpc at z ~
3.8) from the radio galaxy to ~ 5x and ~ 2x that of the field, dropping off to
the background value at R=150". [Abridged]Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Deep VLT spectroscopy of the z=2.49 Radio Galaxy MRC 2104-242: Evidence for a metallicity gradient in its extended emission line region
We present spectroscopic observations of the rest-frame UV line emission
around radio galaxy MRC 2104-242 at z=2.49, obtained with FORS1 on VLT Antu.
The morphology of the halo is dominated by two spatially resolved regions. Lya
is extended by >12 arcsec along the radio axis, CIV and HeII are extended by ~8
arcsec. The overall spectrum is typical for that of high redshift radio
galaxies. The most striking spatial variation is that NV is present in the
spectrum of the region associated with the center of the galaxy hosting the
radio source, the northern region, while absent in the southern region.
Assuming that the gas is photoionized by a hidden quasar, the difference in NV
emission can be explained by a metallicity gradient within the halo. This is
consistent with a scenario in which the gas is associated with a massive
cooling flow or originates from the debris of the merging of two or more
galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
Defying jet-gas alignment in two radio galaxies at z~2 with extended light profiles: Similarities to brightest cluster galaxies
We report the detection of extended warm ionized gas in two powerful
high-redshift radio galaxies, NVSS J210626-314003 at z=2.10 and TXS 2353-003 at
z=1.49, that does not appear to be associated with the radio jets. This is
contrary to what would be expected from the alignment effect, a characteristic
feature of distant, powerful radio galaxies at z> 0.6. The gas also has smaller
velocity gradients and line widths than most other high-z radio galaxies with
similar data. Both galaxies are part of a systematic study of 50 high-redshift
radio galaxies with SINFONI, and are the only two that are characterized by the
presence of high surface-brightness gas not associated with the jet axis and by
the absence of such gas aligned with the jet. Both galaxies are spatially
resolved with ISAAC broadband imaging covering the rest-frame R band, and have
extended wings that cannot be attributed to line contamination. We argue that
the gas and stellar properties of these galaxies are more akin to gas-rich
brightest cluster galaxies in cool-core clusters than the general population of
high-redshift radio galaxies at z>2. In support of this interpretation, one of
our sources, TXS 2353-003, for which we have H\alpha\ narrowband imaging, is
associated with an overdensity of candidate H\alpha\ emitters by a factor of 8
relative to the field at z=1.5. We discuss possible scenarios of the
evolutionary state of these galaxies and the nature of their emission line gas
within the context of cyclical AGN feedback.Comment: A&A in pres
Compact radio sources and jet-driven AGN feedback in the early Universe: Constraints from integral-field spectroscopy
To investigate the impact of radio jets during the formation epoch of their
massive host galaxies, we present an analysis of two massive, log(M_stel/
M_sun)~10.6 and 11.3, compact radio galaxies at z=3.5, TNJ0205+2242 and
TNJ0121+1320. Their small radio sizes (R<= 10 kpc) are most likely a sign of
youth. We compare their radio properties and gas dynamics with those in well
extended radio galaxies at high redshift, which show strong evidence for
powerful, jet-driven outflows of significant gas masses (M 10^9-10 M_sun). Our
analysis combines rest-frame optical integral-field spectroscopy with existing
radio imaging, CO emission line spectra, and rest-frame UV spectroscopy.
[OIII]5007 line emission is compact in both galaxies and lies within the region
defined by the radio lobes. For TNJ0205+2242, the Ly-alpha profile narrows
significantly outside the jet radius, indicating the presence of a quiescent
halo. TNJ0121+1320 has two components separated by ~10 kpc and a velocity
offset of ~300 km s^-1. If motions are gravitational, this implies a dynamical
mass of 2x10^11 M_sun for the more massive, radio-loud component. The dynamical
mass, molecular gas mass measured from the CO line emission, and radio
luminosity of these two compact radio galaxies imply that compact radio sources
may well develop large-scale, energetic outflows as observed in extended radio
galaxies, with the potential of removing significant fractions of the ISM from
the host galaxy. The absence of luminous emission line gas extending beyond the
radio emission in these sources agrees with the observed timescales and outflow
rates in extended radio galaxies, and adds further evidence that the energetic,
large-scale outflows observed in extended radio sources (Nesvadba et al. 2006)
are indeed the result of influence of the radio jet.Comment: A&A accepte
A search for distant radio galaxies from SUMSS and NVSS: III. radio spectral energy distributions and the z-alpha correlation
This is the third in a series of papers that present observations and results
for a sample of 76 ultra-steep-spectrum radio sources designed to find galaxies
at high redshift. Here we present multi-frequency radio observations, from the
Australia Telescope Compact Array, for a subset of 37 galaxies from the sample.
Matched resolution observations at 2.3, 4.8 and 6.2GHz are presented for all
galaxies, with the z<2 galaxies additionally observed at 8.6 and 18GHz. New
angular size constraints are reported for 19 sources based on high resolution
4.8 and 6.2GHz observations. Functional forms for the rest-frame spectral
energy distributions are derived: 89% of the sample is well characterised by a
single power law, whilst the remaining 11% show some flattening toward higher
frequencies: not one source shows any evidence for high frequency steepening.
We discuss the implications of this result in light of the empirical
correlation between redshift and spectral index seen in flux limited samples of
radio galaxies. Finally, a new physical mechanism to explain the redshift --
spectral index correlation is posited: extremely steep spectrum radio galaxies
in the local universe usually reside at the centres of rich galaxy clusters. We
argue that if a higher fraction of radio galaxies, as a function of redshift,
are located in environments with densities similar to nearby rich clusters,
then this could be a natural interpretation for the correlation. We briefly
outline our plans to pursue this line of investigation.Comment: MNRAS in pres
Detection of Two Massive CO Systems in 4C 41.17 at z = 3.8
We have detected CO(4-3) in the z=3.8 radio galaxy 4C 41.17 with the IRAM
Interferometer. The CO is in two massive (M_dyn ~ 6 x 10^10 M_Sun) systems
separated by 1.8" (13 kpc), and by 400 km/s in velocity, which coincide with
two different dark lanes in a deep Ly-alpha image. One CO component coincides
with the cm-radio core of the radio galaxy, and its redshift is close to that
of the HeII AGN line. The second CO component is near the base of a cone-shaped
region southwest of the nucleus, which resembles the emission-line cones seen
in nearby AGN and starburst galaxies. The characteristics of the CO sources and
their mm/submm dust continuum are similar to those found in ultraluminous IR
galaxies and in some high-z radio galaxies and quasars. The fact that 4C 41.17
contains two CO systems is further evidence for the role of mergers in the
evolution of galaxies at high redshift.Comment: 5 Pages, including 4 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in
Astronomy & Astrophysics Letter
CO line emission in the halo of a radio galaxy at z=2.6
We report the detection of luminous CO(3-2) line emission in the halo of the
z=2.6 radio galaxy (HzRG) TXS0828+193, which has no detected counterpart at
optical to mid-infrared wavelengths implying a stellar mass < few x10^9 M_sun
and relatively low star-formation rates. With the IRAM PdBI we find two CO
emission line components at the same position at ~80 kpc distance from the HzRG
along the axis of the radio jet, with different blueshifts of few 100 km s^-1
relative to the HzRG and a total luminosity of ~2x10^10 K km s^-1 pc^2 detected
at 8 sigma significance. HzRGs have significant galaxy overdensities and
extended halos of metal-enriched gas often with embedded clouds or filaments of
denser material, and likely trace very massive dark-matter halos. The CO
emission may be associated with a gas-rich, low-mass satellite galaxy with
little on-going star formation, in contrast to all previous CO detections of
galaxies at similar redshifts. Alternatively, the CO may be related to a gas
cloud or filament and perhaps jet-induced gas cooling in the outer halo,
somewhat in analogy with extended CO emission found in low-redshift galaxy
clusters.Comment: MNRAS Letters, accepte
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