556 research outputs found
Multi-band constraints on the nature of emission line galaxies
Our aim is to explore the nature of emission line galaxies by combining
high-resolution observations obtained in different bands to understand which
objects are powered by an Active Galactic Nucleus(AGN). From the spectroscopic
Palomar survey of nearby bright galaxies, we selected a sample of 18 objects
observed with HST, Chandra, and VLA.
No connection is found between X-ray and emission line luminosities from
ground-based data, unlike what is found for brighter AGN. Conversely, a strong
correlation emerges when using the HST spectroscopic data, which are extracted
on a much smaller aperture. This suggests that the HST data better isolate the
AGN component when one is present, while ground-based line measurements are
affected by diffuse emission from the host galaxies.
The sample separates into two populations. The 11 objects belonging to the
first class have an equivalent width of the [OIII] emission line measured from
HST data EW([OIII])>~2 A and are associated with an X-ray nuclear source; in
the second group we find seven galaxies with EW([OIII])<~1 A that generally do
not show any emission related to an active nucleus (emission lines, X-ray, or
radio sources). This latter group includes about half of the Low Ionization
Nuclear Emission-line region (LINERs) or transition galaxies of the sample, all
of which are objects of low [OIII] line luminosity (<~1E38 erg s-1) and low
equivalent width (<~1 A) in ground-based observations. These results strengthen
the suggestion that the EW([OIII]) value is a robust predictor of the nature of
an emission line galaxy.Comment: 6 pages. Accepted for publication in A&
The Chandra view of the 3C/FRI sample of low luminosity radio-galaxies
We present results from Chandra observations of the 3C/FRI sample of low
luminosity radio-galaxies. We detected a power-law nuclear component in 12
objects out of the 18 with available data. In 4 galaxies we detected nuclear
X-ray absorption at a level of about N_H= (0.2-6)e22 cm-2. X-ray absorbed
sources are associated with the presence of highly inclined dusty disks (or
dust filaments projected onto the nuclei) seen in the HST images. This suggests
the existence of a flattened X-ray absorber, but of much lower optical depth
than in classical obscuring tori. We thus have an un-obstructed view toward
most FR~I nuclei while absorption plays only a marginal role in the remaining
objects. Three pieces of evidence support an interpretation for a jet origin
for the X-ray cores: i) the presence of strong correlations between the nuclear
luminosities in the radio, optical and X-ray bands, extending over 4 orders of
magnitude and with a much smaller dispersion (about 0.3 dex) when compared to
similar trends found for other classes of AGNs, pointing to a common origin for
the emission in the three bands; ii) the close similarity of the broad-band
spectral indices with the sub-class of BL Lac objects sharing the same range of
extended radio-luminosity, in accord with the FRI/BL Lacs unified model; iii)
the presence of a common luminosity evolution of spectral indices in both FRI
and BL Lacs. The low luminosities of the X-ray nuclei, regardless of their
origin, strengthens the interpretation of low efficiency accretion in low
luminosity radio-galaxies.Comment: Accepted in A&
FR0CAT: a FIRST catalog of FR0 radio galaxies
With the aim of exploring the properties of the class of FR0 radio galaxies,
we selected a sample of 108 compact radio sources, called FR0CAT, by combining
observations from the NVSS, FIRST, and SDSS surveys. The catalog includes
sources with z, with a radio size 5 kpc, and with an
optical spectrum characteristic of low-excitation galaxies. Their 1.4-GHz radio
luminosities range erg/s. The
FR0CAT hosts are mostly (86%) luminous () red
early-type galaxies with black hole masses : similar to the hosts of FRI radio galaxies, but they are on
average a factor 1.6 less massive. The number density of FR0CAT sources
is 5 times higher than that of FRIs, and thus they represent the dominant
population of radio sources in the local Universe. Different scenarios are
considered to account for the smaller sizes and larger abundance of FR0s with
respect to FRIs. An age-size scenario that considers FR0s as young radio
galaxies that will all eventually evolve into extended radio sources cannot be
reconciled with the large space density of FR0s. However, the radio activity
recurrence, with the duration of the active phase covering a wide range of
values and with short active periods strongly favored with respect to longer
ones, might account for their large density number. Alternatively, the jet
properties of FR0s might be intrinsically different from those of the FRIs, the
former class having lower bulk Lorentz factors, possibly due to lower black
hole spins. Our study indicates that FR0s and FRI/IIs can be interpreted as two
extremes of a continuous population of radio sources that is characterized by a
broad distribution of sizes and luminosities of their extended radio emission,
but shares a single class of host galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication on A&
FRICAT: A FIRST catalog of FRI radio galaxies
We built a catalog of 219 FRI radio galaxies (FRIs), called FRICAT, selected
from a published sample and obtained by combining observations from the NVSS,
FIRST, and SDSS surveys. We included in the catalog the sources with an
edge-darkened radio morphology, redshift , and extending (at the
sensitivity of the FIRST images) to a radius larger than 30 kpc from the
center of the host. We also selected an additional sample (sFRICAT) of 14
smaller (10 30 kpc) FRIs, limiting to . The hosts of the FRICAT
sources are all luminous (), red early-type
galaxies with black hole masses in the range ; the spectroscopic classification based on the optical
emission line ratios indicates that they are all low excitation galaxies.
Sources in the FRICAT are then indistinguishable from the FRIs belonging to the
Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources (3C) on the basis of their optical
properties. Conversely, while the 3C-FRIs show a strong positive trend between
radio and [OIII] emission line luminosity, these two quantities are unrelated
in the FRICAT sources; at a given line luminosity, they show radio luminosities
spanning about two orders of magnitude and extending to much lower ratios
between radio and line power than 3C-FRIs. Our main conclusion is that the
3C-FRIs just represent the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and diverse
population of FRIs.Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, 1 appendix,accepted for publication in
A&A, pre-proof versio
On the nature of optical nuclei in FR I radio-galaxies from ACS/HST imaging polarimetry
We obtained optical imaging polarimetry with the ACS/HRC aboard the HST of
the 9 closest radio-galaxies in the 3C catalogue with an FR I morphology. The
nuclear sources seen in direct HST images in these galaxies are found to be
highly polarized with levels in the range ~2-11 % with a median value of 7 %.
We discuss the different mechanisms that produce polarized emission and
conclude that the only viable interpretation is a synchrotron origin for the
optical nuclei. This idea is strengthened by the analogy with the polarization
properties of BL Lac objects, providing also further support to the FRI/BL Lac
unified model. This confirms previous suggestions that the dominant emission
mechanism in low luminosity radio-loud AGN is related to non-thermal radiation
produced by the base of their jets. In addition to the nuclear polarization
(and to the large scale optical jets), polarization is detected co-spatially
with the dusty circumnuclear disks, likely due to dichroic transmission; the
polarization vectors are tangential to the disks as expected when the magnetic
field responsible for the grains alignment is stretched by differential
rotation. We explored the possibility to detect the polarimetric signature of a
misaligned radiation beam in FR I, expected in our sources in the frame of the
FR I/ BL Lac unification. We did not find this effect in any of the galaxies,
but our the results are not conclusive on whether a misaligned beam is indeed
present in FR I.Comment: 16 page, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Spectroastrometry of rotating gas disks for the detection of supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei. III. CRIRES observations of the Circinus galaxy
We present new CRIRES spectroscopic observations of BrGamma in the nuclear
region of the Circinus galaxy, obtained with the aim of measuring the black
hole (BH) mass with the spectroastrometric technique. The Circinus galaxy is an
ideal benchmark for the spectroastrometric technique given its proximity and
secure BH measurement obtained with the observation of its nuclear H2O maser
disk. The kinematical data have been analyzed both with the classical method
based on the analysis of the rotation curves and with the new method developed
by us and based on spectroastrometry. The classical method indicates that the
gas disk rotates in the gravitational potential of an extended stellar mass
distribution and a spatially unresolved mass of (1.7 +- 0.2) 10^7 Msun,
concentrated within r < 7 pc. The new method is capable of probing gas rotation
at scales which are a factor ~3.5 smaller than those probed by the rotation
curve analysis. The dynamical mass spatially unresolved with the
spectroastrometric method is a factor ~2 smaller, 7.9 (+1.4 -1.1) 10^6 Msun
indicating that spectroastrometry has been able to spatially resolve the
nuclear mass distribution down to 2 pc scales. This unresolved mass is still a
factor ~4.5 larger than the BH mass measurement obtained with the H2O maser
emission indicating that it has not been possible to resolve the sphere of
influence of the BH. Based on literature data, this spatially unresolved
dynamical mass distribution is likely dominated by molecular gas and it has
been tentatively identified with the circum-nuclear torus which prevents a
direct view of the central BH in Circinus. This mass distribution, with a size
of ~2pc, is similar in shape to that of the star cluster of the Milky Way
suggesting that a molecular torus, forming stars at a high rate, might be the
earlier evolutionary stage of the nuclear star clusters which are common in
late type spirals.Comment: A&A in press. We wish to honor the memory of our great friend and
colleague David Axon. He will be greatly missed by all of us. arXiv admin
note: text overlap with arXiv:1110.093
Making Fanaroff-Riley I radio sources. Numerical Hydrodynamic 3D Simulations of Low Power Jets
Extragalactic radio sources have been classified into two classes,
Fanaroff-Riley I and II, which differ in morphology and radio power. Strongly
emitting sources belong to the edge-brightened FR II class, and weakly emitting
sources to the edge-darkened FR I class. The origin of this dichotomy is not
yet fully understood. Numerical simulations are successful in generating FR II
morphologies, but they fail to reproduce the diffuse structure of FR Is.
By means of hydro-dynamical 3D simulations of supersonic jets, we investigate
how the displayed morphologies depend on the jet parameters. Bow shocks and
Mach disks at the jet head, which are probably responsible for the hot spots in
the FR II sources, disappear for a jet kinetic power L_kin < 10^43 erg/s. This
threshold compares favorably with the luminosity at which the FR I/FR II
transition is observed.
The problem is addressed by numerical means carrying out 3D HD simulations of
supersonic jets that propagate in a non-homogeneous medium with the ambient
temperature that increases with distance from the jet origin, which maintains
constant pressure.
The jet energy in the lower power sources, instead of being deposited at the
terminal shock, is gradually dissipated by the turbulence. The jets spread out
while propagating, and they smoothly decelerate while mixing with the ambient
medium and produce the plumes characteristic of FR I objects.
Three-dimensionality is an essential ingredient to explore the FR I evolution
because the properties of turbulence in two and three dimensions are very
different, since there is no energy cascade to small scales in two dimensions,
and two-dimensional simulations with the same parameters lead to FRII-like
behavior.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, to appear on A&
The HST view of the innermost narrow line region
We analyze the properties of the innermost narrow line region in a sample of
low-luminosity AGN. We select 33 LINERs (bona fide AGN) and Seyfert galaxies
from the optical spectroscopic Palomar survey observed by HST/STIS. We find
that in LINERs the [NII] and [OI] lines are broader than the [SII] line and
that the [NII]/[SII] flux ratio increases when moving from ground-based to HST
spectra. This effect is more pronounced considering the wings of the lines. Our
interpretation is that, as a result of superior HST spatial resolution, we
isolate a compact region of dense ionized gas in LINERs, located at a typical
distance of about 3 pc and with a gas density of about 10-10 cm,
which we identify with the outer portion of the intermediate line region (ILR).
Instead, we do not observe these kinds of effects in Seyferts; this may be the
result of a stronger dilution from the NLR emission, since the HST slit maps a
larger region in these sources. Alternatively, we argue that the innermost,
higher density component of the ILR is only present in Seyferts, while it is
truncated at larger radii because of the presence of the circumnuclear torus.
The ILR is only visible in its entirety in LINERs because the obscuring torus
is not present in these sources.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, A&A in pres
High-energy neutrinos from FR0 radio-galaxies?
The sources responsible for the emission of high-energy ( 100 TeV)
neutrinos detected by IceCube are still unknown. Among the possible candidates,
active galactic nuclei with relativistic jets are often examined, since the
outflowing plasma seems to offer the ideal environment to accelerate the
required parent high-energy cosmic rays. The non-detection of single point
sources or -- almost equivalently -- the absence, in the IceCube events, of
multiplets originating from the same sky position, constrains the cosmic
density and the neutrino output of these sources, pointing to a numerous
population of faint sources. Here we explore the possibility that FR0
radiogalaxies, the population of compact sources recently identified in large
radio and optical surveys and representing the bulk of radio-loud AGN
population, can represent suitable candidates for neutrino emission. Modeling
the spectral energy distribution of a FR0 radiogalaxy recently associated to a
-ray source detected by the Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi, we
derive the physical parameters of its jet, in particular the power carried by
it. We consider the possible mechanisms of neutrino production, concluding that
reactions in the jet between protons and ambient radiation is too
inefficient to sustain the required output. We propose an alternative scenario,
in which protons, accelerated in the jet, escape from it and diffuse in the
host galaxy, producing neutrinos as a result of scattering with the
interstellar gas, in strict analogy with the processes taking place in
star-forming galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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