A Study of CO Emission in High Redshift QSOs Using the Owens Valley Millimeter Array

Searches for CO emission in high-redshift objects have traditionally suffered from the accuracy of optically-derived redshifts due to lack of bandwidth in correlators at radio observatories. This problem has motivated the creation of the new COBRA continuum correlator, with 4 GHz available bandwidth, at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Millimeter Array. Presented here are the first scientific results from COBRA. We report detections of redshifted CO(J=3-2) emission in the QSOs SMM J04135+10277 and VCV J140955.5+562827, as well as a probable detection in RX J0911.4+0551. At redshifts of z=2.846, z=2.585, and z=2.796, we find integrated CO flux densities of 5.4 Jy km/s, 2.4 Jy km/s, and 2.9 Jy km/s for SMM J04135+10277, VCV J140955.5+562827, and RX J0911.4+0551, respectively, over linewidths of Delta(V_{FWHM}) ~ 350 km/s. These measurements, when corrected for gravitational lensing, correspond to molecular gas masses of order M(H_2) ~ 10^{9.6-11.1} solar masses, and are consistent with previous CO observations of high-redshift QSOs. We also report 3-sigma upper limits on CO(3-2) emission in the QSO LBQS 0018-0220 of 1.3 Jy km/s. We do not detect significant 3mm continuum emission from any of the QSOs, with the exception of a tentative (3-sigma) detection in RX J0911.4+0551 of S_{3mm}=0.92 mJy/beam.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted to ApJ. Changes made for version 2: citations added, 2 objects added to Table 2 and Figure

SN1999E: Another piece in the SN-GRB connection puzzle

Detailed optical and near-IR observations of SN 1999E have confirmed early suggestions that this supernova was indeed a twin of the peculiar type II SN 1997cy: it was exceptionally luminous and had evolved slowly, and the line profiles had narrow peaks and broad wings, indicating interaction with the circumstellar material. Nevertheless, the most intriguing characteristic was that, in analogy to SN 1997cy, it exploded at a position consistent in time and location with a BATSE event (GRB980910). The "a posteriori" probability that the only two SNe with such an optical appearance are associated with two different BATSE GRB is only 0.2%. This raises the possibility that some GRB are associated with H--rich SNe.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

The Leo I Cloud: Secular nuclear evolution of NGC 3379, NGC 3384, and NGC 3368?

The central regions of the three brightest members of the Leo I galaxy group -- NGC 3368, NGC 3379, and NGC 3384 -- are investigated by means of 2D spectroscopy. In all three galaxies we have found separate circumnuclear stellar and gaseous subsystems -- more probably, disks -- whose spatial orientations and spins are connected to the spatial orientation of the supergiant intergalactic HI ring reported previously by Schneider et al. (1983) and Schneider (1985, 1989). In NGC 3368 the global gaseous disk seems also to be inclined to the symmetry plane of the stellar body, being probably of external origin. Although the rather young mean stellar age and spatial orientations of the circumnuclear disks in NGC 3379, NGC 3384, and NGC 3368 could imply their recent formation from material of the intergalactic HI cloud, the time scale of these secondary formation events, of order 3 Gyr, does not support the collision scenario of Rood & Williams (1985), but is rather in line with the ideas of Schneider (1985, 1989) regarding tidal interactions of the galaxies with the HI cloud on timescales of the intergroup orbital motions.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 46 pages (figs 18 and 22 are low resolution

Evidence of galaxy interaction in the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy IRAS17020+4544 seen by NOEMA

The narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy IRAS17020+4544 is one of the few sources where both an X-ray ultra-fast outflow and a molecular outflow were observed to be consistent with energy conservation. However, IRAS17020+4544 is less massive and has a much more modest active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity than the other examples. Using recent CO(1-0) observations with the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA), we characterised the molecular gas content of the host galaxy for the first time. We found that the molecular gas is distributed into an apparent central disc of 1.1x10^9 Msun, and a northern extension located up to 8 kpc from the centre with a molecular gas mass M_H2~10^8 Msun. The molecular gas mass and the CO dynamics in the northern extension reveal that IRAS 17020+4544 is not a standard spiral galaxy, instead it is interacting with a dwarf object corresponding to the northern extension. This interaction possibly triggers the high accretion rate onto the super massive black hole. Within the main galaxy, which hosts the AGN, a simple analytical model predicts that the molecular gas may lie in a ring, with less molecular gas in the nuclear region. Such distribution may be the result of the AGN activity which removes or photodissociates the molecular gas in the nuclear region (AGN feedback). Finally, we have detected a molecular outflow of mass M_H2=(0.7-1.2)x10^7 Msun in projection at the location of the northern galaxy, with a similar velocity to that of the massive outflow reported in previous millimeter data obtained by the Large Millimeter Telescope.Comment: Published in MNRAS, Volume 501, Issue 1, Pages 219-22

Steps Toward Determination of the Size and Structure of the Broad-Line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei. XVI. A Thirteen-Year Study of Spectral Variability in NGC 5548

We present the final installment of an intensive 13-year study of variations of the optical continuum and broad H-beta emission line in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548. The data base consists of 1530 optical continuum measurements and 1248 H-beta measurements. The H-beta variations follow the continuum variations closely, with a typical time delay of about 20 days. However, a year-by-year analysis shows that the magnitude of emission-line time delay is correlated with the mean continuum flux. We argue that the data are consistent with the simple model prediction that the size of the broad-line region is proportional to the square root of the ionizing luminosity. Moreover, the apparently linear nature of the correlation between the H-beta response time and the nonstellar optical continuum arises as a consequence of the changing shape of the continuum as it varies, specifically with the optical (5100 A) continuum luminosity proportional to the ultraviolet (1350 A) continuum luminosity to the 0.56 power.Comment: 20 pages plus 4 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Early Science with the Large Millimeter Telescope: an energy-driven wind revealed by massive molecular and fast X-ray outflows in the Seyfert Galaxy IRAS 17020+4544

We report on the coexistence of powerful gas outflows observed in millimeter and X-ray data of the Radio-Loud Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy IRAS 17020+4544. Thanks to the large collecting power of the Large Millimeter Telescope, a prominent line arising from the 12CO(1-0) transition was revealed in recent observations of this source. The complex profile is composed by a narrow double-peak line and a broad wing. While the double-peak structure may be arising in a disk of molecular material, the broad wing is interpreted as the signature of a massive outflow of molecular gas with an approximate bulk velocity of -660 km/s. This molecular wind is likely associated to a multi-component X-ray Ultra-Fast Outflow with velocities reaching up to ~0.1c and column densities in the range 10^{21-23.9} cm^-2 that was reported in the source prior to the LMT observations. The momentum load estimated in the two gas phases indicates that within the observational uncertainties the outflow is consistent with being propagating through the galaxy and sweeping up the gas while conserving its energy. This scenario, which has been often postulated as a viable mechanism of how AGN feedback takes place, has so far been observed only in ULIRGs sources. IRAS 17020+4544 with bolometric and infrared luminosity respectively of 5X10^{44} erg/s and 1.05X10^{11} L_sun appears to be an example of AGN feedback in a NLSy1 Galaxy (a low power AGN). New proprietary multi-wavelength data recently obtained on this source will allow us to corroborate the proposed hypothesis.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ Letters, 9 pages, 4 figure