A Search for Candidate Light Echoes: Photometry of Supernova Environments

Supernova (SN) light echoes could be a powerful tool for determining distances to galaxies geometrically, Sparks 1994. In this paper we present CCD photometry of the environments of 64 historical supernovae, the first results of a program designed to search for light echoes from these SNe. We commonly find patches of optical emission at, or close to, the sites of the supernovae. The color distribution of these patches is broad, and generally consistent with stellar population colors, possibly with some reddening. However there are in addition patches with both unusually red and unusually blue colors. We expect light echoes to be blue, and while none of the objects are quite as blue in V-R as the known light echo of SN1991T, there are features that are unusually blue and we identify these as candidate light echoes for follow-on observations.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, 5 Postscript Tables, 42 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the A&AS. Figures 1 through 36 are available at the web address: http://www.stsci.edu/~boffi

The interaction between jets and clouds in the 3CR galaxies

From the HST/WFPC2 3CR Snapshot Survey, data taken with the filter F555W, F702W and narrow-ramp, a set of galaxies with noticeable extended structure were selected (e.g. 3C 79, 3C 135, 3C 234, etc). All of these objects show large regions of [OIII] λ 5007˚A emission (narrow ramp filter) and the broad-band filters data show similar structures indicating the presence of strong emission in several lines over these regions. The morphology observed seems to be related (e.g. same position angle, direct overlapping or similar shape) with the radio-jet. For some candidates with these properties GMOS/Gemini spectroscopy was taken. These data (both HST direct imaging and Gemini spectroscopy) can be tested with diagnostic diagrams and total UV photons budget to understand the source of energy that is ionizing the gas. This source of ionization was commonly believed to be the UV photons emitted by the powerful active galactic nuclei (AGN), but several of these objects show clearly that shocks produced by the radio jet are the main cause of the observed gas line emission. We show in this work, the results obtained over some of these radio-galaxies: 3C 135, 3C 180, 3C 234 and 3C 284.Fil: Hägele, G. F.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Feinstein Baigorri, Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Macchetto, D. F.. Space Telescope Science Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Montero, F.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentin

Dust and ionized gas in active radio elliptical galaxies

The authors present broad and narrow bandwidth imaging of three southern elliptical galaxies which have flat-spectrum active radio cores (NGC 1052, IC 1459 and NGC 6958). All three contain dust and extended low excitation optical line emission, particularly extensive in the case of NGC 1052 which has a large H alpha + (NII) luminosity. Both NGC 1052 and IC 1459 have a spiral morphology in emission-line images. All three display independent strong evidence that a merger or infall event has recently occurred, i.e., extensive and infalling HI gas in NGC 1052, a counter-rotating core in IC 1459 and Malin-Carter shells in NGC 6958. This infall event is the most likely origin for the emission-line gas and dust, and the authors are currently investigating possible excitation mechanisms (Sparks et al. 1990)

IC5063: A merger with a hidden luminous active nucleus

IC5063 is a nearby galaxy classified as an SO and containing a system of dust lanes parallel to its major optical axis (Danziger, Goss and Wellington, 1981; Bergeron, Durret and Boksenberg, 1983). Extended emission line regions with high excitation properties have been detected over distances of up to 19 kpc from the nucleus. This galaxy has been classified as Seyfert 2 on the basis of its emission line spectrum. These characteristics make IC5063 one of the best candidates for a merger remnant and an excellent candidate for a hidden luminous active nucleus. Based on new broad and narrow band images and long-slit spectroscopy obtained at the ESO 3.6 m telescope, the authors present some preliminary results supporting this hypothesis

Low radiative efficiency accretion at work in active galactic nuclei: the nuclear spectral energy distribution of NGC4565

We derive the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC4565. Despite its classification as a Seyfert2, the nuclear source is substantially unabsorbed. The absorption we find from Chandra data (N_H=2.5 X 10^21 cm^-2) is consistent with that produced by material in the galactic disk of the host galaxy. HST images show a nuclear unresolved source in all of the available observations, from the near-IR H band to the optical U band. The SED is completely different from that of Seyfert galaxies and QSO, as it appears basically ``flat'' in the IR-optical region, with a small drop-off in the U-band. The location of the object in diagnostic planes for low luminosity AGNs excludes a jet origin for the optical nucleus, and its extremely low Eddington ratio L_o/L_Edd indicates that the radiation we observe is most likely produced in a radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF). This would make NGC4565 the first AGN in which an ADAF-like process is identified in the optical. We find that the relatively high [OIII] flux observed from the ground cannot be all produced in the nucleus. Therefore, an extended NLR must exist in this object. This may be interpreted in the framework of two different scenarios: i) the radiation from ADAFs is sufficient to give rise to high ionization emission-line regions through photoionization, or ii) the nuclear source has recently ``turned-off'', switching from a high-efficiency accretion regime to the present low-efficiency state.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

An Optical Study of 3C 31, 3C 66B, 3C 120, and Their Jets

Paper freely available at http://cdsads.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1991AJ....102..562F&data_type=PDF_HIGH&type=PRINTERWe present the results of BVRI CCD photometry of the radiogalaxies 3C 31, 3C 66B, and 3C 120, and V polarimetry of 3C 120. The photometry of the jet of 3C 66B definitively establishes the synchrotron nature of the optical emission. No optical counterpart of the radio counterjet in 3C 66B and of the radio jets in 3C 31 and 3C 120 is found. A rotating ring and an ionized region are present respectively in 3C 31 (NGC 383) and its companion galaxy NGC 382, but we find no isophotal distortions which could have revealed a gravitational interaction between the two galaxies as it is the case in 3C 66B. The elliptical isophotes of 3C 120 shows a slight off-centering, roughly in the direction of the radio jet, very much like 3C 66B. We find an upper limit of 20% for the polarization level of the condensations in 3C 120

The interaction between jets and clouds in the 3CR galaxies

From the HST/WFPC2 3CR Snapshot Survey, data taken with the filter F555W, F702W and narrow-ramp, a set of galaxies with noticeable extended structure were selected (e.g. 3C 79, 3C 135, 3C 234, etc). All of these objects show large regions of [OIII] λ 5007˚A emission (narrow ramp filter) and the broad-band filters data show similar structures indicating the presence of strong emission in several lines over these regions. The morphology observed seems to be related (e.g. same position angle, direct overlapping or similar shape) with the radio-jet. For some candidates with these properties GMOS/Gemini spectroscopy was taken. These data (both HST direct imaging and Gemini spectroscopy) can be tested with diagnostic diagrams and total UV photons budget to understand the source of energy that is ionizing the gas. This source of ionization was commonly believed to be the UV photons emitted by the powerful active galactic nuclei (AGN), but several of these objects show clearly that shocks produced by the radio jet are the main cause of the observed gas line emission. We show in this work, the results obtained over some of these radio-galaxies: 3C 135, 3C 180, 3C 234 and 3C 284.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

The interaction between jets and clouds in the 3CR galaxies

From the HST/WFPC2 3CR Snapshot Survey, data taken with the filter F555W, F702W and narrow-ramp, a set of galaxies with noticeable extended structure were selected (e.g. 3C 79, 3C 135, 3C 234, etc). All of these objects show large regions of [OIII] λ 5007˚A emission (narrow ramp filter) and the broad-band filters data show similar structures indicating the presence of strong emission in several lines over these regions. The morphology observed seems to be related (e.g. same position angle, direct overlapping or similar shape) with the radio-jet. For some candidates with these properties GMOS/Gemini spectroscopy was taken. These data (both HST direct imaging and Gemini spectroscopy) can be tested with diagnostic diagrams and total UV photons budget to understand the source of energy that is ionizing the gas. This source of ionization was commonly believed to be the UV photons emitted by the powerful active galactic nuclei (AGN), but several of these objects show clearly that shocks produced by the radio jet are the main cause of the observed gas line emission. We show in this work, the results obtained over some of these radio-galaxies: 3C 135, 3C 180, 3C 234 and 3C 284.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Infrared emission in radio galaxy NGC 4261

We have analyzed the total and nuclear SED for NGC 4261 and find that the dominant process for the mid- and far-infrared emission in this object is non-thermal emission from the active nucleus. Modeling the emission from the optically detected 300 pc dust disk yields no significant disk contribution at any wavelength. To explain the observations, either the disk has an inflated inner region which partly absorbs the core, or the intrinsic core spectrum is curved. The inner 10 pc of the disk can potentially be conceived as an obscuring torus, albeit with optical depth around unity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. To appear in the proceedings of: "The Spectral Energy Distribution of Gas-Rich Galaxies: Confronting Models with Data", Heidelberg, 4-8 Oct. 2004, eds. C.C. Popescu and R.J. Tuffs, AIP Conf. Ser., in pres

Survey of the ISM in Early-Type Galaxies. IV. The Hot Dust Component

We present mid-IR photometric properties for a sample of 28 early-type galaxies observed at 6.75, 9.63 and 15 um with the ISOCAM instrument on board the ISO satellite. We find total mid-IR luminosities in the range 3-48x10^8 L_sun. The spectral energy distribution (SED) of the galaxies were derived using the mid-IR data together with previously published UV, optical and near-IR data. These SEDs clearly show a mid-IR emission coming from dust heated at T ~ 260 K. Dust grains properties are inferred from the mid-IR colors. The masses of the hot dust component are in the range 10-400 M_sun. The relationship between the masses derived from mid-IR observations and those derived from visual extinction are discussed. The possible common heating source for the gas and dust is investigated through the correlations between Ha and mid-IR luminosities.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX (aa.cls), 11 figures (f. 2-4 are colour plates). Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic