263 research outputs found
The extraordinary mid-infrared spectral properties of FeLoBAL Quasars
We present mid-infrared spectra of six FeLoBAL QSOs at 1<z<1.8, taken with
the Spitzer space telescope. The spectra span a range of shapes, from hot dust
dominated AGN with silicate emission at 9.7 microns, to moderately obscured
starbursts with strong Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emission. The
spectrum of one object, SDSS 1214-0001, shows the most prominent PAHs yet seen
in any QSO at any redshift, implying that the starburst dominates the mid-IR
emission with an associated star formation rate of order 2700 solar masses per
year. With the caveats that our sample is small and not robustly selected, we
combine our mid-IR spectral diagnostics with previous observations to propose
that FeLoBAL QSOs are at least largely comprised of systems in which (a) a
merger driven starburst is ending, (b) a luminous AGN is in the last stages of
burning through its surrounding dust, and (c) which we may be viewing over a
restricted line of sight range.Comment: ApJ, accepte
High-velocity neon line emission from the ULIRG IRAS F00183-7111: revealing the optically obscured base of a nuclear outflow
We report the first mid-IR detection of highly disturbed ionized gas in the
ultraluminous infrared galaxy IRAS F00183-7111. The gas, traced by the 12.81um
[NeII] and 15.56um [NeIII] lines, spans a velocity range of-3500 to 3000 km/s
with respect to systemic velocity. Optical and near-IR spectroscopic studies
show no evidence for similarly high velocity gas components in forbidden lines
at shorter wavelengths. We interpret this as the result of strong extinction
(Av=10-50) on the high-velocity gas, which identifies the base of the outflow
traced in 5007A [OIII] as a plausible origin. Unusual excitation conditions are
implied by a comparison of the mid-infrared low-excitation neon line emission
and the PAH emission for a sample of 56 ULIRGs. For IRAS F00183, the neon/PAH
ratio is 8 times higher than the average ratio. Similar mid-infrared kinematic
and excitation characteristics are found for only 2 other ULIRGs in our sample:
IRAS 12127-1412NE and IRAS 13451+1232. Both sources have an elevated neon/PAH
ratio and exhibit pronounced blue wings in their 15.56um [NeIII] line profiles.
IRAS 13451 even shows a strongly blue shifted and broad 14.32um [NeV] line.
While for IRAS 13451 the observed [NeIII]/[NeII] and [NeV]/[NeII] line ratios
indicate exposure of the blue shifted gas to direct radiation from the AGN, for
IRAS F00183 and 12127 the neon line ratios are consistent with an origin in
fast shocks in a high-density environment, and with an evolutionary scenario in
which strongly blue shifted [Ne II] and [Ne III] emission trace the (partial)
disruption of the obscuring medium around a buried AGN. The detection of
strongly blue shifted [Ne V] emission in IRAS 13451 would then indicate this
process to be much further advanced in this ULIRG than in IRAS F00183 and
12127, where this line is undetected.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Spitzer-IRS Spectroscopy of the Prototypical Starburst Galaxy NGC7714
We present observations of the starburst galaxy NGC 7714 with the Infrared
Spectrograph IRS on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra yield a
wealth of ionic and molecular features that allow a detailed characterization
of its properties. NGC 7714 has an HII region-like spectrum with strong PAH
emission features. We find no evidence for an obscured active galactic nucleus,
and with [NeIII]/[NeII]~0.73, NGC7714 lies near the upper end of
normal-metallicity starburst galaxies. With very little slicate absorption and
a temperature of the hottest dust component of 340K, NGC 7714 is the perfect
template for a young, unobscured starburstComment: To appear in the special ApJSS issue on early results from Spitze
High resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy of ultraluminous infrared galaxies
(Abridged) We present R~600, 10-37um spectra of 53 ULIRGs at z<0.32, taken
using the IRS on board Spitzer. All of the spectra show fine structure emission
lines of Ne, O, S, Si and Ar, as well as molecular Hydrogen lines. Some ULIRGs
also show emission lines of Cl, Fe, P, and atomic Hydrogen, and/or absorption
features from C_2H_2, HCN, and OH. We employ diagnostics based on the
fine-structure lines, as well as the EWs and luminosities of PAH features and
the strength of the 9.7um silicate absorption feature (S_sil), to explore the
power source behind the infrared emission in ULIRGs. We show that the IR
emission from the majority of ULIRGs is powered mostly by star formation, with
only ~20% of ULIRGs hosting an AGN with a comparable or greater IR luminosity
than the starburst. The detection of the 14.32um [NeV] line in just under half
the sample however implies that an AGN contributes significantly to the mid-IR
flux in ~42% of ULIRGs. The emission line ratios, luminosities and PAH EWs are
consistent with the starbursts and AGN in ULIRGs being more extincted, and for
the starbursts more compact, versions of those in lower luminosity systems. The
excitations and electron densities in the NLRs of ULIRGs appear comparable to
those of lower luminosity starbursts, though there is evidence that the NLR gas
in ULIRGs is more dense. We show that the combined luminosity of the 12.81um
[NeII] and 15.56um [NeIII] lines correlates with both IR luminosity and the
luminosity of the 6.2 micron and 11.2 micron PAH features in ULIRGs, and use
this to derive a calibration between PAH luminosity and star formation rate.
Finally, we show that ULIRGs with 0.8 < S_sil < 2.4 are likely to be powered
mainly by star formation, but that ULIRGs with S_sil < 0.8, and possibly those
with S_sil > 2.4, contain an IR-luminous AGN.Comment: 62 pages in preprint format, 4 tables, 23 figures. ApJ accepte
The Mid-IR Properties of Starburst Galaxies from Spitzer-IRS Spectroscopy
We present 5-38um mid-infrared spectra at a spectral resolution of R~65-130
of a large sample of 22 starburst nuclei taken with the Infrared Spectrograph
IRS on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra show a vast range in
starburst SEDs. The silicate absorption ranges from essentially no absorption
to heavily obscured systems with an optical depth of tau(9.8um)~5. The spectral
slopes can be used to discriminate between starburst and AGN powered sources.
The monochromatic continuum fluxes at 15um and 30um enable a remarkably
accurate estimate of the total infrared luminosity of the starburst. We find
that the PAH equivalent width is independent of the total starburst luminosity
L_IR as both continuum and PAH feature scale proportionally. However, the
luminosity of the 6.2um feature scales with L_IR and can be used to approximate
the total infrared luminosity of the starburst. Although our starburst sample
covers about a factor of ten difference in the [NeIII]/[NeII] ratio, we found
no systematic correlation between the radiation field hardness and the PAH
equivalent width or the 7.7um/11.3um PAH ratio. These results are based on
spatially integrated diagnostics over an entire starburst region, and local
variations may be ``averaged out''. It is presumably due to this effect that
unresolved starburst nuclei with significantly different global properties
appear spectrally as rather similar members of one class of objects.Comment: 22 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ, a high-resolution version
is available from http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~brandl/IRS_starbursts.pd
High-velocity neon line emission from the ULGRIG IRAS F00183-7111 : revealing the optically obscured base of a nuclear outflow
We report the first mid-infrared detection of highly disturbed ionized gas in the ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) IRAS F00183-7111. The gas, traced by the 12.81 ÎŒm [Ne II] and 15.56 ÎŒm [Ne III] lines, spans a velocity range of-3500 to +3000 km s^(â1) with respect to systemic velocity. Optical and near-infrared spectroscopic studies show no evidence for similarly high velocity gas components in forbidden lines at shorter wavelengths. We interpret this as the result of strong extinction (AV = 10-50) on the high-velocity gas, which identifies the base of the outflow traced in 5007 Ă
[O III] as a plausible origin. Unusual excitation conditions are implied by a comparison of the mid-infrared low-excitation neon line emission and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission for a sample of 56 ULIRGs. For IRAS F00183-7111, the neon/PAH ratio is 8 times higher than the average ratio. Similar mid-infrared kinematic and excitation characteristics are found for only two other ULIRGs in our sample: IRAS 12127-1412NE and IRAS 13451+1232. Both sources have an elevated neon/PAH ratio and exhibit pronounced blue wings in their 15.56 ÎŒm [Ne III] line profiles. IRAS 13451+1232 even shows a strongly blueshifted and broad 14.32 ÎŒm [Ne V] line. While for IRAS 13451+1232 the observed [Ne III]/[Ne II] and [Ne V]/[Ne II] line ratios indicate exposure of the blueshifted gas to direct radiation from the AGN, for IRAS F00183-7111 and IRAS 12127-1412NE the neon line ratios are consistent with an origin in fast shocks in a high-density environment, and with an evolutionary scenario in which strongly blueshifted [Ne II] and [Ne III] emission trace the (partial) disruption of the obscuring medium around a buried AGN. The detection of strongly blueshifted [Ne V] emission in IRAS 13451+1232 would then indicate this process to be much further advanced in this ULIRG than in IRAS F00183-7111 and IRAS 12127-1412NE, where this line is undetected
The Extraordinary Mid-infrared Spectrum of the Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxy SBS0335-052
SBS0335-052 is a blue compact dwarf galaxy (BCD) with one of the lowest known
metallicities, ZZ_{\sun}/41, making it a local example of how
primordial starburst galaxies and their precursors might appear. A spectrum
obtained with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope
clearly shows silicate absorption features, emission lines of [SIV] and
[NeIII], and puts strong upper limits on the PAH emission features. The
observed low resolution spectrum (R~90) extends from 5.3 to 35microns and peaks
at ~28microns. The spectrum is compared to IRS observations of the prototypical
starburst nucleus NGC7714. SBS0335-052 is quite unlike normal starburst
galaxies, which show strong PAH bands, low ionization emission lines, and a
continuum peak near 80microns. The continuum difference for m
implies a substantial reduction in the mass of cold dust. If the spectrum of
this very low metallicity galaxy is representative of star forming galaxies at
higher redshifts, it may be difficult to distinguish them from AGNs which also
show relatively featureless flat spectra in the mid-IR.Comment: Accepted in ApJ Sup. Spitzer Special Issue, 4 pages, 2 figure
The Detection of Crystalline Silicates in Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies
Silicates are an important component of interstellar dust and the structure
of these grains -- amorphous versus crystalline -- is sensitive to the local
physical conditions. We have studied the infrared spectra of a sample of
ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. Here, we report the discovery of weak, narrow
absorption features at 11, 16, 19, 23, and 28 microns, characteristic of
crystalline silicates, superimposed on the broad absorption bands at 10 and 18
microns due to amorphous silicates in a subset of this sample. These features
betray the presence of forsterite (Mg_2SiO_4), the magnesium-rich end member of
the olivines. Previously, crystalline silicates have only been observed in
circumstellar environments. The derived fraction of forsterite to amorphous
silicates is typically 0.1 in these ULIRGs. This is much larger than the upper
limit for this ratio in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way, 0.01. These
results suggest that the timescale for injection of crystalline silicates into
the ISM is short in a merger-driven starburst environment (e.g., as compared to
the total time to dissipate the gas), pointing towards massive stars as a
prominent source of crystalline silicates. Furthermore, amorphization due to
cosmic rays, which is thought to be of prime importance for the local ISM, lags
in vigorous starburst environments.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
PAH Emission from Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
We explore the relationships between the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon
(PAH) feature strengths, mid-infrared continuum luminosities, far-infrared
spectral slopes, optical spectroscopic classifications, and silicate optical
depths within a sample of 107 ULIRGs observed with the Infrared Spectrograph on
the Spitzer Space Telescope. The detected 6.2 micron PAH equivalent widths
(EQWs) in the sample span more than two orders of magnitude (0.006-0.8 micron),
and ULIRGs with HII-like optical spectra or steep far-infrared spectral slopes
(S_{25} / S_{60} < 0.2) typically have 6.2 micron PAH EQWs that are half that
of lower-luminosity starbursts. A significant fraction (~40-60%) of HII-like,
LINER-like, and cold ULIRGs have very weak PAH EQWs. Many of these ULIRGs also
have large (tau_{9.7} > 2.3) silicate optical depths. The far-infrared spectral
slope is strongly correlated with PAH EQW, but not with silicate optical depth.
In addition, the PAH EQW decreases with increasing rest-frame 24 micron
luminosity. We argue that this trend results primarily from dilution of the PAH
EQW by continuum emission from dust heated by a compact central source,
probably an AGN. High luminosity, high-redshift sources studied with Spitzer
appear to have a much larger range in PAH EQW than seen in local ULIRGs, which
is consistent with extremely luminous starburst systems being absent at low
redshift, but present at early epochs.Comment: 15 pages, 9 Figures; Accepted for publication in Ap
A Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph Survey of Warm Molecular Hydrogen in Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxies
We have conducted a survey of Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) with
the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope, obtaining spectra
from 5.0-38.5um for 77 sources with 0.02<z <0.93. Observations of the pure
rotational H2 lines S(3) 9.67um, S(2) 12.28um, and S(1) 17.04um are used to
derive the temperature and mass of the warm molecular gas. We detect H2 in 77%
of the sample, and all ULIRGs with F(60um)>2Jy. The average warm molecular gas
mass is ~2x10^8solar-masses. High extinction, inferred from the 9.7um silicate
absorption depth, is not observed along the line of site to the molecular gas.
The derived H2 mass does not depend on F(25um)/F(60um), which has been used to
infer either starburst or AGN dominance. Similarly, the molecular mass does not
scale with the 25 or 60um luminosities. In general, the H2 emission is
consistent with an origin in photo-dissociation regions associated with star
formation. We detect the S(0) 28.22um emission line in a few ULIRGs. Including
this line in the model fits tends to lower the temperature by ~50-100K,
resulting in a significant increase in the gas mass. The presence of a cooler
component cannot be ruled out in the remainder of our sample, for which we do
not detect the S(0) line. The measured S(7) 5.51um line fluxes in six ULIRGs
implies ~3x10^6 solar-masses of hot (~1400K) H2. The warm gas mass is typically
less than 1% of the cold gas mass derived from CO observations.Comment: Accepted ApJ 01 September 2006, v648n1 issue. 14 pages 12 figures
IRAS 06361-6217 the f25/f60 ratio is 0.10 not 1.0
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