The effects of oxygen on the evolution of microbial membranes

One prokaryote, Methylococcus capsulatus, synthesizes both hopanoids and sterols and, thus, provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of membrane function. When M. capsulatus was grown at different temperatures, lipid analysis of the whole cells showed that both sterol and unsaturated fatty acid levels decreased at higher growth temperatures; sterol concentrations were 0.116 micro mole/micro mole phospholipid at 30 C and 0.025 micro mole/mirco mole phospholipid at 45 C, while the saturated to unsaturated fatty acid ratio increased from 0.397 to 1.475. Hopane polyol levels were constant over this range; however, methylation of the A-ring decreased markedly in cells grown at 30 C. These results imply that sterol and hopane molecules are required for enhancement of some specific membrane function, potentially by modulating membrane fluidity

The properties of the extended warm ionised gas around low-redshift QSOs and the lack of extended high-velocity outflows

(Abridged) We present a detailed analysis of a large sample of 31 low-redshift, mostly radio-quiet type 1 QSOs observed with integral field spectroscopy to study their extended emission-line regions (EELRs). We focus on the ionisation state of the gas, size and luminosity of extended narrow line regions (ENLRs), which corresponds to those parts of the EELR dominated by ionisation from the QSO, as well as the kinematics of the ionised gas. We detect EELRs around 19 of our 31 QSOs (61%) after deblending the unresolved QSO emission and the extended host galaxy light in the integral field data. We identify 13 EELRs to be entirely ionised by the QSO radiation, 3 EELRs are composed of HII regions and 3 EELRs display signatures of both ionisation mechanisms at different locations. The typical size of the ENLR is 10kpc at a median nuclear [OIII] luminosity of log(L([OIII])/[erg/s])=42.7+-0.15. We show that the ENLR sizes are least a factor of 2 larger than determined with HST, but are consistent with those of recently reported type 2 QSOs at matching [OIII] luminosities. The ENLR of type 1 and type 2 QSOs appear to follow the same size-luminosity relation. Furthermore, we show for the first time that the ENLR size is much better correlated with the QSO continuum luminosity than with the total/nuclear [OIII] luminosity. We show that ENLR luminosity and radio luminosity are correlated, and argue that radio jets even in radio-quiet QSOs are important for shaping the properties of the ENLR. Strikingly, the kinematics of the ionised gas is quiescent and likely gravitationally driven in the majority of cases and we find only 3 objects with radial gas velocities exceeding 400km/s in specific regions of the EELR that can be associate with radio jets. In general, these are significantly lower outflow velocities and detection rates compared to starburst galaxies or radio-loud QSOs.Comment: 34 page, 22 figures (slightly degraded in resolution), 10 tables, accepted for publication in A&A, minor corrections to match with the publisher versio

The low-metallicity QSO HE 2158-0107: A massive galaxy growing by the accretion of nearly pristine gas from its environment?

[abridged] The metallicities of AGN are usually well above solar in their NLR, often reaching up to several times solar in their broad-line regions. Low-metallicity AGN are rare objects which have so far always been associated with low-mass galaxies hosting low-mass BHs (M_BH<10^6Msun). In this paper we present IFS data of the low-redshift QSO HE 2158-0107 for which we find strong evidence for sub-solar NLR metallicities associated with a massive BH (M_BH~3x10^8Msun). The QSO is surrounded by a large extended emission-line region reaching out to 30kpc from the QSO in a tail-like geometry. We present optical and near-IR images and investigate the properties of the host galaxy. The SED of the host is rather blue, indicative of a significant young age stellar population formed within the last 1Gyr. A 3sigma upper limit of L_bulge<4.5x10^10Lsun for the H band luminosity and a corresponding stellar mass upper limit of M_bulge<3.4x10^10Msun show that the host is offset from the local BH-bulge relations. This is independently supported by the kinematics of the gas. Although the stellar mass of the host galaxy is lower than expected, it cannot explain the exceptionally low metallicity of the gas. We suggest that the extended emission-line region and the galaxy growth are caused by the infall of nearly pristine gas from the environment of the QSO host. Minor mergers of dwarf galaxies or the theoretically predicted smooth accretion of cold gas are both potential drivers behind that process. Since the metallicity of the gas in the NLR is much lower than expected, we suspect that the external gas has already reached the galaxy centre and may even contribute to the current feeding of the BH. HE 2158-0107 appears to represent a particular phase of substantial BH and galaxy growth that can be observationally linked with the accretion of external material from its environment.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The B band luminosities of QSO host galaxies

We report on the analysis of B band imaging data of 57 low-redshift QSOs and Seyfert 1 galaxies selected from the Hamburg/ESO-Survey, for which host galaxy dependent selection biases are greatly reduced compared to other optical surveys. Only one object in the sample is known to be radio-loud. We adopted a procedure to remove the AGN contribution by subtracting a scaled point spread functions from each QSO image. To reclaim the integrated host galaxy flux we correct for oversubtraction based on simulations. This method shows to be quite insensitive to the host galaxy morphological type, which we can unambiguously established for 15 of the 57 objects. The quasar host galaxies are detected in all cases. The hosts are very luminous, ranging in absolute magnitude M_B from -19.0 to -23.8, with an average of M_B,gal = -21.5, considerably above L* for field galaxies. For the luminous QSO subsample with M_B < -23 the average host absolute magnitude is M_B,gal = -23.0, while for the complementary low-luminosity AGN we get M_B,gal = -21.2, roughly equal to L*. The luminous host galaxies in the sample are typically approx. 1 mag brighter than expected when inferring B band luminosities from studies of similar objects at longer wavebands. We argue that this mismatch is not likely to be explained by selection effects, but favor host galaxy colours significanlty bluer than those of inactive galaxies. Although published B band data are scant, this result and the findings of other authors are in good agreement.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Integral field spectroscopy of QSO host galaxies

We describe a project to study the state of the ISM in ~20 low redshift (z<0.3) QSO host galaxies observed with the PMAS integral field spectrograph. We describe method developement to access the stellar and gas component of the spectrum without the strong nuclear emission to access the host galaxy properties also in the central region. It shows that integral field spectroscopy promises to be very efficient to study the gas distribution and its velocity field, and also spatially resolved stellar population in the host galaxies also of luminous AGN.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Euro3D Science Workshop, Cambridge, May 2003, AN, accepte

On-axis spectroscopy of the host galaxies of 20 optically luminous quasars at z~0.3

We present the analysis of a sample of 20 bright low-redshift quasars (M_B<-23 and z < 0.35) observed spectroscopically with the VLT. The FORS1 spectra, obtained in Multi Object Spectroscopy (MOS) mode, allow to observe simultaneously the quasars and several reference stars used to spatially deconvolve the data. Applying the MCS deconvolution method, we are able to separate the individual spectra of the quasar and of the underlying host galaxy. Contrary to some previous claims, we find that luminous quasars are not exclusively hosted by massive ellipticals. Most quasar host galaxies harbour large amounts of gas, irrespective of their morphological type. Moreover, the stellar content of half of the hosts is a young Sc-like population, associated with a rather low metallicity interstellar medium. A significant fraction of the galaxies contain gas ionized at large distances by the quasar radiation. This large distance ionization is always associated with signs of gravitational interactions (as detected from images or disturbed rotation curves). The spectra of the quasars themselves provide evidence that gravitational interactions bring dust and gas in the immediate surrounding of the super massive black hole, allowing to feed it. The quasar activity might thus be triggered (1) in young gas-rich spiral galaxies by local events and (2) in more evolved galaxies by gravitational interactions or collisions. The latter mechanism gives rises to the most powerful quasars. Finally, we derive mass models for the isolated spiral host galaxies and we show that the most reliable estimators of the systemic redshift in the quasar spectrum are the tips of the Ha and Hb lines.Comment: 30 pages, 19 figures, 9 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS, major revisio

Decomposition of AGN host galaxy images

We describe an algorithm to decompose deep images of Active Galactic Nuclei into host galaxy and nuclear components. Currently supported are three galaxy models: A de-Vaucouleurs spheroidal, an exponential disc, and a two-component disc+bulge model. Key features of the method are: (semi-)analytic representation of a possibly spatially variable point-spread function; full two-dimensional convolution of the model galaxy using gradient-controlled adaptive subpixelling; multiple iteration scheme. The code is computationally efficient and versatile for a wide range of applications. The quantitative performance is measured by analysing simulated imaging data. We also present examples of the application of the method to small test samples of nearby Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars at redshifts z < 0.35.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Host galaxies of bright high redshift quasars: Luminosities and colours

We present the results of a near-infrared imaging study of high redshift (z~3) quasars using the ESO-VLT. Our targets were selected to have luminosities among the highest known (absolute magnitude M_B <~ -28. We searched for resolved structures underlying the bright point-source nuclei by comparing the QSO images with stars located in the same fields. Two QSOs (HE2348-1444 at z=2.904 and HE2355-5457 at z=2.933) are clearly resolved in K_S, and with somewhat lower significance also in H; one object is resolved only in K_S. At these redshifts, H and K_S correspond almost exactlly to rest-frame B and V, respectively, with virtually no K-correction. We also report briefly the non-detection of some additional QSOs. The detected host galaxies are extremely luminous with M_V ~ -25. Their rest-frame B-V colours, however, are close to zero in the Vega system, indicating substantial contributions from young stars and a stellar mass-to-light ratio below 1 (in solar units). Tentatively converting M_V and B-V into rough estimates of stellar masses, we obtain values of M_star in the range of several 10^11 M_sun, placing them within the high-mass range of recent high-redshift galaxy surveys. We present optical spectra and use CIV line width measurements to predict virial black hole masses, obtaining typical values of M_bh ~ 5x10^9 M_sun. With respect to the known correlation between host galaxy luminosity L_V(host) and M_bh, our measurements reach to higher luminosities and redshifts than previous studies, but are completely consistent with them. Comparing our objects with the local (z~0) M_bh - M_bulge relation and taking also the low stellar mass-to-light ratios into account, we find tentative evidence for an excess in the M_bh/M_bulge mass ratio at z~3.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&