77 research outputs found
Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies - I. Bulge luminosities from dedicated near-infrared data
In an effort to secure, refine and supplement the relation between central
Supermassive Black Hole masses (Mbh), and the bulge luminosities of their host
galaxies, (Lbul), we obtained deep, high spatial resolution K-band images of 35
nearby galaxies with securely measured Mbh, using the wide-field WIRCam imager
at the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope (CFHT). A dedicated data reduction and
sky subtraction strategy was adopted to estimate the brightness and structure
of the sky, a critical step when tracing the light distribution of extended
objects in the near-infrared. From the final image product, bulge and total
magnitudes were extracted via two-dimensional profile fitting. As a first order
approximation, all galaxies were modeled using a simple Sersic-bulge +
exponential-disk decomposition. However, we found that such models did not
adequately describe the structure that we observe in a large fraction of our
sample galaxies which often include cores, bars, nuclei, inner disks, spiral
arms, rings and envelopes. In such cases, we adopted profile modifications
and/or more complex models with additional components. The derived bulge
magnitudes are very sensitive to the details and number of components used in
the models, although total magnitudes remain almost unaffected. Usually, but
not always, the luminosities and sizes of the bulges are overestimated when a
simple bulge+disk decomposition is adopted in lieu of a more complex model.
Furthermore we found that some spheroids are not well fit when the ellipticity
of the Sersic model is held fixed. This paper presents the details of the image
processing and analysis, while in a companion paper we discuss how
model-induced biases and systematics in bulge magnitudes impact the Mbh-Lbul
relation.Comment: 48 pages, 40 Figures, 5 tables; high-resolution figures and a
corresponding version of the .pdf are available at
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lx0xqn89wa3y320/2hS-zZ12Y
Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies - II. The correlation with near-infrared luminosity revisited
We present an investigation of the scaling relations between Supermassive
Black Hole (SMBH) masses (Mbh), and their host galaxies' K-band bulge (Lbul)
and total (Ltot) luminosities. The wide-field WIRCam imager at the
Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope (CFHT) was used to obtain the deepest and
highest resolution near infrared images available for a sample of 35 galaxies
with securely measured Mbh, selected irrespective of Hubble type. For each
galaxy, we derive bulge and total magnitudes using a two-dimensional image
decomposition code that allows us to account, if necessary, for large- and
small-scale disks, cores, bars, nuclei, rings, envelopes and spiral arms. We
find that the present-day Mbh-Lbul and Mbh-Ltot relations have consistent
intrinsic scatter, suggesting that Mbh correlates equally well with bulge and
total luminosity of the host. Our analysis provides only mild evidence of a
decreased scatter if the fit is restricted to elliptical galaxies. The
log-slopes of the Mbh-Lbul and Mbh-Ltot relations are 0.75+/-0.10 and
0.92+/-0.14, respectively. However, while the slope of the Mbh-Lbul relation
depends on the detail of the image decomposition, the characterization of
Mbh-Ltot does not. Given the difficulties and ambiguities of decomposing galaxy
images into separate components, our results indicate that Ltot is more
suitable as a tracer of SMBH mass than Lbul, and that the Mbh-Ltot relation
should be used when studying the co-evolution of SMBHs and galaxies.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, 7 table
Balmer filaments in Tycho's supernova remnant: an interplay between cosmic-ray and broad-neutral precursors
We present H spectroscopic observations and detailed modelling of the
Balmer filaments in the supernova remnant Tycho. We used Galaxy H
Fabry-P\'erot Spectrometer on the William Herschel Telescope with a
3.4'3.4' field-of-view, 0.2" pixel scale and \sigma_\rm{instr}=8.1
km/s resolution at 1" seeing for hours, resulting in 82
spatial-spectral bins that resolve the narrow H line in the entire
Tycho's northeastern rim. For the first time, we can mitigate artificial line
broadening from unresolved differential motion, and probe H emission
parameters in varying shock and ambient medium conditions. Broad H line
remains unresolved within spectral coverage of 392 km/s. We employed Bayesian
inference to obtain reliable parameter confidence intervals, and quantify the
evidence for models with multiple line components. The median H
narrow-line full-width at half-maximum of all bins and models is
W_\rm{NL}=(54.8\pm1.8) km/s at the confidence level, varying within
[35, 72] km/s between bins and clearly broadened compared to the intrinsic
(thermal) km/s. Possible line splits are accounted for, significant
in of the filament, and presumably due to remaining projection
effects. We also find wide-spread evidence for intermediate-line emission of a
broad-neutral precursor, with median W_\rm{IL}=(180\pm14) km/s (
confidence). Finally, we present a measurement of the remnant's systemic
velocity, V_\rm{LSR}=-34 km/s, and map differential line-of-sight motions.
Our results confirm the existence and interplay of shock precursors in Tycho's
remnant. In particular, we show that suprathermal narrow-line emission is
near-universal in Tycho and that, in absence of an alternative explanation,
collisionless supernova remnant shocks constitute a viable acceleration source
for Galactic TeV Cosmic-Ray protons.Comment: 36 pages, 17 figures, 5 tables, Paper accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal; References correcte
Towards a new classification of galaxies: principal component analysis of CALIFA circular velocity curves
We present a galaxy classification system for 238 (E1-Sdm) CALIFA (Calar Alto
Legacy Integral Field Area) galaxies based on the shapes and amplitudes of
their circular velocity curves (CVCs). We infer the CVCs from the de-projected
surface brightness of the galaxies, after scaling by a constant mass-to-light
ratio based on stellar dynamics - solving axisymmetric Jeans equations via
fitting the second velocity moment of
the stellar kinematics. We use principal component analysis (PCA) applied to
the CVC shapes to find characteristic features and use a -means classifier
to separate circular curves into classes. This objective classification method
identifies four different classes, which we name slow-rising (SR), flat (FL),
round-peaked (RP) and sharp-peaked (SP) circular curves.
SR are typical for low-mass, late-type (Sb-Sdm), young, faint, metal-poor and
disc-dominated galaxies. SP are typical for high-mass, early-type (E1-E7), old,
bright, metal-rich and bulge-dominated galaxies. FL and RP appear presented by
galaxies with intermediate mass, age, luminosity, metallicity, bulge-to-disk
ratio and morphologies (E4-S0a, Sa-Sbc). The discrepancy mass factor,
, have the largest value for SR and SP classes ( 74
per cent and 71 per cent, respectively) in contrast to the FL and RP
classes (with 59 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively).
Circular curve classification presents an alternative to typical morphological
classification and appears more tightly linked to galaxy evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (Minor changes), 123 pages, 19
figures, 87 Tables (containing the basic properties of the 238 E1-Sdm
galaxies; the five main Principal Component Eigenvectors; the five main
Principal Components - PC_i; the Multi-Gaussian Expansion models - MGEs; the
circular velocity curve models and their uncertainties
Selection bias in dynamically measured supermassive black hole samples : its consequences and the quest for the most fundamental relation
We compare the set of local galaxies having dynamically measured black holes with a large, unbiased sample of galaxies extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We confirm earlier work showing that the majority of black hole hosts have significantly higher velocity dispersions sigma than local galaxies of similar stellar mass. We use Monte Carlo simulations to illustrate the effect on black hole scaling relations if this bias arises from the requirement that the black hole sphere of influence must be resolved to measure black hole masses with spatially resolved kinematics. We find that this selection effect artificially increases the normalization of the M-bh-sigma relation by a factor of at least similar to 3; the bias for the M-bh-M-star relation is even larger. Our Monte Carlo simulations and analysis of the residuals from scaling relations both indicate that sigma is more fundamental than M-star or effective radius. In particular, the M-bh-M-star relation is mostly a consequence of the M-bh-sigma and sigma-M-star relations, and is heavily biased by up to a factor of 50 at small masses. This helps resolve the discrepancy between dynamically based black hole-galaxy scaling relations versus those of active galaxies. Our simulations also disfavour broad distributions of black hole masses at fixed sigma. Correcting for this bias suggests that the calibration factor used to estimate black hole masses in active galaxies should be reduced to values of f(vir) similar to 1. Black hole mass densities should also be proportionally smaller, perhaps implying significantly higher radiative efficiencies/black hole spins. Reducing black hole masses also reduces the gravitational wave signal expected from black hole mergers.Peer reviewe
The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey - Infrared (NGVS-IR): I. A new Near-UV/Optical/Near-IR Globular Cluster selection tool
The NGVS-IR project (Next Generation Virgo Survey - Infrared) is a contiguous
near-infrared imaging survey of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. It complements
the optical wide-field survey of Virgo (NGVS). The current state of NGVS-IR
consists of Ks-band imaging of 4 deg^2 centered on M87, and J and Ks-band
imaging of 16 deg^2 covering the region between M49 and M87. In this paper, we
present the observations of the central 4 deg^2 centered on Virgo's core
region. The data were acquired with WIRCam on the Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope and the total integration time was 41 hours distributed in 34
contiguous tiles. A survey-specific strategy was designed to account for
extended galaxies while still measuring accurate sky brightness within the
survey area. The average 5\sigma limiting magnitude is Ks=24.4 AB mag and the
50% completeness limit is Ks=23.75 AB mag for point source detections, when
using only images with better than 0.7" seeing (median seeing 0.54"). Star
clusters are marginally resolved in these image stacks, and Virgo galaxies with
\mu_Ks=24.4 AB mag arcsec^-2 are detected. Combining the Ks data with optical
and ultraviolet data, we build the uiK color-color diagram which allows a very
clean color-based selection of globular clusters in Virgo. This diagnostic plot
will provide reliable globular cluster candidates for spectroscopic follow-up
campaigns needed to continue the exploration of Virgo's photometric and
kinematic sub-structures, and will help the design of future searches for
globular clusters in extragalactic systems. Equipped with this powerful new
tool, future NGVS-IR investigations based on the uiK diagram will address the
mapping and analysis of extended structures and compact stellar systems in and
around Virgo galaxies.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Does the intermediate-mass black hole in LEDA 87300 (RGG 118) follow the near-quadratic Mbh-Mspheroid relation?
The mass scaling relation between supermassive black holes and their host spheroids has previously been described by a quadratic or steeper relation at low masses (105 < Mbh/Mo âČ 107). How this extends into the realm of intermediate-mass black holes (102 < Mbh/Mo < 105) is not yet clear, although for the barred Sm galaxy LEDA 87300, Baldassare et al. recently reported a nominal virial mass of Mbh = 5 104 Mo residing in a "spheroid" of stellar mass equal to 6.3 108 Mo. We point out, for the first time, that LEDA 87300 therefore appears to reside on the near-quadratic Mbh-Msph,â relation. However, Baldassare et al. modeled the bulge and bar as the single spheroidal component of this galaxy. Here we perform a 3-component bulge+bar+disk decomposition and find a bulge luminosity which is 7.7 times fainter than the published "bulge" luminosity. After correcting for dust, we find that Mbulge = 0.9 108 Mo and Mbulge/Mdisk = 0.04 - which is now in accord with ratios typically found in Scd-Sm galaxies. We go on to discuss slight revisions to the stellar velocity dispersion (40 11 km s-1) and black hole mass () and show that LEDA 87300 remains consistent with the Mbh-Ï relation, and also the near-quadratic Mbh-Msph,â relation when using the reduced bulge mass. LEDA 87300 therefore offers the first support for the rapid but regulated (near-quadratic) growth of black holes, relative to their host bulge/spheroid, extending into the domain of intermediate-mass black holes
The XXL Survey XIX. A realistic population of simulated X-ray AGN: Comparison of models with observations
Modern cosmological simulations rely heavily on feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) in order to stave off overcooling in massive galaxies and galaxy groups and clusters. An important independent test is whether or not the simulations capture the broad demographics of the observed AGN population. Here, we have used the cosmo-OWLS suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to produce realistic synthetic catalogs of X-ray AGN out to =3, with the aim of comparing the catalogs to the observed X-ray AGN population in the XXL survey and other recent surveys. We focused on the unabsorbed X-ray luminosity function (XLF), the Eddington ratio distribution, the black hole mass function, and the projected clustering of X-ray AGN. To compute the unabsorbed XLF of the simulated AGN, we used recent empirically-determined bolometric corrections. We show that the simulated AGN sample accurately reproduces the observed XLF over 3 orders of magnitude in X-ray luminosity in all redshift bins. To compare to the observed Eddington ratio distribution and the clustering of AGN, we produced detailed 'XMM-Newton-detected' catalogs of the simulated AGN. This requires the production of synthetic X-ray images extracted from light cones of the simulations that fold in the relevant instrumental effects of XMM-Newton. We apply a luminosity- and redshift-dependent obscuration function for the AGN and employ the same AGN detection algorithm as used for the real XXL survey. We demonstrate that the detected population of simulated AGN reproduces the observed Eddington ratio distribution and projected clustering from XXL quite well. We conclude that the simulations have a broadly realistic population of AGN and that our synthetic X-ray AGN catalogs should be useful for interpreting additional trends and as a helpful tool for quantifying AGN contamination in galaxy group and cluster X-ray surveys
HUNTING FOR SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES IN NEARBY GALAXIES WITH THE HOBBYâEBERLY TELESCOPE
We have conducted an optical long-slit spectroscopic survey of 1022 galaxies
using the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory. The main
goal of the HET Massive Galaxy Survey (HETMGS) is to find nearby galaxies that
are suitable for black hole mass measurements. In order to measure accurately
the black hole mass, one should kinematically resolve the region where the
black hole dominates the gravitational potential. For most galaxies, this
region is much less than an arcsecond. Thus, black hole masses are best
measured in nearby galaxies with telescopes that obtain high-spatial
resolution. The HETMGS focuses on those galaxies predicted to have the largest
sphere-of-influence, based on published stellar velocity dispersions or the
galaxy fundamental plane. To ensure coverage over galaxy types, the survey
targets those galaxies across a face-on projection of the fundamental plane. We
present the sample selection and resulting data products from the long-slit
observations, including central stellar kinematics and emission line ratios.
The full dataset, including spectra and resolved kinematics, is available
online. Additionally, we show that the current crop of black hole masses are
highly biased towards dense galaxies and that especially large disks and low
dispersion galaxies are under-represented. This survey provides the necessary
groundwork for future systematic black hole mass measurement campaigns.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures and a 17 page data table, ApJs accepted. Survey
data files at http://mpia.de/~bosch/hetmg
- âŠ