Studying the spectral properties of Active Galactic Nuclei in the JWST era

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), due to launch in 2014, shall provide an unprecedented wealth of information in the near and mid-infrared wavelengths, thanks to its high-sensitivity instruments and its 6.5 m primary mirror, the largest ever launched into space. NIRSpec and MIRI, the two spectrographs onboard JWST, will play a key role in the study of the spectral features of Active Galactic Nuclei in the 0.6-28 micron wavelength range. This talk aims at presenting an overview of the possibilities provided by these two instruments, in order to prepare the astronomical community for the JWST era.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in New Astronomy Reviews (proceedings of 7th Serbian Conference on Spectral Line Shapes in Astrophysics

A survey of Low Luminosity Compact sources and its implication for evolution of radio-loud AGNs. I. Radio data

We present a new sample of Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) sources with radio luminosity below 10^26 W/Hz at 1.4 GHz called the low luminosity compact (LLC) objects. The sources have been selected from FIRST survey and observed with MERLIN at L-band and C-band. The main criterion used for selection was luminosity of the objects and approximately one third of the CSS sources from the new sample have a value of radio luminosity comparable to FRIs. About 80% of the sources have been resolved and about 30% of them have weak extended emission and disturbed structures when compared with the observations of higher luminosity CSS sources. We studied correlation between radio power and linear size, and redshift with a larger sample that included also published samples of compact objects and large scale FRIIs and FRIs. The low luminosity compact objects occupy the space in radio power versus linear size diagram below the main evolutionary path of radio objects. We suggest that many of them might be short-lived objects, and their radio emission may be disrupted several times before becoming FRIIs. We conclude that there exists a large population of short-lived low luminosity compact objects unexplored so far and part of them can be precursors of large scale FRIs.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, MNRAS in pres

Tracing jet--ISM interaction in young AGN: correlations between [OIII] 5007 and 5-GHz emission

*AIMS: To study the interaction between young AGN and their host galaxies based on their ionized gas and radio emission, and to analyze possible implications for the radio galaxy evolution. *METHODS: The [OIII] 5007 line and 5-GHz radio properties are compared and studied on a large, representative sample of GPS and CSS (i.e., young) quasars and radio galaxies as well as large-scale sources using [OIII] 5007 line and 5-GHz radio data from literature and our observations. *RESULTS: Several correlations between the [OIII] 5007 line and 5-GHz radio emission have been found. The main result is that the [OIII] 5007 emission is strongly related to the GPS/CSS source size indicating that the [OIII] 5007 emission is clearly enhanced by the jet expansion through the host galaxy ISM. Shocks are the most likely enhancing mechanism, although jet-induced star formation could also be, partly, responsible for the [OIII] 5007 emission. The data also suggests a possible deceleration of the jet as it grows. In this case, however, the correlation is weak.Comment: Accepted by A&

A survey of Low Luminosity Compact sources and its implication for evolution of radio-loud AGNs. II. Optical analysis

This is the second in a series of papers concerning a new sample of low luminosity compact (LLC) objects. Here we discuss the optical properties of the sample based on Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images and spectra. We have generated different diagnostic diagrams and classified the sources as high and low excitation galaxies (HEG and LEG, respectively). We have studied the jet-host interactions, relation between radio and optical line emission and evolution of the radio source within a larger sample that included also the published samples of compact steep spectrum (CSS), gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) sources and FRII and FRI objects. The optical and radio properties of the LLC sample are in general consistent with brighter CSS and large-scale radio sources, although the LLC objects have lower values of [OIII] luminosity than the more powerful CSS sources (L_1.4GHz>10^25 W/Hz). However, when LLC are added to the other samples, HEG and LEG seem to follow independent, parallel evolutionary tracks. Regarding ionization mechanisms, LLC and luminous CSS objects behave like FRII sources, while FRI seem to belong to a different group of objects. Based on our results, we propose the independent, parallel evolutionary tracks for HEG and LEG sources, evolving from GPS - CSS - FR.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, MNRAS in pres

Environment of compact extragalactic radio sources

We have studied the interrelation of young AGN with their hosts. The objects of study are the young and powerful GPS and CSS radio sources. Due to their small size, GPS and CSS sources are excellent probes of this relation. Furhthermore, their young age allows us to compare them to the larger, old radio sources and establish a time-line evolution of this relation. Combining imaging and spectroscopy at UV, optical and radio wavelengths we find evidence of strong interaction between the host and the radio source. The presence and expansion of the radio source clearly affects the properties and evolution of the host. Furthermore, the radio source and host significantly affect each other's evolution. We describe our results and how these interactions take place.Comment: 6 pages. To appear in "Highlights of Spanisg astrophysics IV. Proceedings of the VII scientific meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society". Editors: F. Figueras, J.M. Girart, M.Hernanz, C. Jordi. Springe

The B3-VLA CSS sample. VIII: New optical identifications from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The ultraviolet-optical spectral energy distribution of the young radio sources

Compact steep-spectrum radio sources and giga-hertz peaked spectrum radio sources (CSS/GPS) are generally considered to be mostly young radio sources. In recent years we studied at many wavelengths a sample of these objects selected from the B3-VLA catalog: the B3-VLA CSS sample. Only ~ 60 % of the sources were optically identified. We aim to increase the number of optical identifications and study the properties of the host galaxies of young radio sources. We cross-correlated the CSS B3-VLA sample with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), DR7, and complemented the SDSS photometry with available GALEX (DR 4/5 and 6) and near-IR data from UKIRT and 2MASS. We obtained new identifications and photometric redshifts for eight faint galaxies and for one quasar and two quasar candidates. Overall we have 27 galaxies with SDSS photometry in five bands, for which we derived the ultraviolet-optical spectral energy distribution (UV-O-SED). We extended our investigation to additional CSS/GPS selected from the literature. Most of the galaxies show an excess of ultra-violet (UV) radiation compared with the UV-O-SED of local radio-quiet ellipticals. We found a strong dependence of the UV excess on redshift and analyzed it assuming that it is generated either from the nucleus (hidden quasar) or from a young stellar population (YSP). We also compare the UV-O-SEDs of our CSS/GPS sources with those of a selection of large size (LSO) powerful radio sources from the literature. If the major process of the UV excess is caused by a YSP, our conclusion is that it is the result of the merger process that also triggered the onset of the radio source with some time delay. We do not see evidence for a major contribution from a YSP triggered by the radio sources itself.Comment: 38 pages, 21 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication on A&