2,274 research outputs found
The Accuracy of Morphological Decomposition of Active Galactic Nucleus Host Galaxies
In order to assess the accuracy with which we can determine the morphologies
of AGN host galaxies, we have simulated more than 50,000 ACS images of galaxies
with z < 1.25, using image and noise properties appropriate for the GOODS
survey. We test the effect of central point-source brightness on host galaxy
parameter recovery with a set of simulated AGN host galaxies made by adding
point sources to the centers of normal galaxies. We extend this analysis and
also quantify the recovery of intrinsic morphological parameters of AGN host
galaxies with a set of fully simulated inactive and AGN host galaxies.
We can reliably separate good from poor fit results using a combination of
reasonable error cuts, in the regime where L_{host}:L_{PS} > 1:4. We give
quantitative estimates of parameter errors as a function of
host-to-point-source ratio. In general, we separate host and point-source
magnitudes reliably at all redshifts; point sources are well recovered more
than 90% of the time, although spurious detection of central point sources can
be as high as 25% for bulge-dominated sources. We find a general correlation
between Sersic index and intrinsic bulge-to-total ratio, such that a host
galaxy with Sersic n < 1.5 generally has at least 80% of its light from a disk
component. Likewise, "bulge-dominated" galaxies with n > 4 typically derive at
least 70% of their total host galaxy light from a bulge, but this number can be
as low as 55%. Single-component Sersic fits to an AGN host galaxy are
statistically very reliable to z < 1.25 (for ACS survey data like ours). In
contrast, two-component fits involving separate bulge and disk components tend
to over-estimate the bulge fraction by ~10%, with uncertainty of order 50%.Comment: 45 pages, 20 figures, submitted to ApJ ; Accepted Version --
additions to introduction and conclusions; title changed, was "Simulations of
AGN Host Galaxy Morphologies
Global Dynamics in Galactic Triaxial Systems I
In this paper we present a theoretical analysis of the global dynamics in a
triaxial galactic system using a 3D integrable Hamiltonian as a simple
representation. We include a thorough discussion on the effect of adding a
generic non--integrable perturbation to the global dynamics of the system. We
adopt the triaxial Stackel Hamiltonian as the integrable model and compute its
resonance structure in order to understand its global dynamics when a
perturbation is introduced. Also do we take profit of this example in order to
provide a theoretical discussion about diffussive processes taking place in
phase space.Comment: Accepted A&
A Search for the Most Massive Galaxies. III. Global and Central Structure
We used the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope
to obtain high resolution i-band images of the centers of 23 single galaxies,
which were selected because they have SDSS velocity dispersions larger than 350
km/s. The surface brightness profiles of the most luminous of these objects
(M_i<-24) have well-resolved `cores' on scales of 150-1000 pc, and share
similar properties to BCGs. The total luminosity of the galaxy is a better
predictor of the core size than is the velocity dispersion. The correlations of
luminosity and velocity dispersion with core size agree with those seen in
previous studies of galaxy cores. Because of high velocity dispersions, our
sample of galaxies can be expected to harbor the most massive black holes, and
thus have large cores with large amounts of mass ejection. The mass-deficits
inferred from core-Sersic fits to the surface-brightness profiles are
approximately double the black-hole masses inferred from the M_bh-sigma
relation and the same as those inferred from the M_bh-L relation. The less
luminous galaxies (M_i>-23) tend to have steeper `power-law' inner profiles,
higher-ellipticity, diskier isophotes, and bulge-to-total ratios of order 0.5
-- all of which suggest that they are `fast-rotators' and rotational motions
could have contaminated the velocity dispersion estimate. There are obvious
dust features within about 300 pc of the center in about 35% of the sample,
predominantly in power-law rather than core galaxies.Comment: 27 Pages, 22 Figures, 2 Tables, Accepted for Publication in MNRA
The Black Hole Mass of Abell 1836-BCG and Abell 3565-BCG
Two brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), namely Abell 1836-BCG and Abell
3565-BCG, were observed with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space
Telescope. By modeling the available photometric and kinematic data, it
resulted that the mass of Abell 1836-BCG and Abell 3565-BCG are
M_bh=4.8(+0.8,-0.7)x10^9 M_sun and M_bh=1.3(+0.3,-0.4)x10^9 M_sun at 1 sigma
confidence level, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Mem SAIt in press, Proceedings of the 51st Annual
Meeting of the Italian Astronomical Society, Florence, April 17-20, 200
Elective and emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the elderly: early or delayed approach
SINFONI's take on Star Formation, Molecular Gas, and Black Hole Masses in AGN
We present some preliminary (half-way) results on our adaptive optics
spectroscopic survey of AGN at spatial scales down to 0.085arcsec. Most of the
data were obtained with SINFONI which provides integral field capability at a
spectral resolution of R~4000. The themes on which we focus in this
contribution are: star formation around the AGN, the properties of the
molecular gas and its relation to the torus, and the mass of the black hole.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Science Perspectives for 3D
Spectroscopy. ESO Astrophysics Symposia. Ed by M. Kissler-Patig, M. Roth and
J. Wals
Induced Nested Galactic Bars Inside Assembling Dark Matter Halos
We investigate the formation and evolution of nested bar systems in disk
galaxies in a cosmological setting by following the development of an isolated
dark matter (DM) and baryon density perturbation. The disks form within the
assembling triaxial DM halos and the feedback from the stellar evolution is
accounted for in terms of supernovae and OB stellar winds. Focusing on a
representative model, we show the formation of an oval disk and of a first
generation of nested bars with characteristic sub-kpc and a few kpc sizes. The
system evolves through successive dynamical couplings and decouplings, forcing
the gas inwards and settles in a state of resonant coupling. The inflow rate
can support a broad range of activity within the central kpc, from quasar- to
Seyfert-types, supplemented by a vigorous star formation as a by-product. The
initial bar formation is triggered in response to the tidal torques from the
triaxial DM halo, which acts as a finite perturbation. This first generation of
bars does not survive for more than 4--5 Gyr: by that time the secondary bar
has totally dissolved, while the primary one has very substantially weakened,
reduced to a fat oval. This evolution is largely due to chaos introduced by the
interaction of the multiple non-axisymmetric components.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 mpeg animation. To be published by the
Astrophysical Journal Letters. The animation can be found at
http://www.pa.uky.edu/~shlosman/research/galdyn/movies.html Replaced with an
updated version (small text corrections
The M(BH)-Sigma Relation for Supermassive Black Holes
We investigate the differences in the M(BH)-sigma relation derived recently
by Ferrarese & Merritt (2000) and Gebhardt et al. (2000). The shallower slope
found by the latter authors (3.75 vs. 4.8) is due partly to the use of a
regression algorithm that ignores measurement errors, and partly to the value
of the velocity dispersion adopted for a single galaxy, the Milky Way. A
steeper relation is shown to provide a better fit to black hole masses derived
from reverberation mapping studies. Combining the stellar dynamical, gas
dynamical, and reverberation mapping mass estimates, we derive a best-fit
relation M(BH) = 1.30 (+/- 0.36) X 10^8 (sigma_c/200)^{4.72(+/- 0.36)}, where
M(BH) is in solar masses, and sigma in km/s.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, in pres
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