279 research outputs found
The resolved structure of the extragalactic supernova remnant SNR 4449-1
We present very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of the
milliarcsecond-scale radio structure of the supernova remnant SNR 44491 in
the galaxy NGC 4449. This young and superluminous remnant was observed at 1.6
GHz (\,cm) with the European VLBI Network. The observations
confirm earlier identifications of this object with a supernova remnant (SNR)
while revealing a somewhat different morphology compared with the structure
reported by Bietenholz et al. from VLBI observations at 1.4 GHz. This
difference is discussed here in the context of structural sensitivity of both
observations. The 1.6 GHz image yields accurate estimates of the size (0.0422
arcsec 0.0285 arcsec and 0.8 0.5 pc) and age (55 yr) of
SNR 44491. With a total flux of 6.1 0.6 mJy measured in the VLBI
image, the historical lightcurve of the source can be well represented by a
power-law decay with a power index of 1.19 0.07. The SNR exhibits a
decline rate of the radio emission of 2.2 0.1 yr and a radio
luminosity of 1.74 10 erg s.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, MNRAS preprint, arXiv:1309.401
The central parsecs of active galactic nuclei: challenges to the torus
Type 2 AGN are by definition nuclei in which the broad-line region and
continuum light are hidden at optical/UV wavelengths by dust. Via accurate
registration of infrared (IR) Very Large Telescope adaptive optics images with
optical \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} images we unambiguously identify the
precise location of the nucleus of a sample of nearby, type 2 AGN. Dust
extinction maps of the central few kpc of these galaxies are constructed from
optical-IR colour images, which allow tracing the dust morphology at scales of
few pc. In almost all cases, the IR nucleus is shifted by several tens of pc
from the optical peak and its location is behind a dust filament, prompting to
this being a major, if not the only, cause of the nucleus obscuration. These
nuclear dust lanes have extinctions mag, sufficient to at least
hide the low-luminosity AGN class, and in some cases are observed to connect
with kpc-scale dust structures, suggesting that these are the nuclear fueling
channels. A precise location of the ionised gas H and
[\textsc{Si\,vii}] 2.48 m coronal emission lines relative to those of the
IR nucleus and dust is determined. The H peak emission is often shifted
from the nucleus location and its sometimes conical morphology appears not to
be caused by a nuclear --torus-- collimation but to be strictly defined by the
morphology of the nuclear dust lanes. Conversely, [\textsc{Si\,vii}] 2.48
m emission, less subjected to dust extinction, reflects the truly, rather
isotropic, distribution of the ionised gas. All together, the precise location
of the dust, ionised gas and nucleus is found compelling enough to cast doubts
on the universality of the pc-scale torus and supports its vanishing in
low-luminosity AGN. Finally, we provide the most accurate position of the NGC
1068 nucleus, located at the South vertex of cloud B.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A population of intermediate-mass black holes in dwarf starburst galaxies up to redshift=1.5
We study a sample of 50,000 dwarf starburst and late-type galaxies
drawn from the COSMOS survey with the aim of investigating the presence of
nuclear accreting black holes (BHs) as those seed BHs from which supermassive
BHs could grow in the early Universe. We divide the sample into five complete
redshift bins up to and perform an X-ray stacking analysis using the
\textit{Chandra} COSMOS-Legacy survey data. After removing the contribution
from X-ray binaries and hot gas to the stacked X-ray emission, we still find an
X-ray excess in the five redshift bins that can be explained by nuclear
accreting BHs. This X-ray excess is more significant for . At higher
redshifts, these active galactic nuclei could suffer mild obscuration, as
indicated by the analysis of their hardness ratios. The average nuclear X-ray
luminosities in the soft band are in the range 10 erg s.
Assuming that the sources accrete at 1\% the Eddington rate, their BH
masses would be 10 M, thus in the intermediate-mass BH
regime, but their mass would be smaller than the one predicted by the
BH-stellar mass relation. If instead the sources follow the correlation between
BH mass and stellar mass, they would have sub-Eddington accreting rates of
10 and BH masses 1-9 10 M. We thus
conclude that a population of intermediate-mass BHs exists in dwarf starburst
galaxies, at least up to =1.5, though their detection beyond the local
Universe is challenging due to their low luminosity and mild obscuration unless
deep surveys are employed.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, ApJ in pres
Intermediate-mass black holes in dwarf galaxies out to redshift 2.4 in the Chandra COSMOS Legacy Survey
We present a sample of 40 AGN in dwarf galaxies at redshifts
2.4. The galaxies are drawn from the \textit{Chandra} COSMOS-Legacy survey as
having stellar masses M. Most
of the dwarf galaxies are star-forming. After removing the contribution from
star formation to the X-ray emission, the AGN luminosities of the 40 dwarf
galaxies are in the range erg
s. With 12 sources at , our sample constitutes the
highest-redshift discovery of AGN in dwarf galaxies. The record-holder is
cid\_1192, at and with erg
s. One of the dwarf galaxies has
M and is the least massive galaxy found so far to host an AGN. All
the AGN are of type 2 and consistent with hosting intermediate-mass black holes
(BHs) with masses M and typical Eddington
ratios . We also study the evolution, corrected for completeness, of AGN
fraction with stellar mass, X-ray luminosity, and redshift in dwarf galaxies
out to = 0.7. We find that the AGN fraction for M and erg s is
0.4\% for 0.3 and that it decreases with X-ray luminosity and
decreasing stellar mass. Unlike massive galaxies, the AGN fraction seems to
decrease with redshift, suggesting that AGN in dwarf galaxies evolve
differently than those in high-mass galaxies. Mindful of potential caveats, the
results seem to favor a direct collapse formation mechanism for the seed BHs in
the early Universe.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The central molecular gas structure in LINERs with low luminosity AGN: evidence for gradual disappearance of the torus
We present observations of the molecular gas in the nuclear environment of
three prototypical low luminosity AGN (LLAGN), based on VLT/SINFONI AO-assisted
integral-field spectroscopy of H2 1-0 S(1) emission at angular resolutions of
~0.17". On scales of 50-150 pc the spatial distribution and kinematics of the
molecular gas are consistent with a rotating thin disk, where the ratio of
rotation (V) to dispersion (sigma) exceeds unity. However, in the central 50
pc, the observations reveal a geometrically and optically thick structure of
molecular gas (V/sigma10^{23} cm^{-2}) that is likely to be
associated with the outer extent of any smaller scale obscuring structure. In
contrast to Seyfert galaxies, the molecular gas in LLAGN has a V/sigma<1 over
an area that is ~9 times smaller and column densities that are in average ~3
times smaller. We interpret these results as evidence for a gradual
disappearance of the nuclear obscuring structure. While a disk wind may not be
able to maintain a thick rotating structure at these luminosities, inflow of
material into the nuclear region could provide sufficient energy to sustain it.
In this context, LLAGN may represent the final phase of accretion in current
theories of torus evolution. While the inflow rate is considerable during the
Seyfert phase, it is slowly decreasing, and the collisional disk is gradually
transitioning to become geometrically thin. Furthermore, the nuclear region of
these LLAGN is dominated by intermediate-age/old stellar populations (with
little or no on-going star formation), consistent with a late stage of
evolution.Comment: 15 pages, including 4 figures and 1 table, Accepted for publication
in ApJ Letter
The environment of AGN dwarf galaxies at z0.7 from the VIPERS survey
Dwarf galaxies are ideal laboratories to study the relationship between the
environment and AGN activity. However, the type of environments in which dwarf
galaxies hosting AGN reside is still unclear and limited to low-redshift
studies (z < 0.5). We use the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey
(VIPERS) to investigate, for the first time, their environments at 0.5 < z <
0.9. We select a sample of 12,942 low-mass
() galaxies and use the emission-line
diagnostic diagram to identify AGN. We characterise their local environments as
the galaxy density contrast, , derived from the fifth nearest neighbour
method. Our work demonstrates that AGN and non-AGN dwarf galaxies reside in
similar environments at intermediate redshift suggesting that the environment
is not an important factor in triggering AGN activity already since z = 0.9.
Dwarf galaxies show a strong preference for low-density environments,
independently of whether they host an AGN or not. Their properties do not
change when moving to denser environments, suggesting that dwarf galaxies are
not gas-enriched due to environmental effects. Moreover, AGN presence does not
alter host properties supporting the scenario that AGN feedback does not impact
the star formation of the host. Lastly, AGN are found to host over-massive
black holes. This is the first study of dwarf galaxies hosting AGN at z > 0.5.
The next generation of deep surveys will reveal whether or not such lack of
environmental trends is common also for faint higher-redshift dwarf galaxy
populations.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 19 pages, 14 figure
Starbursts and black hole masses in X-shaped radio galaxies: Signatures of a merger event?
We present new spectroscopic identifications of 12 X-shaped radio galaxies
and use the spectral data to derive starburst histories and masses of the
nuclear supermassive black holes in these galaxies. The observations were done
with the 2.1-m telescope of the Observatorio Astron\'omico Nacional at San
Pedro M\'artir, M\'exico. The new spectroscopic results extend the sample of
X-shaped radio galaxies studied with optical spectroscopy. We show that the
combined sample of the X-shaped radio galaxies has statistically higher
black-hole masses and older episodes of star formation than a control sample of
canonical double-lobed radio sources with similar redshifts and luminosities.
The data reveal enhanced star-formation activity in the X-shaped sample on the
timescales expected in galactic mergers. We discuss the results obtained in the
framework of the merger scenario.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
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