110 research outputs found
Testing a double AGN hypothesis for Mrk 273
The ULIRG Mrk 273 contains two infrared nuclei, N and SW, separated by 1
arcsec. A Chandra observation has identified the SW nucleus as an absorbed
X-ray source with nH ~4e23 cm-2 but also hinted at the possible presence of a
Compton thick AGN in the N nucleus, where a black hole of 10^9 Msun is inferred
from the ionized gas kinematics. The intrinsic X-ray spectral slope recently
measured by NuSTAR is unusually hard (photon index of ~1.3) for a Seyfert
nucleus, for which we seek an alternative explanation. We hypothesise a
strongly absorbed X-ray source in N, of which X-ray emission rises steeply
above 10 keV, in addition to the known X-ray source in SW, and test it against
the NuSTAR data, assuming the standard spectral slope (photon index of 1.9).
This double X-ray source model gives a good explanation of the hard continuum
spectrum, the deep Fe K absorption edge, and the strong Fe K line observed in
this ULIRG, without invoking the unusual spectral slope required for a single
source interpretation. The putative X-ray source in N is found to be absorbed
by nH = 1.4(+0.7/-0.4)e24 cm-2. The estimated 2-10 keV luminosity of the N
source is 1.3e43 erg/s, about a factor of 2 larger than that of SW during the
NuSTAR observation. Uncorrelated variability above and below 10 keV between the
Suzaku and NuSTAR observations appears to support the double source
interpretation. Variability in spectral hardness and Fe K line flux between the
previous X-ray observations is also consistent with this picture.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
Following Black Hole Scaling Relations Through Gas-Rich Mergers
We present black hole mass measurements from kinematic modeling of
high-spatial resolution integral field spectroscopy of the inner regions of 9
nearby (ultra-)luminous infrared galaxies in a variety of merger stages. These
observations were taken with OSIRIS and laser guide star adaptive optics on the
Keck I and Keck II telescopes, and reveal gas and stellar kinematics inside the
spheres of influence of these supermassive black holes. We find that this
sample of black holes are overmassive ( M) compared to
the expected values based on black hole scaling relations, and suggest that the
major epoch of black hole growth occurs in early stages of a merger, as opposed
to during a final episode of quasar-mode feedback. The black hole masses
presented are the dynamical masses enclosed in 25pc, and could include
gas which is gravitationally bound to the black hole but has not yet lost
sufficient angular momentum to be accreted. If present, this gas could in
principle eventually fuel AGN feedback or be itself blown out from the system.Comment: accepted to Ap
Following black hole scaling relations through gas-rich mergers
We present black hole mass measurements from kinematic modeling of high-spatial resolution integral field spectroscopy of the inner regions of nine nearby (ultra-)luminous infrared galaxies in a variety of merger stages. These observations were taken with OSIRIS and laser guide star adaptive optics on the Keck I and Keck II telescopes, and reveal gas and stellar kinematics inside the spheres of influence of these supermassive black holes. We find that this sample of black holes are overmassive (~107–9 ) compared to the expected values based on black hole scaling relations, and suggest that the major epoch of black hole growth occurs in early stages of a merger, as opposed to during a final episode of quasar-mode feedback. The black hole masses presented are the dynamical masses enclosed in ~25 pc, and could include gas which is gravitationally bound to the black hole but has not yet lost sufficient angular momentum to be accreted. If present, this gas could in principle eventually fuel active galactic nucleus feedback or be itself blown out from the system
Star-forming Clumps in Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies
We present HST narrowband near-infrared imaging of Paα and Paβ emission of 48 local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) from the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey. These data allow us to measure the properties of 810 spatially resolved star-forming regions (59 nuclei and 751 extranuclear clumps) and directly compare their properties to those found in both local and high-redshift star-forming galaxies. We find that in LIRGs the star-forming clumps have radii ranging from ~90 to 900 pc and star formation rates (SFRs) of ~1 × 10⁻³ to 10 M⊙ yr⁻¹, with median values for extranuclear clumps of 170 pc and 0.03 M⊙ yr⁻¹. The detected star-forming clumps are young, with a median stellar age of 8.7 Myr, and have a median stellar mass of 5 × 10⁵ M ⊙. The SFRs span the range of those found in normal local star-forming galaxies to those found in high-redshift star-forming galaxies at z = 1–3. The luminosity function of the LIRG clumps has a flatter slope than found in lower-luminosity, star-forming galaxies, indicating a relative excess of luminous star-forming clumps. In order to predict the possible range of star-forming histories and gas fractions, we compare the star-forming clumps to those measured in the MassiveFIRE high-resolution cosmological simulation. The star-forming clumps in MassiveFIRE cover the same range of SFRs and sizes found in the local LIRGs and have total gas fractions that extend from 10% to 90%. If local LIRGs are similar to these simulated galaxies, we expect that future observations with ALMA will find a large range of gas fractions, and corresponding star formation efficiencies, among the star-forming clumps in LIRGs
C-GOALS II. Chandra Observations of the Lower Luminosity Sample of Nearby Luminous Infrared Galaxies in GOALS
We analyze Chandra X-ray observatory data for a sample of 63 luminous
infrared galaxies (LIRGs), sampling the lower-infrared luminosity range of the
Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG survey (GOALS), which includes the most
luminous infrared selected galaxies in the local universe. X-rays are detected
for 84 individual galaxies within the 63 systems, for which arcsecond
resolution X-ray images, fluxes, infrared and X-ray luminosities, spectra and
radial profiles are presented. Using X-ray and MIR selection criteria, we find
AGN in (315)% of the galaxy sample, compared to the (386)% previously
found for GOALS galaxies with higher infrared luminosities (C-GOALS I). Using
mid-infrared data, we find that (599)% of the X-ray selected AGN in the
full C-GOALS sample do not contribute significantly to the bolometric
luminosity of the host galaxy. Dual AGN are detected in two systems, implying a
dual AGN fraction in systems that contain at least one AGN of (2914)%,
compared to the (1110)% found for the C-GOALS I sample. Through analysis
of radial profiles, we derive that most sources, and almost all AGN, in the
sample are compact, with half of the soft X-ray emission generated within the
inner kpc. For most galaxies, the soft X-ray sizes of the sources are
comparable to those of the MIR emission. We also find that the hard X-ray
faintness previously reported for the bright C-GOALS I sources is also observed
in the brightest LIRGs within the sample, with
L.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, 11 tables, accepted for publication in A&
Understanding and improving electroluminescence in mill-ground ZnS : Cu,Cl phosphors
Abstract We demonstrate that lightly milled ZnS : Cu,Cl phosphors produce AC electroluminescence (EL) emission in devices half as thick and produce up to 5 times the light output as the thinnest devices made with unground phosphors. We also establish minimum and maximum bounds on micro-milling conditions for producing powders that are still viable for AC EL. To understand the cause of the minimum size, we report extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements on phosphors sorted by particle size. The EXAFS data show that grinding preferentially damages the initially embedded CuS nano-precipitate. This suggests that grinding cleaves the ZnS : Cu through the embedded CuS nano-precipitates, leaving the CuS nano-precipitates on the surface to be further broken apart by continued grinding, eventually reducing the effectiveness of the CuS-induced electric field enhancement
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: The Low-Redshift Stellar Mass Tully-Fisher Relation
We investigate the Tully-Fisher Relation (TFR) for a morphologically and
kine- matically diverse sample of galaxies from the SAMI Galaxy Survey using 2
dimensional spatially resolved Halpha velocity maps and find a well defined
relation across the stellar mass range of 8.0 < log(M*) < 11.5. We use an
adaptation of kinemetry to parametrise the kinematic Halpha asymmetry of all
galaxies in the sample, and find a correlation between scatter (i.e. residuals
off the TFR) and asymmetry. This effect is pronounced at low stellar mass,
corresponding to the inverse relationship between stellar mass and kinematic
asymmetry found in previous work. For galaxies with log(M*) < 9.5, 25 +/- 3%
are scattered below the root mean square (RMS) of the TFR, whereas for galaxies
with log(M*) > 9.5 the fraction is 10 +/- 1% We use 'simulated slits' to
directly compare our results with those from long slit spectroscopy and find
that aligning slits with the photometric, rather than the kinematic, position
angle, increases global scatter below the TFR. Further, kinematic asymmetry is
correlated with misalignment between the photometric and kinematic position
angles. This work demonstrates the value of 2D spatially resolved kinematics
for accurate TFR studies; integral field spectroscopy reduces the
underestimation of rotation velocity that can occur from slit positioning off
the kinematic axis
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