299 research outputs found
First Measurement of a Rapid Increase in the AGN Fraction in High-Redshift Clusters of Galaxies
We present the first measurement of the AGN fraction in high-redshift
clusters of galaxies (z~0.6) with spectroscopy of one cluster and archival data
for three additional clusters. We identify 8 AGN in all four of these clusters
from the Chandra data, which are sensitive to AGN with hard X-ray (2-10keV)
luminosity L_{X,H} > 10^43 erg/s in host galaxies more luminous than a rest
frame M_R < -20 mag. This stands in sharp contrast to the one AGN with L_{X,H}
> 10^43 erg/s we discovered in our earlier study of eight low-redshift clusters
with z=0.06-0.31 (average z~0.2). Three of the four high-redshift cluster
datasets are sensitive to nearly L_{X,H} > 10^42 erg/s and we identify seven
AGN above this luminosity limit, compared to two in eight, low-redshift
clusters. Based on membership estimates for each cluster, we determine that the
AGN fraction at z~0.6 is f_A(L_X>10^42;M_R<-20) = 0.028 (+0.019/-0.012) and
f_A(L_X>10^43;M_R<-20) = 0.020 (+0.012/-0.008). These values are approximately
a factor of 20 greater than the AGN fractions in lower-redshift (average z~0.2)
clusters of galaxies and represent a substantial increase over the factors of
1.5 and 3.3 increase, respectively, in the measured space density evolution of
the hard X-ray luminosity function over this redshift range. Potential
systematic errors would only increase the significance of our result. The
cluster AGN fraction increases more rapidly with redshift than the field and
the increase in cluster AGN indicates the presence of an AGN Butcher-Oemler
Effect.Comment: ApJL Accepted, 5 pages, 2 figure
HST Observations of Giant Arcs: High Resolution Imaging Of Distant Field Galaxies.
We present HST imaging of eight spectroscopically-confirmed giant arcs, pairs
and arclets. These objects have all been extensively studied from the ground
and we demonstrate the unique advantages of HST imaging in the study of such
features by a critical comparison of our data with the previous observations.
In particular we present new estimates of the core radii of two clusters
(Cl0024+16, A370) determined from lensed features which are identifiable in our
HST images. Although our HST observations include both pre- and
post-refurbishment images, the depth of the exposures guarantees that the
majority of the arcs are detected with diffraction-limited resolution. A number
of the objects in our sample are multiply-imaged and we illustrate the ease of
identification of such features when working at high resolution. We discuss the
morphological and scale information on these distant field galaxies in the
light of HST studies of lower redshift samples. We conclude that the dominant
population of star-forming galaxies at z=1 is a factor of 1.5-2 times smaller
than the similar group in the local field. This implies either a considerable
evolution in the sizes of star-forming galaxies within the last 10 Gyrs
or a shift in the relative space densities of massive and dwarf star-forming
systems over the same timescale.Comment: 9 pages (no figures), uuencoded, compressed Postscript. Postscript
text, tables and figures (803 Kb) available via anonymous ftp in at
ftp://ociw.edu//pub/irs/pub/hstarcs.tar.
CTQ 414: A New Gravitational Lens
We report the discovery and ground based observations of the new
gravitational lens CTQ 414. The source quasar lies at a redshift of z = 1.29
with a B magnitude of 17.6. Ground based optical imaging reveals two point
sources separated by 1.2 arcsec with a magnitude difference of roughly 1 mag.
Subtraction of two stellar point spread functions from images obtained in
subarcsecond seeing consistently leaves behind a faint, residual object. Fits
for two point sources plus an extended object places the fainter object
collinear with the two brighter components. Subsequent HST/NICMOS observations
have confirmed the identification of the fainter object as the lensing galaxy.
VLA observations at 8.46 GHz reveal that all components of the lensing system
are radio quiet down to the 0.2 mJy flux level.Comment: Latex, 18 pages including 2 ps figures; accepted for publication in
A
WFI J2026-4536 and WFI J2033-4723: Two New Quadruple Gravitational Lenses
We report the discovery of two new gravitationally lensed quasars, WFI
J2026-4536 and WFI J2033-4723, at respective source redshifts of z=2.23 and
z=1.66. Both systems are quadruply imaged and have similar PG1115-like image
configurations. WFI J2026-4536 has a maximum image separation of 1.4", a total
brightness of g = 16.5, and a relatively simple lensing environment, while WFI
J2033-4723 has a maximum image separation of 2.5", an estimated total
brightness of g = 17.9, and a more complicated environment of at least six
galaxies within 20". The primary lensing galaxies are detected for both systems
after PSF subtraction. Several of the broadband flux ratios for the two lenses
show a strong (0.1-0.4 mags) trend with wavelength, suggesting either
microlensing or differential extinction through the lensing galaxy. For WFI
J2026-4536, the total quasar flux has dimmed by 0.1 mag in the blue but only
half as much in the red over three months, suggestive of microlensing-induced
variations. For WFI J2033-4723, resolved spectra of some of the quasar
components reveal emission line flux ratios that agree better with the
macromodel predictions than either the broadband or continuum ratios, also
indicative of microlensing. The predicted differential time delays for WFI
J2026-4536 are short, ranging from 1-2 weeks for the long delay, but are longer
for WFI J2033-4723, ranging from 1-2 months. Both systems hold promise for
future monitoring campaigns aimed at microlensing or time delay studies.Comment: 34 pages, including 9 postscript figures. Submitted to A
Hubble Space Telescope Grism Spectroscopy of Extreme Starbursts Across Cosmic Time: The Role of Dwarf Galaxies in the Star Formation History of the Universe
Near infrared slitless spectroscopy with the Wide Field Camera 3, onboard the
Hubble Space Telescope, offers a unique opportunity to study low-mass galaxy
populations at high-redshift (1-2). While most high surveys are
biased towards massive galaxies, we are able to select sources via their
emission lines that have very-faint continua. We investigate the star formation
rate (SFR)-stellar mass () relation for about 1000 emission-line
galaxies identified over a wide redshift range of . We use the H emission as an accurate SFR indicator and correct
the broadband photometry for the strong nebular contribution to derive accurate
stellar masses down to . We focus here on a
subsample of galaxies that show extremely strong emission lines (EELGs) with
rest-frame equivalent widths ranging from 200 to 1500 \AA. This population
consists of outliers to the normal SFR- sequence with much higher
specific SFRs ( Gyr). While on-sequence galaxies follow a
continuous star formation process, EELGs are thought to be caught during an
extreme burst of star formation that can double their stellar mass in less than
Myr. The contribution of starbursts to the total star formation density
appears to be larger than what has been reported for more massive galaxies in
previous studies. In the complete mass range log()
and a SFR lower completeness limit of about 2 yr (10
yr) at (), we find that starbursts having
EW(H) 300, 200, and 100 A contribute up to , 18,
and 34 %, respectively, to the total SFR of emission-line selected sample at
. The comparison with samples of massive galaxies shows an increase
in the contribution of starbursts towards lower masses.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. The Astrophysical Journal, in pres
PMN J1838-3427: A new gravitationally lensed quasar
We report the discovery of a new double-image quasar that was found during a
search for gravitational lenses in the southern sky. Radio source PMN
J1838-3427 is composed of two flat-spectrum components with separation 1", flux
density ratio 14:1 and matching spectral indices, in VLA and VLBA images.
Ground-based BRI images show the optical counterpart (total I=18.6) is also
double with the same separation and position angle as the radio components. An
HST/WFPC2 image reveals the lens galaxy. The optical flux ratio (27:1) is
higher than the radio value probably due to differential extinction of the
components by the lens galaxy. An optical spectrum of the bright component
contains quasar emission lines at z=2.78 and several absorption features,
including prominent Ly-alpha absorption. The lens galaxy redshift could not be
measured but is estimated to be z=0.36 +/- 0.08. The image configuration is
consistent with the simplest plausible models for the lens potential. The flat
radio spectrum and observed variability of PMN J1838-3427 suggest the time
delay between flux variations of the components is measurable, and could thus
provide an independent measurement of H_0.Comment: 23 pages, incl. 6 figures, to appear in A.J.; replaced with accepted
version; minor changes to text, improved figure
Active Galactic Nuclei in Groups and Clusters of Galaxies: Detection and Host Morphology
The incidence and properties of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in the field,
groups, and clusters can provide new information about how these objects are
triggered and fueled, similar to how these environments have been employed to
study galaxy evolution. We have obtained new XMM-Newton observations of seven
X-ray selected groups and poor clusters with 0.02 < z < 0.06 for comparison
with previous samples that mostly included rich clusters and optically-selected
groups. Our final sample has ten groups and six clusters in this low-redshift
range (split at a velocity dispersion of km/s). We find that the
X-ray selected AGN fraction increases from in clusters to for the
groups (85% significance), or a factor of two, for AGN above an 0.3-8keV X-ray
luminosity of erg/s hosted by galaxies more luminous than .
The trend is similar, although less significant, for a lower-luminosity host
threshold of mag. For many of the groups in the sample we have also
identified AGN via standard emission-line diagnostics and find that these AGN
are nearly disjoint from the X-ray selected AGN. Because there are substantial
differences in the morphological mix of galaxies between groups and clusters,
we have also measured the AGN fraction for early-type galaxies alone to
determine if the differences are directly due to environment, or indirectly due
to the change in the morphological mix. We find that the AGN fraction in
early-type galaxies is also lower in clusters compared to
for the groups (92% significance), a result consistent with the hypothesis that
the change in AGN fraction is directly connected to environment.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures; accepted by The Astrophysical Journal; for
higher-resolution versions of some figures, see
http://u.arizona.edu/~tjarnold/Arnold09
Bayesian analysis of weak gravitational lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data for six galaxy clusters
We present an analysis of observations made with the Arcminute Microkelvin
Imager (AMI) and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) of six galaxy
clusters in a redshift range of 0.16--0.41. The cluster gas is modelled using
the Sunyaev--Zel'dovich (SZ) data provided by AMI, while the total mass is
modelled using the lensing data from the CFHT. In this paper, we: i) find very
good agreement between SZ measurements (assuming large-scale virialisation and
a gas-fraction prior) and lensing measurements of the total cluster masses out
to r_200; ii) perform the first multiple-component weak-lensing analysis of
A115; iii) confirm the unusual separation between the gas and mass components
in A1914; iv) jointly analyse the SZ and lensing data for the relaxed cluster
A611, confirming our use of a simulation-derived mass-temperature relation for
parameterizing measurements of the SZ effect.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, 12 tables, published by MNRA
A Multi-Wavelength Study of Low Redshift Cluster of Galaxies II. Environmental Impact on Galaxy Growth
Galaxy clusters provide powerful laboratories for the study of galaxy
evolution, particularly the origin of correlations of morphology and star
formation rate (SFR) with density. We construct visible to MIR spectral energy
distributions (SEDs) of cluster galaxies and use them to measure stellar masses
and SFRs in eight low redshift clusters, which we examine as a function of
environment. A partial correlation analysis indicates that SFR depends strongly
on R/R200 (>99.9% confidence) and is independent of projected local density at
fixed radius. SFR also shows no residual dependence on stellar mass. We
therefore conclude that interactions with the intra-cluster medium drive the
evolution of SFRs in cluster galaxies. A merged sample of galaxies from the
five most complete clusters shows \propto(R/R200)^(1.3+/-0.7) for galaxies
with R/R200<0.4. A decline in the fraction of SFGs toward the cluster center
contributes most of this effect, but it is accompanied by a reduction in SFRs
among star-forming galaxies (SFGs) near the cluster center. The increase in the
fraction of SFGs toward larger R/R200 and the isolation of SFGs with reduced
SFRs near the cluster center are consistent with ram pressure stripping as the
mechanism to truncate star formation in galaxy clusters. We conclude that
stripping drives the properties of SFGs over the range of radii we examine. We
also find that galaxies near the cluster center are more massive than galaxies
farther out in the cluster at ~3.5\sigma, which suggests that cluster galaxies
experience dynamical relaxation during the course of their evolution.Comment: 22 ApJ pages, 11 figures. Submitted to Ap
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