2,305 research outputs found
The prompt optical/near-infrared flare of GRB 050904: the most luminous transient ever detected
With a redshift of z=6.295, GRB 050904 is the most distant gamma-ray burst
ever discovered. It was an energetic event at all wavelengths and the afterglow
was observed in detail in the near-infrared bands. We gathered all available
optical and NIR afterglow photometry of this GRB to construct a composite NIR
light curve spanning several decades in time and flux density. Transforming the
NIR light curve into the optical, we find that the afterglow of GRB 050904 was
more luminous at early times than any other GRB afterglow in the
pre-\emph{Swift} era, making it at these wavelengths the most luminous
transient ever detected. Given the intrinsic properties of GRB 050904 and its
afterglow, we discuss if this burst is markedly different from other GRBs at
lower redshifts.Comment: The Astronomical Journal, in press; revised version, including the
comments of the referee (one figure added, text restructured, all conclusions
unchanged), 7 pages, 3 figure
Evidence for extended, obscured starbursts in submm galaxies
We compare high-resolution optical and radio imaging of 12 luminous submm
galaxies at z=2.2+/-0.2 observed with HST and the MERLIN and VLA at comparable
spatial resolution, 0.3" (2kpc). The radio emission traces the likely
far-infrared morphology of these dusty, luminous galaxies. In ~30% of the
sample the radio appears unresolved, suggesting that the emission is compact:
either an obscured AGN or nuclear starburst. However, in the majority, ~70%
(8/12), the radio emission is resolved by MERLIN/VLA on scales of ~1" (10 kpc).
For these galaxies the radio morphologies are broadly similar to their
restframe UV emission seen by HST. We discuss the probable mechanisms for the
extended emission and conclude that their luminous radio and submm emission
arises from a large, spatially-extended starburst. The median SFRs are
1700Mo/yr occuring within a ~40kpc^2 region, giving a star formation density of
45Mo/yr/kpc^2. Such vigorous and extended starbursts appear to be uniquely
associated with the submm population. A more detailed comparison of the
distribution of UV and radio emission shows that the broad similarities on
large scales are not carried through to smaller scales, where there is rarely a
one-to-one correspondance. We interpret this as resulting from highly
structured internal obscuration, suggesting that the vigorous activity is
producing wind-blown channels through the obscuration in these galaxies. If
correct this underlines the difficulty of using UV morphologies to understand
structural properties of this population and also may explain the surprising
frequency of Ly-alpha emission in their spectra. [Abridged]Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
HST Astrometry of M4 and the Galactic Constant V_0/R_0
From multi-epoch WFPC2/HST observations we present astrometric measurements
of stars in the Galactic globular cluster M4 (NGC 6121) and in the
foreground/background. The presence of an extragalactic point source allows us
to determine the absolute proper motion of the cluster, and, through use of the
field stars in this region only 18 degree from the Galactic center, to measure
the difference between the Oort constants, A-B. We find: (mu_alpha cos dec,
mu_dec)_J2000 = (-13.21 +/- 0.35, -19.28 +/- 0.35) mas/yr, and A-B = V_0/R_0 =
27.6 +/- 1.7 km / s / kpc.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, A.J.__ACCEPTED__, 1 April, 2003, (...!
Distant red galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
We take advantage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF) data to study the
restframe optical and ultra violet (UV) morphologies of the novel population of
Distant Red Galaxies (DRGs). Six galaxies with J-Ks > 2.3 are found to Ks=21.5,
five of which have photometric redshifts z_phot > 2, corresponding to a surface
density of 0.9/arcmin^2. The surface brightness distributions of the z_phot > 2
galaxies are better represented by exponential disks than R^{1/4}-laws. Two of
the z_phot > 2 galaxies are extended, while three have compact morphologies.
The restframe optical morphology of the z_phot > 2 galaxies is quite different
from the restframe UV morphology: all the galaxies have red central components
which dominate in the NICMOS H_{160}-band images, and distinct off-center blue
features which show up in (and often dominate) the ACS images. The mean
measured effective radius of the z_phot > 2 galaxies is =1.9+/-1.4 kpc,
similar (within the errors) to the mean size of LBGs at similar redshifts. All
the DRGs are resolved in the ACS images, while four are resolved in the NICMOS
images. Two of the z_phot > 2 galaxies are bright X-ray sources and hence host
AGN. The diverse restframe optical and UV morphological properties of DRGs
derived here suggest that they have complex stellar populations, consisting of
both evolved populations that dominate the mass and the restframe optical
light, and younger populations, which show up as patches of star formation in
the restframe UV light; in many ways resembling the properties of normal local
galaxies. This interpretation is supported by fits to the broadband SEDs, which
for all five z_phot > 2 are best represented by models with extended star
formation histories and substantial amounts of dust.Comment: Accepted for publication in APJ
Evolution of Galaxy Luminosity Function and Luminosity Function by Density Environment at 0.03<z<0.5
Using galaxy sample observed by the BATC large-field multi-color sky survey
and galaxy data of SDSS in the overlapped fields, we study the dependence of
the restframe -band galaxy luminosity function on redshift and on
large-scale environment. The large-scale environment is defined by isodensity
contour with density contrast \delta\rho/\rho. The data set is a composite
sample of 69,671 galaxies with redshifts 0.03 < z < 0.5 and r < 21.5 mag. The
redshifts are composed by three parts: 1) spectroscopic redshifts in SDSS for
local and most luminous galaxies; 2) 20-color photometric redshifts derived
from BATC and SDSS; 3) 5-color photometric redshifts in SDSS. We find that the
faint-end slope \alpha steepens slightly from -1.21 at z ~ 0.06 to -1.35 at z ~
0.4, which is the natural consequence of the hierarchical formation of
galaxies. The luminosity function also differs with different environments. The
value of \alpha changes from -1.21 at underdense regions to -1.37 at overdense
regions and the corresponding M* brightens from -22.26 to -22.64. This suggests
that the fraction of faint galaxies is larger in high density regions than in
low density regions.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted by Ap
Tracing Galaxy Assembly: Tadpole Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
In the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) an abundance of galaxies is seen with a
knot at one end plus an extended tail, resembling a tadpole. These "tadpole
galaxies" appear dynamically unrelaxed--presumably in an early merging
state--where tidal interactions likely created the distorted knot-plus-tail
morphology. Here we systematically select tadpole galaxies from the HUDF and
study their properties as a function of their photometric redshifts. In a
companion HUDF variability study, Cohen et al. (2005) revealed a total of 45
variable objects believed to be Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Here we show that
this faint AGN sample has no overlap with the tadpole galaxy sample, as
predicted by theoretical work. The tadpole morphology--combined with the lack
of overlap with the variable objects--supports the idea that these galaxies are
in the process of an early-stage merger event, i.e., at a stage that likely
precedes the "turn-on" of any AGN component and the onset of any point-source
variability.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication by Astrophysical Journa
Stellar Populations of Luminous Evolved Galaxies at z~1.5
Observational evidence has been mounting over the past decade that at least
some luminous (~2 L*) galaxies have formed nearly all of their stars within a
short period of time only 1-2x10^9 years after the Big Bang. These are examples
of the first major episodes of star formation in the Universe and provide
insights into the formation of the earliest massive galaxies. We have examined
in detail the stellar populations of six z~1.5 galaxies that appear to be
passively evolving, using both ground and space-based photometry covering
rest-frame UV to visible wavelengths. In addition, we have obtained
medium-resolution spectroscopy for five of the six galaxies, covering the
rest-frame UV portion of the spectrum. Spectral synthesis modeling for four of
these galaxies favors a single burst of star formation more than 1 Gyr before
the observed epoch. The other two exhibit slightly younger ages with a higher
dust content and evidence for a small contribution from either recent star
formation or active nuclei. The implied formation redshifts for the oldest of
these sources are consistent with previous studies of passive galaxies at high
redshift, and improved stellar modeling has shown these results to be quite
robust. It now seems clear that any valid galaxy formation scenario must be
able to account for these massive (2x10^11 M_sun) galaxies at very early times
in the Universe.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures (2 in color), accepted for publication in Ap
Lower bounds on photometric redshift errors from Type Ia supernovae templates
Cosmology with Type Ia supernovae heretofore has required extensive
spectroscopic follow-up to establish a redshift. Though tolerable at the
present discovery rate, the next generation of ground-based all-sky survey
instruments will render this approach unsustainable. Photometry-based redshift
determination is a viable alternative, but introduces non-negligible errors
that ultimately degrade the ability to discriminate between competing
cosmologies. We present a strictly template-based photometric redshift
estimator and compute redshift reconstruction errors in the presence of
photometry and statistical errors. With reasonable assumptions for a cadence
and supernovae distribution, these redshift errors are combined with systematic
errors and propagated using the Fisher matrix formalism to derive lower bounds
on the joint errors in and relevant to the next
generation of ground-based all-sky survey.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Galaxy Mergers at z>1 in the HUDF: Evidence for a Peak in the Major Merger Rate of Massive Galaxies
We present a measurement of the galaxy merger fraction and number density
from observations in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field for 0.5<z<2.5. We fit the
combination of broadband data and slitless spectroscopy of 1308 galaxies with
stellar population synthesis models to select merging systems based on a
stellar mass of >10^10 M_sol. When correcting for mass incompleteness, the
major merger fraction is not simply proportional to (1+z)^m, but appears to
peak at z_frac~=1.3+-0.4. From this merger fraction, we infer that ~42% of
massive galaxies have undergone a major merger since z~1. We show that the
major merger number density peaks at z_dens~1.2, which marks the epoch where
major merging of massive galaxies is most prevalent. This critical redshift is
comparable to the peak of the cosmic star formation rate density, and occurs
roughly 2.6 Gyr earlier in cosmic time than the peak in the number density of
X-ray selected active galactic nuclei. These observations support an indirect
evolutionary link between merging, starburst, and active galaxies.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Uses and includes
emulateapj.cls. In the initial submission, Figures 1 and 2 where switche
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