378 research outputs found
Polarization Profiles of Scattered Emission Lines. II. Upstream Dust Scattering in the HH 1 Jet
Detailed comparisons are made between observations of scattered light
upstream of the head of the HH~1 jet and predictions of simple scattering
models. It is shown that, in order to unambiguously determine the velocity of
the head of the jet (bow shock) with respect to the upstream dust, existing
spectroscopic observations are insufficient and that spectropolarimetric
observations of the scattered light are necessary. Such an independent measure
of the bow shock velocity is important in order to test ``multiple outflow''
theories of Herbig-Haro jets. It is also shown 2that the scattering dust must
have a very forward-throwing scattering phase function
(\langle\cos\theta\rangle\msim 0.7) and slight evidence is found for a
dust-gas ratio that is higher than average.Comment: 11 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript (including 9 figures),
accepted for publication in Ap.J., IAUNAM_contrib.#34
Models relating the radio emission and ionised gas in Seyfert nuclei
Possible models are discussed in which the radio emitting components in Seyfert II nuclei can compress and accelerate the ambient nuclear medium to produce the characteristics of the narrow line region. A first order model, which considers only the expansion of the radio components, is briefly described. However, in many Seyfert nuclei it appears that the linear motion of the radio components is also important. This can result in shock heating of the ambient medium, and if the cooling time is long enough, can lead to a displacement between the radio component and the associated emission lines. This effect may be present in NGC 1068 and NGC 5929 and by considering ram pressure balance and the cooling length it is possible to estimate lobe velocities and ambient densities
HST and Spitzer point source detection and optical extinction in powerful narrow-line radio galaxies
We present the analysis of infrared HST and Spitzer data for a sample of 13
FRII radio galaxies at 0.03<z<0.11 that are classified as narrow-line radio
galaxies (NLRG). In the context of the unified schemes for active galactic
nuclei (AGN), our direct view of the AGN in NLRG is impeded by a parsec-scale
dusty torus structure. Our high resolution infrared observations provide new
information about the degree of extinction induced by the torus, and the
incidence of obscured AGN in NLRG.
We find that the point-like nucleus detection rate increases from 25 per cent
at 1.025m, to 80 per cent at 2.05m, and to 100 per cent at 8.0m.
This supports the idea that most NLRG host an obscured AGN in their centre. We
estimate the extinction from the obscuring structures using X-ray, near-IR and
mid-IR data. We find that the optical extinction derived from the 9.7m
silicate absorption feature is consistently lower than the extinction derived
using other techniques. This discrepancy challenges the assumption that all the
mid-infrared emission of NLRG is extinguished by a simple screen of dust at
larger radii. This disagreement can be explained in terms of either weakening
of the silicate absorption feature by (i) thermal mid-IR emission from the
narrow-line region, (ii) non-thermal emission from the base of the radio jets,
or (iii) by direct warm dust emission that leaks through a clumpy torus without
suffering major attenuation.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
The morphology of Sersic-Pastoriza galaxies
The authors present the preliminary results of their radio-continuum and neutral hydrogen observations of Sersic-Pastoriza (S-P) galaxies. They show that the central regions contain a population of compact features thought to be young supernova remnants (SNRs) and discuss the overall morphology of the nuclei
High Accuracy Near-infrared Imaging Polarimetry with NICMOS
The findings of a nine orbit calibration plan carried out during HST Cycle
15, to fully determine the NICMOS camera 2 (2.0 micron) polarization
calibration to high accuracy, are reported. Recently Ueta et al. and Batcheldor
et al. have suggested that NICMOS possesses a residual instrumental
polarization at a level of 1.2-1.5%. This would completely inhibit the data
reduction in a number of GO programs, and hamper the ability of the instrument
to perform high accuracy polarimetry. We obtained polarimetric calibration
observations of three polarimetric standards at three spacecraft roll angles
separated by ~60deg. Combined with archival data, these observations were used
to characterize the residual instrumental polarization in order for NICMOS to
reach its full potential of accurate imaging polarimetry at p~1%. Using these
data, we place an 0.6% upper limit on the instrumental polarization and
calculate values of the parallel transmission coefficients that reproduce the
ground-based results for the polarimetric standards. The uncertainties
associated with the parallel transmission coefficients, a result of the
photometric repeatability of the observations, are seen to dominate the
accuracy of p and theta. However, the updated coefficients do allow imaging
polarimetry of targets with p~1.0% at an accuracy of +/-0.6% and +/-15deg. This
work enables a new caliber of science with HST.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, PASP accepte
High Accuracy Imaging Polarimetry with NICMOS
The ability of NICMOS to perform high accuracy polarimetry is currently
hampered by an uncalibrated residual instrumental polarization at a level of
1.2-1.5%. To better quantify and characterize this residual we obtained
observations of three polarimetric standard stars at three separate space-craft
roll angles. Combined with archival data, these observations were used to
characterize the residual instrumental polarization to enable NICMOS to reach
its full polarimetric potential. Using these data, we calculate values of the
parallel transmission coefficients that reproduce the ground-based results for
the polarimetric standards. The uncertainties associated with the parallel
transmission coefficients, a result of the photometric repeatability of the
observations, dominate the accuracy of p and theta. However, the new
coefficients now enable imaging polarimetry of targets with p~1.0% at an
accuracy of +/-0.6% and +/-15 degrees.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Contributed talk, "Astronomical Polarimetry 2008.
Science from Small to Large Telescopes" La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, 200
WFPC2 LRF Imaging of Emission Line Nebulae in 3CR Radio Galaxies
We present HST/WFPC2 Linear Ramp Filter images of high surface brightness
emission lines (either [OII], [OIII], or H-alpha+[NII]) in 80 3CR radio
sources. We overlay the emission line images on high resolution VLA radio
images (eight of which are new reductions of archival data) in order to examine
the spatial relationship between the optical and radio emission. We confirm
that the radio and optical emission line structures are consistent with weak
alignment at low redshift (z < 0.6) except in the Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS)
radio galaxies where both the radio source and the emission line nebulae are on
galactic scales and strong alignment is seen at all redshifts. There are weak
trends for the aligned emission line nebulae to be more luminous, and for the
emission line nebula size to increase with redshift and/or radio power. The
combination of these results suggests that there is a limited but real capacity
for the radio source to influence the properties of the emission line nebulae
at these low redshifts (z < 0.6). Our results are consistent with previous
suggestions that both mechanical and radiant energy are responsible for
generating alignment between the radio source and emission line gas.Comment: 80 pages, 54 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Integral Field Spectroscopy of 23 Spiral Bulges
We have obtained Integral Field Spectroscopy for 23 spiral bulges using
INTEGRAL on the William Herschel Telescope and SPIRAL on the Anglo-Australian
Telescope. This is the first 2D survey directed solely at the bulges of spiral
galaxies. Eleven galaxies of the sample do not have previous measurements of
the stellar velocity dispersion (sigma*). These data are designed to complement
our Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph program for estimating black hole
masses in the range 10^6-10^8M_sun using gas kinematics from nucleated disks.
These observations will serve to derive the stellar dynamical bulge properties
using the traditional Mgb and CaII triplets. We use both Cross Correlation and
Maximum Penalized Likelihood to determine projected sigma* in these systems and
present radial velocity fields, major axis rotation curves, curves of growth
and sigma* fields. Using the Cross Correlation to extract the low order 2D
stellar dynamics we generally see coherent radial rotation and irregular
velocity dispersion fields suggesting that sigma* is a non-trivial parameter to
estimate.Comment: 11 pages, 30 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
An optical spectroscopic survey of the 3CR sample of radio galaxies with z<0.3. III. Completing the sample
We present optical nuclear spectra for nine 3CR radio sources obtained with
the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, that complete our spectroscopic observations
of the sample up to redshifts 0.3. We measure emission line luminosities
and ratios, and derive a spectroscopic classification for these sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. We provide as additional material
two tables presenting the main data for the whole sample, combining the
results presented here with those of Paper I and Paper I
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