1,201 research outputs found
HE 0047-1756: A new gravitationally lensed double QSO
The quasar HE 0047-1756, at z=1.67, is found to be split into two images
1.44" apart by an intervening galaxy acting as a gravitational lens. The flux
ratio for the two components is roughly 3.5:1, depending slightly upon
wavelength. The lensing galaxy is seen on images obtained at 800 nm and 2.1
\mu; there is also a nearby faint object which may be responsible for some
shear. The spectra of the two quasar images are nearly identical, but the
emission line ratio between the two components scale differently from the
continuum. Moreover, the fainter component has a bluer continuum slope than the
brighter one. We argue that these small differences are probably due to
microlensing. There are hints of an Einstein ring emanating from the brighter
image toward the fainter one.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to A&A Letter
The Double Quasar HE1104-1805: a case study for time delay determination with poorly sampled lightcurves
We present a new determination of the time delay of the gravitational lens
system HE1104-1805 ('Double Hamburger') based on a previously unpublished
dataset. We argue that the previously published value of dt_(A-B)=0.73 years
was affected by a bias of the employed method. We determine a new value of
dt_(A-B)=0.85+/-0.05 years (2 sigma confidence level), using six different
techniques based on non interpolation methods in the time domain. The result
demonstrates that even in the case of poorly sampled lightcurves, useful
information can be obtained with regard to the time delay. The error estimates
were calculated through Monte Carlo simulations. With two already existing
models for the lens and using its recently determined redshift, we infer a
range of values of the Hubble parameter: Ho=48+/-4 km/s Mpc^-1 (2 sigma) for a
singular isothermal ellipsoid (SIE) and Ho=62+/-4 km/s Mpc^-1 (2 sigma) for a
constant mass-to-light ratio plus shear model (M/L+gamma). The possibly much
larger errors due to systematic uncertainties in modeling the lens potential
are not included in this error estimate.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
Accounting for selection effects in the BH-bulge relations: No evidence for cosmological evolution
The redshift evolution of the black hole - bulge relations is an essential
observational constraint for models of black hole - galaxy coevolution. In
addition to the observational challenges for these studies, conclusions are
complicated by the influence of selection effects. We demonstrate that there is
presently no statistical significant evidence for cosmological evolution in the
black hole-bulge relations, once these selection effects are taken into account
and corrected for. We present a fitting method, based on the bivariate
distribution of black hole mass and galaxy property, that accounts for the
selection function in the fitting and is therefore able to recover the
intrinsic black hole - bulge relation unbiased. While prior knowledge is
restricted to a minimum, we at least require knowledge of either the sample
selection function and the mass dependence of the active fraction, or the
spheroid distribution function and the intrinsic scatter in the black hole -
bulge relation. We employed our fitting routine to existing studies of the
black hole-bulge relation at z~1.5 and z~6, using our current best knowledge of
the distribution functions. There is no statistical significant evidence for
positive evolution in the MBH-M* ratio out to z~2. At z~6 the current
constraints are less strong, but we demonstrate that the large observed
apparent offset from the local black hole-bulge relation at z~6 is fully
consistent with no intrinsic offset. The method outlined here provides a tool
to obtain more reliable constraints on black hole - galaxy co-evolution in the
future.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, published in MNRA
Low redshift AGN in the Hamburg/ESO Survey: II. The active black hole mass function and the distribution function of Eddington ratios
We estimated black hole masses and Eddington ratios for a well defined sample
of local (z<0.3) broad line AGN from the Hamburg/ESO Survey (HES), based on the
Hbeta line and standard recipes assuming virial equilibrium for the broad line
region. The sample represents the low-redshift AGN population over a wide range
of luminosities, from Seyfert 1 galaxies to luminous quasars. From the
distribution of black hole masses we derived the active black hole mass
function (BHMF) and the Eddington ratio distribution function (ERDF) in the
local universe, exploiting the fact that the HES has a well-defined selection
function. While the directly determined ERDF turns over around L/L_Edd ~ 0.1,
similar to what has been seen in previous analyses, we argue that this is an
artefact of the sample selection. We employed a maximum likelihood approach to
estimate the intrinsic distribution functions of black hole masses and
Eddington ratios simultaneously in an unbiased way, taking the sample selection
function fully into account. The resulting ERDF is well described by a
Schechter function, with evidence for a steady increase towards lower Eddington
ratios, qualitatively similar to what has been found for type~2 AGN from the
SDSS. Comparing our best-fit active BHMF with the mass function of inactive
black holes we obtained an estimate of the fraction of active black holes, i.e.
an estimate of the AGN duty cycle. The active fraction decreases strongly with
increasing black hole mass. A comparison with the BHMF at higher redshifts also
indicates that, at the high mass end, black holes are now in a less active
stage than at earlier cosmic epochs. Our results support the notion of
anti-hierarchical growth of black holes, and are consistent with a picture
where the most massive black holes grew at early cosmic times, whereas at
present mainly smaller mass black holes accrete at a significant rate.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Integral-field spectroscopy of the quadruple QSO HE 0435-1223: Evidence for microlensing
We present the first spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of the
recently discovered quadruple QSO and gravitational lens HE0435-1223. Using the
Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS), we show that all four QSO
components have very similar but not identical spectra. In particular, the
spectral slopes of components A, B, and D are indistinguishable, implying that
extinction due to dust plays no major role in the lensing galaxy. While also
the emission line profiles are identical within the error bars, as expected
from lensing, the equivalent widths show significant differences between
components. Most likely, microlensing is responsible for this phenomenon. This
is also consistent with the fact that component D, which shows the highest
relative continuum level, has brightened by 0.07 mag since Dec 2001. We find
that the emission line flux ratios between the components are in better
agreement with simple lens models than broad band or continuum measurements,
but that the discrepancies between model and data are still unacceptably large.
Finally, we present a detection of the lensing galaxy, although this is close
to the limits of the data. Comparing with a model galaxy spectrum, we obtain a
redshift estimate of z_lens=0.44+-0.02.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
LSDCat: Detection and cataloguing of emission-line sources in integral-field spectroscopy datacubes
We present a robust, efficient, and user-friendly algorithm for detecting
faint emission-line sources in large integral-field spectroscopic datacubes
together with the public release of the software package LSDCat (Line Source
Detection and Cataloguing). LSDCat uses a 3-dimensional matched filter
approach, combined with thresholding in signal-to-noise, to build a catalogue
of individual line detections. In a second pass, the detected lines are grouped
into distinct objects, and positions, spatial extents, and fluxes of the
detected lines are determined. LSDCat requires only a small number of input
parameters, and we provide guidelines for choosing appropriate values. The
software is coded in Python and capable to process very large datacubes in a
short time. We verify the implementation with a source insertion and recovery
experiment utilising a real datacube taken with the MUSE instrument at the ESO
Very Large Telescope.Comment: 14 pages. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The
LSDCat software is available at https://bitbucket.org/Knusper2000/lsdcat, v2
corrected typos and language editin
Decomposition of AGN host galaxy images
We describe an algorithm to decompose deep images of Active Galactic Nuclei
into host galaxy and nuclear components. Currently supported are three galaxy
models: A de-Vaucouleurs spheroidal, an exponential disc, and a two-component
disc+bulge model. Key features of the method are: (semi-)analytic
representation of a possibly spatially variable point-spread function; full
two-dimensional convolution of the model galaxy using gradient-controlled
adaptive subpixelling; multiple iteration scheme. The code is computationally
efficient and versatile for a wide range of applications. The quantitative
performance is measured by analysing simulated imaging data. We also present
examples of the application of the method to small test samples of nearby
Seyfert 1 galaxies and quasars at redshifts z < 0.35.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Carbon-Enhanced Hyper-metal-poor Stars and the Stellar IMF at Low Metallicity
The two known ``hyper-metal-poor'' (HMP) stars, HE0107-5240 and HE1327-2326,
have extremely high enhancements of the light elements C, N, and O relative to
Fe and appear to represent a statistically significant excess population
relative to the halo metallicity distribution extrapolated from [Fe/H] > -3.
This study weighs the available evidence for and against three hypothetical
origins for these stars: (1) that they formed from gas enriched by a primordial
``faint supernova'', (2) that they formed from gas enriched by core-collapse
supernovae and C-rich gas ejected in rotation-driven winds from massive stars,
and (3) that they formed as the low-mass secondaries in binary systems at Z ~
10^{-5.5} Zsun and acquired their light-element enhancements from an
intermediate-mass companion as it passed through an AGB phase. The observations
interpreted here, especially the depletion of lithium seen in HE1327-2326,
favor the binary mass-transfer hypothesis. If HE0107-5240 and HE1327-2326
formed in binary systems, the statistically significant absence of isolated
and/or C-normal stars at similar [Fe/H] implies that low-mass stars could form
at that metallicity, but that masses M ~< 1.4 Msun were disfavored in the IMF.
This result is also explained if the abundance-derived top-heavy IMF for
primordial stars persists to [Fe/H] ~ -5.5. This finding indicates that
low-mass star formation was possible at extremely low metallicity, and that the
typical stellar mass may have had a complex dependence on metallicity rather
than a sharp transition driven solely by gas cooling.Comment: 11 pages emulateapj text including three figures, accepted for
publication in ApJ v666 (Sept 2007). A companion paper to 0706.290
Resolving stellar populations with crowded field 3D spectroscopy
(Abridged) We describe a new method to extract spectra of stars from
observations of crowded stellar fields with integral field spectroscopy (IFS).
Our approach extends the well-established concept of crowded field photometry
in images into the domain of 3-dimensional spectroscopic datacubes. The main
features of our algorithm are: (1) We assume that a high-fidelity input source
catalogue already exists and that it is not needed to perform sophisticated
source detection in the IFS data. (2) Source positions and properties of the
point spread function (PSF) vary smoothly between spectral layers of the
datacube, and these variations can be described by simple fitting functions.
(3) The shape of the PSF can be adequately described by an analytical function.
Even without isolated PSF calibrator stars we can therefore estimate the PSF by
a model fit to the full ensemble of stars visible within the field of view. (4)
By using sparse matrices to describe the sources, the problem of extracting the
spectra of many stars simultaneously becomes computationally tractable. We
present extensive performance and validation tests of our algorithm using
realistic simulated datacubes that closely reproduce actual IFS observations of
the central regions of Galactic globular clusters. We investigate the quality
of the extracted spectra under the effects of crowding. The main effect of
blending between two nearby stars is a decrease in the S/N in their spectra.
The effect increases with the crowding in the field in a way that the maximum
number of stars with useful spectra is always ~0.2 per spatial resolution
element. This balance breaks down when exceeding a total source density of ~1
significantly detected star per resolution element. We close with an outlook by
applying our method to a simulated globular cluster observation with the
upcoming MUSE instrument at the ESO-VLT.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 19 pages, 19 figure
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