2,275,012 research outputs found
Radio Variability of Radio Quiet and Radio Loud Quasars
The majority of quasars are weak in their radio emission, with flux densities
comparable to those in the optical, and energies far lower. A small fraction,
about 10%, are hundreds to thousands of times stronger in the radio.
Conventional wisdom holds that there are two classes of quasars, the radio
quiets and radio louds, with a deficit of sources having intermediate power.
Are there really two separate populations, and if so, is the physics of the
radio emission fundamentally different between them? This paper addresses the
second question, through a study of radio variability across the full range of
radio power, from quiet to loud. The basic findings are that the root mean
square amplitude of variability is independent of radio luminosity or
radio-to-optical flux density ratio, and that fractionally large variations can
occur on timescales of months or less in both radio quiet and radio loud
quasars. Combining this with similarities in other indicators, such as radio
spectral index and the presence of VLBI-scale components, leads to the
suggestion that the physics of radio emission in the inner regions of all
quasars is essentially the same, involving a compact, partially opaque core
together with a beamed jet.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures. Astrophysical Journal, in pres
The radio luminosity, black hole mass and Eddington ratio for quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We investigate the \mbh- \sigma_* relation for radio-loud quasars with
redshift in Data Release 3 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The
sample consists of 3772 quasars with better model of H and \oiii lines
and available radio luminosity, including 306 radio-loud quasars, 3466
radio-quiet quasars with measured radio luminosity or upper-limit of radio
luminosity (181 radio-quiet quasars with measured radio luminosity). The virial
supermassive black hole mass (\mbh) is calculated from the broad \hb line, the
host stellar velocity dispersion () is traced by the core \oiii
gaseous velocity dispersion, and the radio luminosity and the radio loudness
are derived from the FIRST catalog. Our results are follows: (1) For
radio-quiet quasars, we confirm that there is no obvious deviation from the
\mbh- \sigma_* relation defined in inactive galaxies when \mbh uncertainties
and luminosity bias are concerned. (2) We find that radio-loud quasars deviate
much from the \mbh- \sigma_* relation respect to that for radio-quiet
quasars. This deviation is only partly due to the possible cosmology evolution
of the \mbh- \sigma_* relation and the luminosity bias. (3) The radio
luminosity is proportional to
\mbh^{1.28^{+0.23}_{-0.16}}(\lb/\ledd)^{1.29^{+0.31}_{-0.24}} for radio-quiet
quasars and \mbh^{3.10^{+0.60}_{-0.70}}(\lb/\ledd)^{4.18^{+1.40}_{-1.10}} for
radio-loud quasars. The weaker correlation of the radio luminosity dependence
upon the mass and the Eddington ratio for radio-loud quasars shows that other
physical effects would account for their radio luminosities, such as the black
hole spin.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in ChJA
ATMOSPHERIC GASES ATTENUATION IN WEST AFRICA
Atmospheric gases variations were evaluated to have major effect on Ku-band and above at 0.01 % unavailability of an average year on both uplink and down link. The International Telecommunication Union Radio Propagation Recommendation (ITU-RP 676, 2012) data bank was used for the computation of gaseous attenuation for West Africa. Monthly and yearly mean of temperature, pressure and relative humidity were used as input parameters obtained from ITU-R study group 3 data base. The results presented on contour map show that total atmospheric absorption signal fade attenuation values at C, Ku, Ka and V bands is between 0.015 to 0.09 dB, 0.04 to 0.9 dB, 0.04 to 1.4 dB and 0.2 to 3.2 dB respectively for both uplink and downlink frequencies. Generally, consistent signal absorption due to Oxygen and water vapour are higher in the western region than southern part of West Africa
Radio-Excess IRAS Galaxies: IV. Optical Spectroscopy
This is the fourth in our series of papers investigating radio-excess
galaxies, which have radio emission associated with an active nucleus but which
do not fit into the traditional categories of either radio-loud or radio-quiet
active galaxies. In this paper, we present optical spectra of our sample of
FIR-luminous radio-excess galaxies. Optical emission line diagnostics are used
to determine the dominant source of the ionizing radiation. We find that radio
excess is an excellent indicator of the presence of an active nucleus: the
radio-excess sample contains a much higher fraction of AGN than samples
selected on FIR luminosity alone, or using other criteria such as warm FIR
colors. Several objects have ambiguous classifications and are likely to be
composite objects with mixed excitation. The type of optical spectrum appears
to be associated with the radio-loudness: radio-loud objects may be more `pure'
AGN than radio-intermediate objects. We find strong evidence for interaction
between the radio plasma and the surrounding gas. The jet energy fluxes of the
radio-excess objects, inferred from the [O III] luminosities, are lower than in
powerful radio sources, consistent with our previous results. We conclude that
the jets of radio-intermediate sources are intrinsically weaker than those in
sources with more powerful radio emission. A significant fraction of the sample
spectra show post-starburst stellar continuum, with A-star absorption lines,
consistent with the large fraction of merging or disturbed host galaxies in the
sample. The ages of the radio sources are significantly less than those of A
stars indicating that, if the radio sources are associated with merging
activity, there is a delay between the interaction and the initiation of the
radio activity. (Abridged.)Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ; version with high resolution figures
available from http://www.cis.rit.edu/~clbsps/papers/paper4.pd
The Dynamics of Radio Galaxies and Double-Double Radio Galaxies
Relativistic and magnetised plasma ejected by radio loud AGNs through jets
form the diffuse lobes of radio galaxies. The radiating particles
(electron/electron-positron) in lobes emit in radio via the synchrotron process
and X-ray via inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background
photons. The thermal environment around radio galaxies emits X-rays via the
thermal bremsstrahlung process. By combining information from these processes
we can measure physical conditions in and around the radio lobes and thus study
the dynamics of radio galaxies, including double-double radio galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Diffuse Radio Plasma Conference proceedings
(held in Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India
Radio and spectroscopic properties of miniature radio galaxies: revealing the bulk of the radio-loud AGN population
We explore radio and spectroscopic properties of a sample of 14 miniature
radio galaxies, i.e. early-type core galaxies hosting radio-loud AGN of
extremely low radio power, 10^(27-29) erg s^(-1) Hz^(-1) at 1.4 GHz. Miniature
radio galaxies smoothly extend the relationships found for the more powerful
FRI radio galaxies between emission line, optical and radio nuclear
luminosities to lower levels. However, they have a deficit of a factor of ~100
in extended radio emission with respect to that of the classical example of
3CR/FRI. This is not due to their low luminosity, since we found radio galaxies
of higher radio core power, similar to those of 3CR/FRI, showing the same
behavior, i.e. lacking significant extended radio emission. Such sources form
the bulk of the population of radio-loud AGN in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
At a given level of nuclear emission, one can find radio sources with an
extremely wide range, a factor of >~100, of radio power. We argue that the
prevalence of sources with luminous extended radio structures in flux limited
samples is due to a selection bias, since the inclusion of such objects is
highly favored. The most studied catalogues of radio galaxies are thus composed
by the minority of radio-loud AGN that meet the physical conditions required to
form extended radio sources, while the bulk of the population is virtually
unexplored.Comment: 15 pages. Accepted for publication in A&
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