scholarly journals The GLEAMing of the first supermassive black holes

Author(s):  
Guillaume Drouart ◽  
Nick Seymour ◽  
Tim J. Galvin ◽  
Jose Afonso ◽  
Joseph R. Callingham ◽  
...  

Abstract We present the results of a new selection technique to identify powerful ( $L_{\rm 500\,MHz} \gt 10^{27}\,\text{WHz}^{-1}$ ) radio galaxies towards the end of the Epoch of Reionisation. Our method is based on the selection of bright radio sources showing radio spectral curvature at the lowest frequency ( ${\sim}100\,\text{MHz}$ ) combined with the traditional faintness in K-band for high-redshift galaxies. This technique is only possible, thanks to the Galactic and Extra-galactic All-sky Murchison Wide-field Array survey which provides us with 20 flux measurements across the 70– $230\,\text{MHz}$ range. For this pilot project, we focus on the GAMA 09 field to demonstrate our technique. We present the results of our follow-up campaign with the Very Large Telescope, Australian Telescope Compact Array, and the Atacama Large Millimetre Array to locate the host galaxy and to determine its redshift. Of our four candidate high-redshift sources, we find two powerful radio galaxies in the $1<z<3$ range, confirm one at $z=5.55$ , and present a very tentative $z=10.15$ candidate. Their near-infrared and radio properties show that we are preferentially selecting some of the most radio luminous objects, hosted by massive galaxies very similar to powerful radio galaxies at $1<z<5$ . Our new selection and follow-up technique for finding powerful radio galaxies at $z>5.5$ has a high 25–50% success rate.

2017 ◽  
Vol 599 ◽  
pp. A123 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. H. Nesvadba ◽  
C. De Breuck ◽  
M. D. Lehnert ◽  
P. N. Best ◽  
C. Collet

We present VLT/SINFONI imaging spectroscopy of the rest-frame optical emission lines of warm ionized gas in 33 powerful radio galaxies at redshifts z ≳ 2, which are excellent sites to study the interplay of rapidly accreting active galactic nuclei and the interstellar medium of the host galaxy in the very late formation stages of massive galaxies. Our targets span two orders of magnitude in radio size (2−400 kpc) and kinetic jet energy (a few 1046– almost 1048 erg s-1). All sources have complex gas kinematics with broad line widths up to ~1300 km s-1. About half have bipolar velocity fields with offsets up to 1500 km s-1 and are consistent with global back-to-back outflows. The others have complex velocity distributions, often with multiple abrupt velocity jumps far from the nucleus of the galaxy, and are not associated with a major merger in any obvious way. We present several empirical constraints that show why gas kinematics and radio jets seem to be physically related in all galaxies of the sample. The kinetic energy in the gas from large scale bulk and local outflow or turbulent motion corresponds to a few 10-3 to 10-2 of the kinetic energy output of the radio jet. In galaxies with radio jet power ≳ 1047 erg s-1, the kinetic energy in global back-to-back outflows dominates the total energy budget of the gas, suggesting that bulk motion of outflowing gas encompasses the global interstellar medium. This might be facilitated by the strong gas turbulence, as suggested by recent analytical work. We compare our findings with recent hydrodynamic simulations, and discuss the potential consequences for the subsequent evolution of massive galaxies at high redshift. Compared with recent models of metal enrichment in high-z AGN hosts, we find that the gas-phase metallicities in our galaxies are lower than in most low-z AGN, but nonetheless solar or even super-solar, suggesting that the ISM we see in these galaxies is very similar to the gas from which massive low-redshift galaxies formed most of their stars. This further highlights that we are seeing these galaxies near the end of their active formation phase.


2018 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. A119 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. de Ugarte Postigo ◽  
C. C. Thöne ◽  
J. Bolmer ◽  
S. Schulze ◽  
S. Martín ◽  
...  

Context. Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced during the dramatic deaths of massive stars with very short lifetimes, meaning that they explode close to the birth place of their progenitors. Over a short period they become the most luminous objects observable in the Universe, being perfect beacons to study high-redshift star-forming regions. Aims. We aim to use the afterglow of GRB 161023A at a redshift z = 2.710 as a background source to study the environment of the explosion and the intervening systems along its line of sight. Methods. For the first time, we complement ultraviolet (UV), optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy with millimetre spectroscopy using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), which allows us to probe the molecular content of the host galaxy. The X-shooter spectrum shows a plethora of absorption features including fine-structure and metastable transitions of Fe, Ni, Si, C, and O. We present photometry ranging from 43 s to over 500 days after the burst. Results. We infer a host-galaxy metallicity of [Zn/H] = −1.11 ± 0.07, which, corrected for dust depletion, results in [X/H] = −0.94 ± 0.08. We do not detect molecular features in the ALMA data, but we derive limits on the molecular content of log(NCO/cm−2) < 15.7 and log(NHCO+/cm−-12, which are consistent with those that we obtain from the optical spectra, log(NH2/cm−2)< 15.2 and log(NCO/cm−2) < 14.5. Within the host galaxy, we detect three velocity systems through UV, optical and NIR absorption spectroscopy, all with levels that were excited by the GRB afterglow. We determine the distance from these systems to the GRB to be in the range between 0.7 and 1.0 kpc. The sight line to GRB 161023A shows nine independent intervening systems, most of them with multiple components. Conclusions. Although no molecular absorption was detected for GRB 161023A, we show that GRB millimetre spectroscopy is now feasible and is opening a new window on the study of molecular gas within star-forming galaxies at all redshifts. The most favoured lines of sight for this purpose will be those with high metallicity and dust.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 427-427
Author(s):  
Nick Seymour ◽  
D. Stern ◽  
C. De Breuck ◽  

AbstractWe present the results of a comprehensive Spitzer survey of 70 radio galaxies across 1 < z < 5.2. Using IRAC (3.6–8.0μm), IRS (16 μm) and MIPS (24–160 μm) imaging, we decompose the rest-frame optical to infrared spectral energy distributions into stellar, AGN, and dust components and determine the contribution of host galaxy stellar emission at rest-frame 1.6 μm (H-band). We find that the fraction of emitted light at rest-frame 1.6 μm from stars is >80% for over half the high redshift radio galaxies. The other radio galaxies have 1.6 μm stellar fractions spanning the range 20–80%. The resultant stellar luminosities imply stellar masses of 1011−12M⊙, independent of redshift, indicating that radio galaxies are amoungst the most massive galaxies observed over this redshift range. Powerful radio galaxies tend to lie in a similar region of mid-IR color-color space as unobscured AGN, despite the inferred stellar contribution to their shorter-wavelength, mid-IR SEDs. The stellar fraction of the rest-frame 1.6 μm luminosity has no correlation with redshift, radio luminosity, or rest-frame mid-IR (5 μm) luminosity. The bolometric energy output of these sources is dominated by the infrared, and the mid-IR luminosities are found to be similar to that of lower redshift (z < 1) radio galaxies. As expected, these exceptionally high mid-IR luminosities are consistent with an obscured, highly-accreting AGN. A weak, but significant, correlation of stellar mass with radio luminosity is found, consistent with earlier results.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 348-350
Author(s):  
Bjorn Emonts

AbstractIn the outskirts of massive high-redshift radio galaxies, powerful radio-jets often interact with ambient warm Lyα-emitting gas. We present the discovery of luminous reservoirs of cold molecular gas in these environments, based on CO(1-0) observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The CO-emission is aligned with the radio jets, and found tens of kpc outside the host galaxy. These molecular gas reservoirs have CO luminosities in the range of those found in submm-galaxies (L'CO ~ 4-9 × 1010 K km/s pc2), but they lack any near-infrared counterpart in deep Spitzer imaging. These results suggest that jet-triggered feedback takes place in the circum-galactic environment of high-z radio galaxies. We prefer the interpretation that the CO-emitting gas is formed when the propagating jets enrich, shock and cool pre-existing dusty halo gas. We further argue that sensitive low-surface-brightness CO observations, using radio interferometers in very compact array-configurations, are essential to study the role of the cold molecular medium in the outskirts of massive high-z galaxies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-280
Author(s):  
Xuheng Ding ◽  
Tommaso Treu ◽  
Simon Birrer ◽  
Adriano Agnello ◽  
Dominique Sluse ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT One of the main challenges in using high-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to study the correlations between the mass of a supermassive black hole ($\mathcal {M}_{\rm BH}$) and the properties of its active host galaxy is instrumental resolution. Strong lensing magnification effectively increases instrumental resolution and thus helps to address this challenge. In this work, we study eight strongly lensed AGNs with deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, using the lens modelling code lenstronomy to reconstruct the image of the source. Using the reconstructed brightness of the host galaxy, we infer the host galaxy stellar mass based on stellar population models. $\mathcal {M}_{\rm BH}$ are estimated from broad emission lines using standard methods. Our results are in good agreement with recent work based on non-lensed AGNs, demonstrating the potential of using strongly lensed AGNs to extend the study of the correlations to higher redshifts. At the moment, the sample size of lensed AGNs is small and thus they provide mostly a consistency check on systematic errors related to resolution for non-lensed AGNs. However, the number of known lensed AGNs is expected to increase dramatically in the next few years, through dedicated searches in ground- and space-based wide-field surveys, and they may become a key diagnostic of black holes and galaxy co-evolution.


2018 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. A132 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. W. Holwerda ◽  
J. S. Bridge ◽  
R. Ryan ◽  
M. A. Kenworthy ◽  
N. Pirzkal ◽  
...  

Aims. We aim to evaluate the near-infrared colors of brown dwarfs as observed with four major infrared imaging space observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Euclid mission, and the WFIRST telescope. Methods. We used the SPLAT SPEX/ISPEX spectroscopic library to map out the colors of the M-, L-, and T-type dwarfs. We have identified which color–color combination is optimal for identifying broad type and which single color is optimal to then identify the subtype (e.g., T0-9). We evaluated each observatory separately as well as the narrow-field (HST and JWST) and wide-field (Euclid and WFIRST) combinations. Results. The Euclid filters perform equally well as HST wide filters in discriminating between broad types of brown dwarfs. WFIRST performs similarly well, despite a wider selection of filters. However, subtyping with any combination of Euclid and WFIRST observations remains uncertain due to the lack of medium, or narrow-band filters. We argue that a medium band added to the WFIRST filter selection would greatly improve its ability to preselect brown dwarfs its imaging surveys. Conclusions. The HST filters used in high-redshift searches are close to optimal to identify broad stellar type. However, the addition of F127M to the commonly used broad filter sets would allow for unambiguous subtyping. An improvement over HST is one of two broad and medium filter combinations on JWST: pairing F140M with either F150W or F162M discriminates very well between subtypes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (S333) ◽  
pp. 238-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Laureijs

AbstractEuclid enables the exploration of large sky areas with diffraction limited resolution in the optical and near-infrared, and is sensitive enough to detect targets at cosmological distances. This combination of capabilities gives Euclid a clear advantage over telescope facilities with larger apertures, both on ground and in space. The decision to mount in the NISP instrument one extra grism for the wavelength range 0.92-1.3 μm with a spectral resolution of R ≈260 makes possible a rest-frame UV survey of the early Universe in the redshift range 6.5 < z < 9.7. Euclid’s standard imaging with VIS in the 0.55-0.9 μm band and with NISP in the Y, J, H bands provide complementary photometry for further target identification and characterization. Euclid is a suitable facility to discover and map the spatial distribution of rare high-redshift targets and to collect statistically relevant samples, in particular of high redshift Lyα emitters and QSOs, which can be used as signposts of the cosmic structures. The Euclid surveys are also a starting point for deeper follow up observations of the individual high-z objects. We present the Euclid mission and discuss the detectability of high-z objects to probe the epoch of ionization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (1) ◽  
pp. 902-909
Author(s):  
A A Chrimes ◽  
A J Levan ◽  
E R Stanway ◽  
E Berger ◽  
J S Bloom ◽  
...  

Abstract The number of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) known to have occurred in the distant Universe (z &gt; 5) is small (∼15); however, these events provide a powerful way of probing star formation at the onset of galaxy evolution. In this paper, we present the case for GRB 100205A being a largely overlooked high-redshift event. While initially noted as a high-z candidate, this event and its host galaxy have not been explored in detail. By combining optical and near-infrared Gemini afterglow imaging (at t &lt; 1.3 d since burst) with deep late-time limits on host emission from the Hubble Space Telescope, we show that the most likely scenario is that GRB 100205A arose in the range 4 &lt; z &lt; 8. GRB 100205A is an example of a burst whose afterglow, even at ∼1 h post burst, could only be identified by 8-m class IR observations, and suggests that such observations of all optically dark bursts may be necessary to significantly enhance the number of high-redshift GRBs known.


2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (4) ◽  
pp. 5053-5075 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Saxena ◽  
H J A Röttgering ◽  
K J Duncan ◽  
G J Hill ◽  
P N Best ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present spectra and near-infrared images of a sample of faint radio sources initially selected as promising high-redshift radio galaxy (HzRG) candidates. We have determined redshifts for a total of 13 radio galaxies with redshifts ranging from 0.52 ≤ $z$ ≤ 5.72. Our sample probes radio luminosities that are almost an order of magnitude fainter than previous large samples at the highest redshifts. We use near-infrared photometry for a subsample of these galaxies to calculate stellar masses using simple stellar population models, and find stellar masses to be in the range $10^{10.8} {--}10^{11.7} \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$. We then compare our faint radio galaxies with brighter radio galaxies at $z$ ≥ 2 from the literature. We find that fainter radio galaxies have lower Ly α luminosities and narrower line widths compared to the bright ones, implying photoionization by a weaker active galactic nucleus (AGN). We also rule out the presence of strong shocks in faint HzRGs. The stellar masses determined for faint HzRGs are lower than those observed for brighter ones. We find that faint HzRG population in the redshift range 2–4 forms a bridge between star-forming and narrow-line AGNs, whereas the ones at $z$ &gt; 4 are likely to be dominated by star formation, and may be building up their stellar mass through cold accretion of gas. Finally, we show that the overall redshift evolution of radio sizes at $z$ &gt; 2 is fully compatible with increased inverse Compton scattering losses at high redshifts.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S265) ◽  
pp. 179-180
Author(s):  
K. Matsuoka ◽  
T. Nagao ◽  
R. Maiolino ◽  
A. Marconi ◽  
Y. Taniguchi

AbstractWe investigate the metallicity of the narrow line regions (NLRs) of high-z radio galaxies (HzRGs), using new deep optical spectra of 9 HzRGs obtained with FORS2 on VLT and data from the literature. To estimate the metallicity of NLRs we focus on the Civ/Heii and Ciii]/Civ flux ratios. Based on comparison between the observed emission-line flux ratios and the prediction of our photoionization model calculations, we find no significant metallicity evolution in NLRs of HzRGs, up to z ~ 4. We discuss the possibility that massive galaxies had almost completed the major epoch of the star formation in the very high-z universe (z > 5).


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