No Arabic abstract
Recent studies of the tight scaling relations between the masses of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies have suggested that in the past black holes constituted a larger fraction of their host galaxies mass. However, these arguments are limited by selection effects and difficulties in determining robust host galaxy masses at high redshifts. Here we report the first results of a new, complementary diagnostic route: we directly determine a dynamical host galaxy mass for the z=1.3 luminous quasar J090543.56+043347.3 through high-spatial-resolution (0.47, 4kpc FWHM) observations of the host galaxy gas kinematics over 30x40 kpc using ESO/VLT/SINFONI with LGS/AO. Combining our result of M_dyn = 2.05+1.68_0.74 x 10^11 M_sun (within a radius 5.25 +- 1.05 kpc) with M_BH,MgII = 9.02 pm 1.43 x 10^8 M_sun, M_BH,Halpha = 2.83 +1.93-1.13 x 10^8 M_sun, we find that the ratio of black hole mass to host galaxy dynamical mass for J090543.56+043347.3 matches the present-day relation for M_BH vs. M_Bulge,Dyn, well within the IR scatter, deviating at most a factor of two from the mean. J090543.56+043347.3 displays clear signs of an ongoing tidal interaction and of spatially extended star formation at a rate of 50-100 M_sun/yr, above the cosmic average for a galaxy of this mass and redshift. We argue that its subsequent evolution may move J090543.56+043347.3 even closer to the z=0 relation for M_BH vs. M_Bulge,Dyn. Our results support the picture where any substantive evolution in these relations must occur prior to z~1.3. Having demonstrated the power of this modelling approach we are currently analyzing similar data on seven further objects to better constrain such evolution.
Using the latest generation of adaptive optics imaging systems together with laser guide stars on 8m-class telescopes, we are finally revealing the previously-hidden population of supernovae in starburst galaxies. Finding these supernovae and measuring the amount of absorption due to dust is crucial to being able to accurately trace the star formation history of our Universe. Our images of the host galaxies are amongst the sharpest ever obtained from the ground, and reveal much about how and why these galaxies are forming massive stars (that become supernovae) at such a prodigious rate.
The Egg Nebula has been regarded as the archetype of bipolar proto-planetary nebulae, yet we lack a coherent model that can explain the morphology and kinematics of the nebular and dusty components observed at high-spatial and spectral resolution. Here, we report on two sets of observations obtained with the Keck Adaptive Optics Laser Guide Star: H to M-band NIRC2 imaging, and narrow bandpath K-band OSIRIS 3-D imaging-spectroscopy (through the H2 2.121micron emission line). While the central star or engine remains un-detected at all bands, we clearly resolve the dusty components in the central region and confirm that peak A is not a companion star. The spatially-resolved spectral analysis provide kinematic information of the H_2 emission regions in the eastern and central parts of the nebula and show projected velocities for the H_2 emission higher than 100 km/s. We discuss these observations against a possible formation scenario for the nebular components.
Different massive black hole mass - host galaxy scaling relations suggest that the growth of massive black holes is entangled with the evolution of their host galaxies. The number of measured black hole masses is still limited, and additional measurements are necessary to understand the underlying physics of this apparent co-evolution. We add six new black hole mass (MBH) measurements of nearby fast rotating early-type galaxies to the known black hole mass sample, namely NGC 584, NGC 2784, NGC 3640, NGC 4570, NGC 4281 and NGC 7049. Our target galaxies have effective velocity dispersions ({sigma}e) between 170 and 245 km s^(-1), and thus this work provides additional insight into the black hole properties of intermediate-mass early-type galaxies. We combine high-resolution adaptive-optics SINFONI data with large-scale MUSE, VIMOS and SAURON data from ATLAS3D to derive two-dimensional stellar kinematics maps. We then build both Jeans Anisotropic Models and axisymmetric Schwarzschild models to measure the central black hole masses. Our Schwarzschild models provide black hole masses which are consistent with recent MBH-{sigma}e scaling relations. NGC 3640 has a velocity dispersion dip and NGC 7049 a constant velocity dispersion in the center, but we can clearly constrain their lower black hole mass limit. We conclude our analysis with a test on NGC 4570 taking into account a variable mass-to-light ratio (M/L) when constructing dynamical models. When considering M/L variations linked mostly to radial changes in the stellar metallicity, we find that the dynamically determined black hole mass from NGC 4570 decreases by 30%. Further investigations are needed in the future to account for the impact of radial M/L gradients on dynamical modeling.
We present the SINS/zC-SINF AO survey of 35 star-forming galaxies, the largest sample with deep adaptive optics-assisted (AO) near-infrared integral field spectroscopy at z~2. The observations, taken with SINFONI at the Very Large Telescope, resolve the Ha and [NII] line emission and kinematics on scales of ~1.5 kpc. In stellar mass, star formation rate, rest-optical colors and size, the AO sample is representative of its parent seeing-limited sample and probes the massive (M* ~ 2x10^9 - 3x10^11 Msun), actively star-forming (SFR ~ 10-600 Msun/yr) part of the z~2 galaxy population over a wide range in colors ((U-V)_rest ~ 0.15-1.5 mag) and half-light radii (R_e,H ~ 1-8.5 kpc). The sample overlaps largely with the main sequence of star-forming galaxies in the same redshift range to a similar K_AB = 23 magnitude limit; it has ~0.3 dex higher median specific SFR, ~0.1 mag bluer median (U-V)_rest color, and ~10% larger median rest-optical size. We describe the observations, data reduction, and extraction of basic flux and kinematic properties. With typically 3-4 times higher resolution and 4-5 times longer integrations (up to 23hr) than the seeing-limited datasets of the same objects, the AO data reveal much more detail in morphology and kinematics. The now complete AO observations confirm the majority of kinematically-classified disks and the typically elevated disk velocity dispersions previously reported based on subsets of the data. We derive typically flat or slightly negative radial [NII]/Ha gradients, with no significant trend with global galaxy properties, kinematic nature, or the presence of an AGN. Azimuthal variations in [NII]/Ha are seen in several sources and are associated with ionized gas outflows, and possible more metal-poor star-forming clumps or small companions. [Abridged]
We report an optical detection of an extended structure around a QSO at z=6.43 (CFHQSJ2329-0301, the highest redshift QSO currently known) in deep z and z_r-band images of the Subaru/Suprime-Cam. After a careful PSF (QSO) subtraction, a structure in the z-band extends more than 4 on the sky (R_e=11 kpc), and thus, is well-resolved (16sigma detection). The PSF-subtracted z_r-band structure is in a similar shape to that in the z-band, but less significant with a 3 sigma detection. In the z-band, a radial profile of the QSO+host shows a clear excess over that of the averaged PSF in 0.8-3 radius. Since the z-band includes a Lya emission at z=6.43, the z flux is perhaps a mixture of the host (continuum light) and its Lya emission, whereas the z_r-band flux is from the host. Through a SED modeling, we estimate 40% of the PSF-subtracted z-band light is from the host (continuum) and 60% is from Lya emission. The absolute magnitude of the host is M_{1450}=-23.9 (c.f. M_{1450}=-26.4 for the QSO). A lower limit of the SFR(Lya) is 1.6 Msun yr^{-1} with stellar mass ranging 6.2 x 10^8 to 1.1 x 10^10 Msun when 100 Myrs of age is assumed. The detection shows that a luminous QSO is already harbored by a large, star-forming galaxy in the early Universe only after ~840 Myr after the big bang. The host may be a forming giant galaxy, co-evolving with a super massive black hole.