No Arabic abstract
We present results of optical broad-band and narrow-band Halpha observations of a sample of forty nearby early-type galaxies. The majority of sample galaxies are known to have dust in various forms viz. dust lanes, nuclear dust and patchy/filamentary dust. A detailed study of dust was performed for 12 galaxies with prominent dust features. The extinction curves for these galaxies run parallel to the Galactic extinction curve, implying that the properties of dust in these galaxies are similar to those of the Milky-Way. The ratio of total to selective extinction (Rv) varies between 2.1 and 3.8, with an average of 2.9 +/- 0.2, fairly close to its canonical value of 3.1 for our Galaxy. The average relative grain size <a>/a_Gal of dust particles in these galaxies turns out to be 1.01 +/- 0.2, while dust mass estimated using optical extinction lies in the range 10^2 to 10^4 M(sun) . The Halpha emission was detected in 23 out of 29 galaxies imaged through narrow- band filters with the Halpha luminosities in the range 10^38 - 10^41 erg s^-1. The mass of the ionized gas is in the range 10^3-10^5 M(sun). The morphology and extent of ionized gas is found similar to those of dust, indicating possible coexistence of dust and ionized gas in these galaxies. The absence of any apparent correlation between blue luminosity and normalized IRAS dust mass is suggestive of merger related origin of dust and gas in these galaxies.
We present a study of the ionized gas in a sample of 65 nearby early-type galaxies, for which we have acquired optical intermediate-resolution spectra. Emission lines are detected in ~89 % of the sample. The incidence of emission appears independent from the E or S0 morphological classes. According to classical diagnostic diagrams, the majority of the galaxies are LINERs. However, the galaxies tend to move toward the Composites region (at lower [NII]/Halpha values) as the emission lines are measured at larger galacto-centric distances. This suggests that different ionization mechanisms may be at work in LINERs.
We present VLT/XSHOOTER rest-frame UV-optical spectra of 10 Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies (Hot DOGs) at $zsim2$ to investigate AGN diagnostics and to assess the presence and effect of ionized gas outflows. Most Hot DOGs in this sample are narrow-line dominated AGN (type 1.8 or higher), and have higher Balmer decrements than typical type 2 quasars. Almost all (8/9) sources show evidence for ionized gas outflows in the form of broad and blueshifted [O III] profiles, and some sources have such profiles in H$alpha$ (5/7) or [O II] (3/6). Combined with the literature, these results support additional sources of obscuration beyond the simple torus invoked by AGN unification models. Outflow rates derived from the broad [O III] line ($rm gtrsim10^{3},M_{odot},yr^{-1}$) are greater than the black hole accretion and star formation rates, with feedback efficiencies ($sim0.1-1%$) consistent with negative feedback to the host galaxys star formation in merger-driven quasar activity scenarios. We find the broad emission lines in luminous, obscured quasars are often better explained by outflows within the narrow line region, and caution that black hole mass estimates for such sources in the literature may have substantial uncertainty. Regardless, we find lower bounds on the Eddington ratio for Hot DOGs near unity.
Observations of neutral hydrogen (HI) and molecular gas show that 50% of all nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs) contain some cold gas. Molecular gas is always found in small gas discs in the central region of the galaxy, while neutral hydrogen is often distributed in a low-column density disc or ring typically extending well beyond the stellar body. Dust is frequently found in ETGs as well. The goal of our study is to understand the link between dust and cold gas in nearby ETGs as a function of HI content. We analyse deep optical $g-r$ images obtained with the MegaCam camera at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope for a sample of 21 HI-rich and 41 HI-poor ETGs. We find that all HI-rich galaxies contain dust seen as absorption. Moreover, in 57 percent of these HI-rich galaxies, the dust is distributed in a large-scale spiral pattern. Although the dust detection rate is relatively high in the HI-poor galaxies ($sim$59 percent), most of these systems exhibit simpler dust morphologies without any evidence of spiral structures. We find that the HI-rich galaxies possess more complex dust morphology extending to almost two times larger radii than HI-poor objects. We measured the dust content of the galaxies from the optical colour excess and find that HI-rich galaxies contain six times more dust (in mass) than HI-poor ones. In order to maintain the dust structures in the galaxies, continuous gas accretion is needed, and the substantial HI gas reservoirs in the outer regions of ETGs can satisfy this need for a long time. We find that there is a good correspondence between the observed masses of the gas and dust, and it is also clear that dust is present in regions further than 3~Reff. Our findings indicate an essential relation between the presence of cold gas and dust in ETGs and offer a way to study the interstellar medium in more detail than what is possible with HI observations.
A recent determination of the relationships between the X-ray luminosity of the ISM (Lx) and the stellar and total mass, for a sample of nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs), is used to investigate the origin of the hot gas, via a comparison with the results of hydrodynamical simulations of the ISM evolution for a large set of isolated ETGs. After the epoch of major galaxy formation (after z~2), the ISM is replenished by stellar mass losses and SN ejecta, at the rate predicted by stellar evolution, and is depleted by star formation; it is heated by the thermalization of stellar motions, SNe explosions and the mechanical (from winds) and radiative AGN feedback. The models agree well with the observed relations, even for the largely different Lx values at the same mass, thanks to the sensitivity of the gas flow to many galaxy properties; this holds for models including AGN feedback, and those without. Therefore, the mass input from the stellar population is able to account for a major part of the observed Lx; and AGN feedback, while very important to maintain massive ETGs in a time-averaged quasi-steady state, keeping low star formation and the black hole mass, does not dramatically alter the gas content originating in stellar recycled material. These conclusions are based on theoretical predictions for the stellar population contributions in mass and energy, and on a self-consistent modeling of AGN feedback.
Using the data products of the Chandra Galaxy Atlas (Kim et al. 2019a), we have investigated the radial profiles of the hot gas temperature in 60 early type galaxies. Considering the characteristic temperature and radius of the peak, dip, and break (when scaled by the gas temperature and virial radius of each galaxy), we propose a universal temperature profile of the hot halo in ETGs. In this scheme, the hot gas temperature peaks at RMAX = 35 +/- 25 kpc (or ~0.04 RVIR) and declines both inward and outward. The temperature dips (or breaks) at RMIN (or RBREAK) = 3 - 5 kpc (or ~0.006 RVIR). The mean slope between RMIN (RBREAK) and RMAX is 0.3 +/- 0.1. Allowing for selection effects and observational limits, we find that the universal temperature profile can describe the temperature profiles of 72% (possibly up to 82%) of our ETG sample. The remaining ETGs (18%) with irregular or monotonically declining profiles do not fit the universal profile and require another explanation. The temperature gradient inside RMIN (RBREAK) varies widely, indicating different degrees of additional heating at small radii. Investigating the nature of the hot core (HC with a negative gradient inside RMIN), we find that HC is most clearly visible in small galaxies. Searching for potential clues associated with stellar, AGN feedback, and gravitational heating, we find that HC may be related to recent star formation. But we see no clear evidence that AGN feedback and gravitational heating play any significant role for HC.