Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userSpheroid ages, kinematics and BH relations
72
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
Eric Emsellem
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
I very briefly discuss the ages and kinematics of spheroids as well as the black hole relations, via a few recent and illustrative studies, which include results on the downsizing, scaling laws, angular momentum and central massive objects.
rate research
Read More
From high-resolution images of 23 Seyfert-1 galaxies at z=0.36 and z=0.57 obtained with the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we determine host-galaxy morphology, nuclear luminosity, total host-galaxy luminosity and spheroid luminosity. Keck spectroscopy is used to estimate black hole mass (M_BH). We study the cosmic evolution of the M_BH-spheroid luminosity (L_sph) relation. In combination with our previous work, totaling 40 Seyfert-1 galaxies, the covered range in BH mass is substantially increased, allowing us to determine for the first time intrinsic scatter and correct evolutionary trends for selection effects. We re-analyze archival HST images of 19 local reverberation-mapped active galaxies to match the procedure adopted at intermediate redshift. Correcting spheroid luminosity for passive luminosity evolution and taking into account selection effects, we determine that at fixed present-day V-band spheroid luminosity, M_BH/L_sph propto (1+z)^(2.8+/-1.2). When including a sample of 44 quasars out to z=4.5 taken from the literature, with luminosity and BH mass corrected to a self-consistent calibration, we extend the BH mass range to over two orders of magnitude, resulting in M_BH/L_sph propto (1+z)^(1.4+/-0.2). The intrinsic scatter of the relation, assumed constant with redshift, is 0.3+/-0.1 dex (<0.6 dex at 95% CL). The evolutionary trend suggests that BH growth precedes spheroid assembly. Interestingly, the M_BH-total host-galaxy luminosity relation is apparently non-evolving. It hints at either a more fundamental relation or that the spheroid grows by a redistribution of stars. However, the high-z sample does not follow this relation, indicating that major mergers may play the dominant role in growing spheroids above z~1.
We exploit the [Mg/Mn]-[Al/Fe] chemical abundance plane to help identify nearby halo stars in the 14th data release from the APOGEE survey that have been accreted on to the Milky Way. Applying a Gaussian Mixture Model, we find a `blob of 856 likely accreted stars, with a low disc contamination rate of ~7%. Cross-matching the sample with the second data release from Gaia gives us access to parallaxes and apparent magnitudes, which place constraints on distances and intrinsic luminosities. Using a Bayesian isochrone pipeline, this enables us to estimate new ages for the accreted stars, with typical uncertainties of ~20%. Our new catalogue is further supplemented with estimates of orbital parameters. The blob stars span a metallicities between -0.5 to -2.5, and [Mg/Fe] between -0.1 to 0.5. They constitute ~30% of the metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -0.8) halo at metallicities of ~-1.4. Our new ages are mainly range between 8 to 13 Gyr, with the oldest stars the metal-poorest, and with the highest [Mg/Fe] abundance. If the blob stars are assumed to belong to a single progenitor, the ages imply that the system merged with our Milky Way around 8 Gyr ago and that star formation proceeded for ~5 Gyr. Dynamical arguments suggest that such a single progenitor would have a total mass of ~1011Msun, similar to that found by other authors using chemical evolution models and simulations. Comparing the scatter in the [Mg/Fe]-[Fe/H] plane of the blob stars to that measured for stars belonging to the Large Magellanic Cloud suggests that the blob does indeed contain stars from only one progenitor.
The LIGO/Virgo collaboration has reported 50 BH-BH mergers and 8 additional candidates recovered from digging deeper into the detectors noise. Majority of these mergers have low effective spins pointing toward low BH spins and efficient angular momentum transport in massive stars as proposed by several models (e.g., Tayler-Spruit magnetic dynamo or Fuller model). However, out of these 58 mergers, 7 are consistent with having high effective spin parameter (chi_eff>0.3). Additionally, 2 out of these 7 events seem to have high effective spins sourced from the high spin of a primary (more massive) BH. The most extreme merger has very high primary BH dimensionless spin (a_1=0.9). These particular observations may be potentially used to discriminate between the isolated binary and dynamical globular cluster BH-BH formation channels. It may seem that high BH spins point to the dynamical origin if stars have efficient angular momentum transport and form low-spinning BHs. Then dynamical formation is required to produce second and third generations of BH-BH mergers that typically produce high-spinning BHs. Here we show that isolated binary BH-BH formation channel can naturally reproduce such highly spinning BHs. Our models start with efficient angular momentum transport in massive stars that is needed to reproduce majority of BH-BH mergers with low effective spins. However, some massive binaries are subject to strong tidal spin-up allowing for the formation of moderate fraction (~10%) of BH-BH mergers with high effective spins (chi_eff>0.4-0.5). Moreover, binary evolution can produce small fraction (~1%) of BH-BH mergers with almost maximally spinning primary BHs ($a_1>0.9$). Therefore, the formation scenario of those unusual BH-BH mergers remains unresolved.
We present a study of the nearby post-merger giant elliptical galaxy, NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), in which we use the properties of its globular cluster (GC) and planetary nebula (PN) systems to constrain its evolution. Using photometric and spectroscopic data for 215 GCs presented in Paper I, we study trends in age, metallicity, and kinematics for the GC system. We confirm that the GC metallicity distribution is bimodal, and show that these two sub-populations have different properties. Using spectral line index measurements of the brightest clusters, the metal-poor GCs have old ages like the Milky Way globular clusters, while the metal-rich GCs have H-beta line-strengths that could be interpreted as a mean age of ~5 (+3/-2) Gyr. Both populations appear to have [Mg/Fe] ratios consistent with that of the Galactic GC system, although this quantity is not very well-constrained. The kinematics of the metal-rich GCs are similar to those of the planetary nebulae, exhibiting significant rotation about a misaligned axis, while the metal-poor GCs have a higher velocity dispersion and show a weaker kinematic correlation with the field stars. The total gravitating mass of NGC 5128 derived from the GCs is in excellent agreement with the value derived from stellar (PN) kinematics. We suggest that these and other data support a picture in which the main body of NGC 5128 was formed 3-8 Gyr ago by the dissipational merger of two unequal-mass disk galaxies supplemented by the continual accretion of both gas-rich and gas-poor satellites.
Ages, chemical compositions, velocity vectors, and Galactic orbits for stars in the solar neighbourhood are fundamental test data for models of Galactic evolution. We aim to improve the accuracy of the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey data by implementing the recent revision of the Hipparcos parallaxes. The new parallaxes yield improved astrometric distances for 12,506 stars in the GCS. We also check the GCS II scales of T_eff and [Fe/H] and find no need for change. Introducing the new distances, we recompute M_V for 16,086 stars, and U, V, W, and Galactic orbital parameters for the 13,520 stars that also have radial-velocity measurements. We also recompute stellar ages from the Padova stellar evolution models used in GCS I-II, using the new values of M_V, and compare them with ages from the Yale-Yonsei and Victoria-Regina models. Finally, we compare the observed age-velocity relation in W with three simulated disk heating scenarios to show the potential of the data. With these revisions, the basic data for the GCS stars should now be as reliable as is possible with existing techniques. Further improvement must await consolidation of the T_eff scale from angular diameters and fluxes, and the Gaia trigonometric parallaxes. We discuss the conditions for improving computed stellar ages from new input data, and for distinguishing different disk heating scenarios from data sets of the size and precision of the GCS.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
