No Arabic abstract
A sample of 47 faint Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) radio sources selected from the Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS, Rengelink et al. 1997), has been imaged in the optical and near infrared, resulting in an identification fraction of 87%. The R-I and R-K colours of the faint optical counterparts are as expected for passively evolving elliptical galaxies, assuming that they follow the R band Hubble diagram as determined for radio-bright GPS galaxies. We have found evidence that the radio spectral properties of the GPS quasars are different from those of GPS galaxies: The observed distribution of radio spectral peak frequencies for GPS sources optically identified with bright stellar objects (presumably quasars) is shifted compared with GPS sources identified with faint or extended optical objects (presumably galaxies), in the sense that a GPS quasar is likely to have a higher peak frequency than a GPS galaxy. This means that the true peak frequency distribution is different for the GPS galaxies and quasars, because the sample selection effects are independent of optical identification. The correlation between peak frequency and redshift as has been suggested for bright sources has not been found in this sample; no correlation exists between R magnitude (and therefore redshift) and peak frequency for the GPS galaxies. We therefore believe that the claimed correlation is actually caused by the dependence of the peak frequency on optical host, because the GPS galaxies are in general at lower redshifts than the quasars. The difference in the peak frequency distributions of the GPS galaxies and quasars is further evidence against the hypothesis that they form a single class of object.
I will review some of the developments in studies of the host galaxy properties of Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) and GigaHertz-Peaked Spectrum (GPS) radio sources. In contrast to previous reviews structured around observational technique, I will discuss the host galaxy properties in terms of morphology, stellar content and warm gas properties and discuss how compact, young radio-loud AGN are key objects for understanding galaxy evolution.
We present {it Chandra} X-ray Observatory observations of Giga-Hertz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) and Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) radio sources. The {it Chandra} sample contains 13 quasars and 3 galaxies with measured 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity within $10^{42} - 10^{46}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We detect all of the sources, five of which are observed in X-ray for the first time. We study the X-ray spectral properties of the sample. The measured absorption columns in the quasars are different than those in the galaxies in the sense that the quasars show no absorption (with limits $sim 10^{21} rm cm^{-2}$) while the galaxies have large absorption columns ($> 10^{22} rm cm^{-2}$) consistent with previous findings. The median photon index of the sources with high S/N is $Gamma=1.84 pm0.24$ and it is larger than the typical index of radio loud quasars. The arcsec resolution of {it Chandra} telescope allows us to investigate X-ray extended emission, and look for diffuse components and X-ray jets. We found X-ray jets in two quasars (PKS 1127-145, B2 0738+32), an X-ray cluster surrounding a CSS quasar (z=1.1, 3C 186), detected a possible binary structure in 0941-080 galaxy and an extended diffuse emission in galaxy PKS B2 1345+12. We discuss our results in the context of X-ray emission processes and radio source evolution. We conclude that the X-ray emission in these sources is most likely unrelated to a relativistic jet, while the sources radio-loudness may suggest a high radiative efficiency of the jet power in these sources.
We present Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations of a faint and low-luminosity ($L_{rm 1.4 GHz} < 10^{27}~mbox{W Hz}^{-1}$) Gigahertz-Peaked Spectrum (GPS) and Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) sample. We select eight sources from deep radio observations that have radio spectra characteristic of a GPS or CSS source and an angular size of $theta lesssim 2$ arcsec, and detect six of them with the Australian Long Baseline Array. We determine their linear sizes, and model their radio spectra using Synchrotron Self Absorption (SSA) and Free Free Absorption (FFA) models. We derive statistical model ages, based on a fitted scaling relation, and spectral ages, based on the radio spectrum, which are generally consistent with the hypothesis that GPS and CSS sources are young and evolving. We resolve the morphology of one CSS source with a radio luminosity of $10^{25}~mbox{W Hz}^{-1}$, and find what appear to be two hotspots spanning 1.7 kpc. We find that our sources follow the turnover-linear size relation, and that both homogenous SSA and an inhomogeneous FFA model can account for the spectra with observable turnovers. All but one of the FFA models do not require a spectral break to account for the radio spectrum, while all but one of the alternative SSA and power law models do require a spectral break to account for the radio spectrum. We conclude that our low-luminosity sample is similar to brighter samples in terms of their spectral shape, turnover frequencies, linear sizes, and ages, but cannot test for a difference in morphology.
Using a deep Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio survey covering an area of ~3deg^{2} to a 4sigma sensitivity of ge 100 muJy at 1.4GHz, we study the nature of faint radio galaxies. About 50% of the detected radio sources are identified with an optical counterpart revealed by CCD photometry to m_{R}=22.5 mag. Near-infrared (K-band) data are also available for a selected sample of the radio sources, while spectroscopic observations have been carried out for about 40% of the optically identified sample. These provide redshifts and information on the stellar content. Emission-line ratios imply that most of the emission line sources are star-forming galaxies, with a small contribution (approx 10%) from Sy1/Sy2 type objects. We also find a significant number of absorption line systems, likely to be ellipticals. These dominate at high flux densities (> 1 mJy) but are also found at sub-mJy levels. Using the Balmer decrement we find a visual extinction A_{V}=1.0 for the star-forming faint radio sources. This moderate reddening is consistent with the V-R and R-K colours of the optically identified sources. For emission line galaxies, there is a correlation between the radio power and the Halpha luminosity, in agreement with the result of Benn et al. (1993). This suggests that the radio emission of starburst radio galaxies is a good indicator of star-formation activity.
We present deep Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS near-infrared and WFPC2 optical imaging of a small region in the core of the distant rich cluster Cl0939+4713 (z=0.41). We compare the optical and near-infrared morphologies of cluster members and find apparent small-scale optical structures within the galaxies which are absent in the near-infrared. We conclude that strong dust obscuration is a common feature in the late-type galaxies in distant clusters. We then concentrate on a sample of ten faint radio galaxies lying within our NICMOS field and selected from a very deep 1.4-GHz VLA map of the cluster with a 1sigma flux limit of 9uJy. Using published data we focus on the spectral properties of the eight radio-selected cluster members and show that these comprise a large fraction of the post-starburst population in the cluster. The simplest interpretation of the radio emission from these galaxies is that they are currently forming massive stars, contradicting their classification as post-starburst systems based on the optical spectra. We suggest that this star formation is hidden from view in the optical by the same obscuring dust which is apparent in our comparison on the optical and near-infrared morphologies of these galaxies. We caution that even in the restframe optical the effects of dust cannot be ignored when comparing samples of distant galaxies to low-redshift systems, particularly if dust is as prevelant in distant galaxies as appears to be the case in our study.