No Arabic abstract
We present near-infrared observations of the environments around three radio-loud sources (MG1 J0442+0202, 3C 068.2, and MS 1426.9+1052) at redshifts z=1.10,1.57, and 1.83 (respectively), that are surrounded by near-infrared galaxy overdensities. Overdensities with respect to field counts were found to be significant up to 19-sigma, with twelve times the expected number of galaxies within the inner regions of the densest proto-cluster. Color-magnitude relations are constructed in K_s, J-K_s, with each candidate cluster exhibiting a feature consistent with the beginnings of a red sequence. Galaxy models based on the redshift of the radio source are used to compare expected color-magnitude relations for a given formation epoch with the observed red sequence of each candidate, and are found to be consistent with an old (z_f > 5) formation epoch for a few bright, red galaxies on the red sequence.
To properly understand the evolution of high-redshift galaxy clusters, both passive and star-forming galaxies have to be considered. Here we study the clustering environment of 21 radio galaxies and quasars at 1<z<2.5 from the third Cambridge catalog (3C). We use optical and near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope images with a 2 field-of-view, where the filters encompass the rest-frame 4000 Angstroem break. Passive red and star-forming blue galaxies were separated in the color--magnitude diagram using a redshift-dependent cut derived from galaxy evolution models. We find that about 16 of 21 radio sources inhabit a galaxy overdensity on scales of 250 kpc (30) projected radius. The sample shows a diversity of red and blue overdensities and also sometimes a deficiency of blue galaxies in the center. The following tentative evolutionary trends are seen: extended proto-clusters with only weak overdensities at z > 1.6, red overdensities at 1.2<z<1.6, and red overdensities with an increased deficit of central blue galaxies at z<1.2. Only a few 3C sources show a blue overdensity tracing active star-formation in the cluster centers; this rarity could indicate that the powerful quasar activity may quench star-formation in the vicinity of most radio sources. The derived number of central luminous red galaxies and the radial density profiles are comparable to those found in local clusters, indicating that some 3C clusters are already mass-rich and compact.
Lobe-dominated radio-loud (LD RL) quasars occupy a restricted domain in the 4D Eigenvector 1 (4DE1) parameter space which implies restricted geometry/physics/kinematics for this subclass compared to the radio-quiet (RQ) majority of quasars. We discuss how this restricted domain for the LD RL parent population supports the notion for a RQ-RL dichotomy among Type 1 sources. 3C 57 is an atypical RL quasar that shows both uncertain radio morphology and falls in a region of 4DE1 space where RL quasars are rare. We present new radio flux and optical spectroscopic measures designed to verify its atypical optical/UV spectroscopic behaviour and clarify its radio structure. The former data confirms that 3C 57 falls off the 4DE1 quasar main sequence with both extreme optical FeII emission (R_{FeII} ~ 1) and a large CIV 1549 profile blueshift (~ -1500 km/s). These parameter values are typical of extreme Population A sources which are almost always RQ. New radio measures show no evidence for flux change over a 50+ year timescale consistent with compact steep-spectrum (CSS or young LD) over core-dominated morphology. In the 4DE1 context where LD RL are usually low L/L_{Edd} quasars we suggest that 3C 57 is an evolved RL quasar (i.e. large Black Hole mass) undergoing a major accretion event leading to a rejuvenation reflected by strong FeII emission, perhaps indicating significant heavy metal enrichment, high bolometric luminosity for a low redshift source and resultant unusually high Eddington ratio giving rise to the atypical CIV 1549.
The very existence of more than a dozen of high-redshift (z>4) blazars indicates that a much larger population of misaligned powerful jetted AGN was already in place when the Universe was <1.5 Gyr old. Such parent population proved to be very elusive, and escaped direct detection in radio surveys so far. High redshift blazars themselves seem to be failing in producing extended radio-lobes, raising questions about the connection between such class and the vaster population of radio-galaxies. We show that the interaction of the jet electrons with the intense cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation explains the lack of extended radio emission in high redshift blazars and in their parent population, helping to explain the apparently missing misaligned counterparts of high redshift blazars. On the other hand, the emission from the more compact and more magnetised hot spots are less affected by the enhanced CMB energy density. By modelling the spectral energy distribution of blazar lobes and hot spots we find that most of them should be detectable by low frequency deep radio observations, e.g., by LOw-Frequency ARray for radio astronomy (LOFAR) and by relatively deep X-ray observations with good angular resolution, e.g., by the Chandra satellite. At high redshifts, the emission of a misaligned relativistic jet, being de-beamed, is missed by current large sky area surveys. The isotropic flux produced in the hot spots can be below ~1 mJy and the isotropic lobe radio emission is quenched by the CMB cooling. Consequently, even sources with very powerful jets can go undetected in current radio surveys, and misclassified as radio-quiet AGNs.
We present images obtained with LABOCA on the APEX telescope of a sample of 22 galaxies selected via their red Herschel SPIRE 250-, 350- and $500textrm{-}mutextrm{m}$ colors. We aim to see if these luminous, rare and distant galaxies are signposting dense regions in the early Universe. Our $870textrm{-}mutextrm{m}$ survey covers an area of $approx0.8,textrm{deg}^2$ down to an average r.m.s. of $3.9,textrm{mJy beam}^{-1}$, with our five deepest maps going $approx2times$ deeper still. We catalog 86 DSFGs around our signposts, detected above a significance of $3.5sigma$. This implies a $100pm30%$ over-density of $S_{870}>8.5,textrm{mJy}$ DSFGs, excluding our signposts, when comparing our number counts to those in blank fields. Thus, we are $99.93%$ confident that our signposts are pinpointing over-dense regions in the Universe, and $approx95%$ confident that these regions are over-dense by a factor of at least $ge1.5times$. Using template SEDs and SPIRE/LABOCA photometry we derive a median photometric redshift of $z=3.2pm0.2$ for our signposts, with an interquartile range of $z=2.8textrm{-}3.6$. We constrain the DSFGs likely responsible for this over-density to within $|Delta z|le0.65$ of their respective signposts. These associated DSFGs are radially distributed within $1.6pm0.5,textrm{Mpc}$ of their signposts, have median SFRs of $approx(1.0pm0.2)times10^3,M_{odot},textrm{yr}^{-1}$ (for a Salpeter stellar IMF) and median gas reservoirs of $sim1.7times10^{11},M_{odot}$. These candidate proto-clusters have average total SFRs of at least $approx (2.3pm0.5)times10^3,M_{odot},textrm{yr}^{-1}$ and space densities of $sim9times10^{-7},textrm{Mpc}^{-3}$, consistent with the idea that their constituents may evolve to become massive ETGs in the centers of the rich galaxy clusters we see today.
Chandra X-ray observations of the high redshift (z =1.532) radio-loud quasar 3C270.1 in 2008 February show the nucleus to have a power-law spectrum, Gamma = 1.66 +/- 0.08, typical of a radio-loud quasar, and a marginally-detected Fe Kalpha emission line. The data also reveal extended X-ray emission, about half of which is associated with the radio emission from this source. The southern emission is co-spatial with the radio lobe and peaks at the position of the double radio hotspot. Modeling this hotspot including Spitzer upper limits rules out synchrotron emission from a single power-law population of electrons, favoring inverse-Compton emission with a field of ~11nT, roughly a third of the equipartition value. The northern emission is concentrated close to the location of a 40 deg. bend where the radio jet is presumed to encounter external material. It can be explained by inverse Compton emission involving Cosmic Microwave Background photons with a field of ~3nT, roughly a factor of nine below the equipartition value. The remaining, more diffuse X-ray emission is harder (HR=-0.09 +/- 0.22). With only 22.8+/-5.6 counts, the spectral form cannot be constrained. Assuming thermal emission with a temperature of 4 keV yields an estimate for the luminosity of 1.8E44 erg/s, consistent with the luminosity-temperature relation of lower-redshift clusters. However deeper Chandra X-ray observations are required to delineate the spatial distribution, and better constrain the spectrum of the diffuse emission to verify that we have detected X-ray emission from a high-redshift cluster.