Ann Hornschemeier

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) High-Energy X-Ray Mission

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Small Explorer mission that carried the first focusing hard X-ray (6-79 keV) telescope into orbit. It was launched on a Pegasus rocket into a low-inclination Earth orbit on June 13, 2012, from Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll. NuSTAR will carry out a two-year primary science mission. The NuSTAR observatory is composed of the X-ray instrument and the spacecraft. The NuSTAR spacecraft is three-axis stabilized with a single articulating solar array based on Orbital Sciences Corporations LEOStar-2 design. The NuSTAR science instrument consists of two co-aligned grazing incidence optics focusing on to two shielded solid state CdZnTe pixel detectors. The instrument was launched in a compact, stowed configuration, and after launch, a 10-meter mast was deployed to achieve a focal length of 10.15 m. The NuSTAR instrument provides sub-arcminute imaging with excellent spectral resolution over a 12-arcminute field of view. The NuSTAR observatory will be operated out of the Mission Operations Center (MOC) at UC Berkeley. Most science targets will be viewed for a week or more. The science data will be transferred from the UC Berkeley MOC to a Science Operations Center (SOC) located at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In this paper, we will describe the mission architecture, the technical challenges during the development phase, and the post-launch activities.

THE 4 Ms CHANDRA DEEP FIELD-SOUTH NUMBER COUNTS APPORTIONED BY SOURCE CLASS: PERVASIVE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI AND THE ASCENT OF NORMAL GALAXIES

This article presents cumulative and differential number-count measurements for the recently completed 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South survey.

X-ray Binary Evolution Across Cosmic Time

High redshift galaxies permit the study of the formation and evolution of X-ray binary populations on cosmological timescales, probing a wide range of metallicitie s and star-formation rates. In this paper, we present results from a large scale population synthesis study that m odels the X-ray binary populations from the first galaxies of the universe until today. We use as input to our modeling the Millennium II Cosmological Simulation and the updated semi-analytic galaxy catalog by Guo et al. (2011) to self-consistently account for the star formation history and metallicity evolution of the uni verse. Our modeling, which is constrained by the observed X-ray properties of local galaxies, gives predict ions about the global scaling of emission from X-ray binary populations with properties such as star-formation rate and stellar mass, and the evolution of these relations with redshift. Our simulations show that the X-ray luminosity density (X-ray luminosity per unit volume) from X-ray binaries in our Universe today is dominated by low-mass X-ray binaries, and it is only at z & 2.5 that high-mass X-ray binaries become dominant. We also find t hat there is a delay of � 1.1 Gyr between the peak of X-ray emissivity from low-mass Xray binaries (at z � 2.1) and the peak of star-formation rate density (at z � 3.1). The peak of the X-ray luminosity from high-mass X-ray binaries (at z � 3.9), happens � 0.8 Gyr before the peak of the star-formation rate density, which is due to the metallicity evolution of the Universe. Subject headings:stars: binaries: close, stars: evolution, X-rays: binarie s, galaxies, diffuse background, galaxies: stellar content

The Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources NGC 1313 X-1 and X-2: A Broadband Study with NuSTAR and XMM-Newton

We present the results of NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations of the two ultraluminous X-ray sources: NGC 1313 X-1 and X-2. The combined spectral bandpass of the two satellites enables us to produce the first spectrum of X-1 between 0.3 and 30 keV, while X-2 is not significantly detected by NuSTAR above 10 keV. The NuSTAR data demonstrate that X-1 has a clear cutoff above 10 keV, whose presence was only marginally detectable with previous X-ray observations. This cutoff rules out the interpretation of X-1 as a black hole in a standard low/hard state, and it is deeper than predicted for the downturn of a broadened iron line in a reflection-dominated regime. The cutoff differs from the prediction of a single-temperature Comptonization model. Further, a cold disk-like blackbody component at ~0.3 keV is required by the data, confirming previous measurements by XMM-Newton only. We observe a spectral transition in X-2, from a state with high luminosity and strong variability to a lower-luminosity state with no detectable variability, and we link this behavior to a transition from a super-Eddington to a sub-Eddington regime.

Tracing the Mass-Dependent Star Formation History of Late-Type Galaxies Using X-Ray Emission: Results from the Chandra Deep Fields

We report on the X-ray evolution over the last 9 Gyr of cosmic history (i.e., since -->z = 1.4) of late-type galaxy populations in the Chandra Deep Field-North and Extended Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-N and E-CDF-S, respectively; jointly CDFs) survey fields. Our late-type galaxy sample consists of 2568 galaxies, which were identified using rest-frame optical colors and HST morphologies. We utilized X-ray stacking analyses to investigate the X-ray emission from these galaxies, emphasizing the contributions from normal galaxies that are not dominated by active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Over this redshift range, we find significant increases (factors of 5-10) in the X-ray-to-optical mean luminosity ratio ( -->LX/ -->LB) and the X-ray-to-stellar mass mean ratio ( -->LX/ -->M) for galaxy populations selected by -->LB and -->M, respectively. When analyzing galaxy samples selected via SFR, we find that the mean X-ray-to-SFR ratio ( -->LX/SFR) is consistent with being constant over the entire redshift range for galaxies with SFR = 1-100 -->M☉ yr -->−1, thus demonstrating that X-ray emission can be used as a robust indicator of star formation activity out to -->z ≈ 1.4. We find that the star formation activity (as traced by X-ray luminosity) per unit stellar mass in a given redshift bin increases with decreasing stellar mass over the redshift range z = 0.2-1, which is consistent with previous studies of how star formation activity depends on stellar mass. Finally, we extend our X-ray analyses to Lyman break galaxies at -->z ~ 3 and estimate that -->LX/ -->LB at -->z ~ 3 is similar to its value at -->z = 1.4.

THE X-RAY STAR FORMATION STORY AS TOLD BY LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES IN THE 4 Ms CDF-S

We present results from deep X-ray stacking of >4000 high redshift galaxies from z ≈1 to 8 using the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) data, the deepest X-ray survey of the extragalactic sky to date. The galaxy samples were selected using the Lyman break technique based primarily on recent HST ACS and WFC3 observations. Based on such high specific star formation rates (sSFRs): log SFR/M∗ > −8.7, we expect that the observed properties of these LBGs are dominated by young stellar populations. The X-ray emission in LBGs, eliminating individually detected X-ray sources (potential AGN), is expected to be powered by X-ray binaries and hot gas. We find, for the first time, evidence of evolution in the X-ray/SFR relation. Based on X-ray stacking analyses for z < 4 LBGs (covering ∼ 90% of the Universe’s history), we find that the 2–10 keV X-ray luminosity evolves weakly with redshift (z) and SFR as: log LX = 0.93log(1+z)+0.65logSFR+39.80. By comparing our observations with sophisticated X-ray binary population synthesis models, we interpret that the redshift evolution of LX/SFR is driven by metallicity evolution in HMXBs, likely the dominant population in these high sSFR galaxies. We also compare these models with our observations of X-ray luminosity density (total 2–10 keV luminosity per Mpc 3 ) and find excellent agreement. While there are no significant stacked detections at z & 5, we use our upper limits from 5 . z . 8 LBGs to constrain the SMBH accretion history of the Universe around the epoch of reionization.

THE HST/ACS COMA CLUSTER SURVEY. II. DATA DESCRIPTION AND SOURCE CATALOGS ∗

The Coma cluster, Abell 1656, was the target of an HST-ACS Treasury program designed for deep imaging in the F475W and F814W passbands. Although our survey was interrupted by the ACS instrument failure in early 2007, the partially completed survey still covers ~50% of the core high-density region in Coma. Observations were performed for 25 fields that extend over a wide range of cluster-centric radii (~1.75 Mpc or 1°) with a total coverage area of 274 arcmin2. The majority of the fields are located near the core region of Coma (19/25 pointings) with six additional fields in the southwest region of the cluster. In this paper, we present reprocessed images and SEXTRACTOR source catalogs for our survey fields, including a detailed description of the methodology used for object detection and photometry, the subtraction of bright galaxies to measure faint underlying objects, and the use of simulations to assess the photometric accuracy and completeness of our catalogs. We also use simulations to perform aperture corrections for the SEXTRACTOR Kron magnitudes based only on the measured source flux and its half-light radius. We have performed photometry for ~73,000 unique objects; approximately one-half of our detections are brighter than the 10σ point-source detection limit at F814W = 25.8 mag (AB). The slight majority of objects (60%) are unresolved or only marginally resolved by ACS. We estimate that Coma members are 5%-10% of all source detections, which consist of a large population of unresolved compact sources (primarily globular clusters but also ultra-compact dwarf galaxies) and a wide variety of extended galaxies from a cD galaxy to dwarf low surface brightness galaxies. The red sequence of Coma member galaxies has a color-magnitude relation with a constant slope and dispersion over 9 mag (–21 < M F814W < –13). The initial data release for the HST-ACS Coma Treasury program was made available to the public in 2008 August. The images and catalogs described in this study relate to our second data release.

XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATIONS OF A COMPLETE SAMPLE OF OPTICALLY SELECTED TYPE 2 SEYFERT GALAXIES

The majority of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) suffer from significant obscuration by surrounding dust and gas. The penetrating power and sensitivity of hard X-ray observations allow obscured AGNs to be probed out to high redshifts. However, X-ray surveys in the 2-10 keV band will miss the most heavily obscured AGNs in which the absorbing column density exceeds ~1024 cm–2 (the Compton-thick AGN). It is, therefore, vital to know the fraction of AGNs that are missed in such X-ray surveys and to determine if these AGNs represent some distinct population in terms of the fundamental properties of AGNs and/or their host galaxies. In this paper, we present the analysis of XMM-Newton X-ray data for a complete sample of 17 low-redshift Type 2 Seyfert galaxies chosen from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey based solely on the high observed flux of the [O III]λ5007 emission line. This line is formed in the narrow-line region hundreds of parsecs away from the central engine. Thus, unlike the X-ray emission, it is not affected by obscuration due to the torus surrounding the black hole. It therefore provides a useful isotropic indicator of the AGN luminosity. As additional indicators of the intrinsic AGN luminosity, we use the Spitzer Space Telescope to measure the luminosities of the mid-infrared continuum and the [O IV] 25.89 μm narrow emission line. We then use the ratio of the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity to the [O III], [O IV], and mid-infrared luminosities to assess the amount of X-ray obscuration and to distinguish between Compton-thick and Compton-thin objects. The various diagnostics of AGN luminosity with heavily obscured hard X-ray emission are in broad agreement. We find that the majority of the sources suffer significant amounts of obscuration: the observed 2-10 keV emission is depressed by more than an order of magnitude in 11 of the 17 cases (as expected for Compton-thick sources). Thus, surveys in the rest-frame 2-10 keV band will be significantly incomplete for obscured AGNs. We find a strong inverse correlation between the ratio of the 2-10 keV X-ray and [O III] (or [O IV] or mid-IR) fluxes and the equivalent width of the 6.4 keV Fe Kα line. This demonstrates that the weak hard X-ray continuum emission is due to obscuration (rather than due to intrinsically weak emission). In several cases, the large amount of obscuration is not consistent with the values of absorbing column density derived from simple spectral fits to the data. We run simulations of a more physically realistic model with partial covering of the X-ray source plus Compton scattering, and show that such models are consistent with the data. We show that the distribution of obscuration in the 2-10 keV band in our sample is similar to what is seen in samples selected in the Swift BAT energy band (14-195 keV). This implies that the BAT surveys do recover a significant fraction of the local population of Compton-thick AGNs. Finally, we find no relationship between the amount of X-ray obscuration and the other properties of the AGN and its host galaxy. Hence, Compton-thick and Compton-thin sources do not seem to trace distinct populations.

The HST/ACS coma cluster survey – V. Compact stellar systems in the coma cluster

The Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) Coma Cluster Treasury Survey is a deep two-passband imaging survey of the nearest very rich cluster of galaxies, covering a range of galaxy density environments. The imaging is complemented by a recent wide field redshift survey of the cluster conducted with Hectospec on the 6.5-m Monolithic Mirror Telescope (MMT). Among the many scientific applications for these data is the search for compact galaxies. In this paper, we present the discovery of seven compact (but quite luminous) stellar systems, ranging from M32-like galaxies down to ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs)/dwarf to globular transition objects (DGTOs). We find that all seven compact galaxies require a two-component fit to their light profile and have measured velocity dispersions that exceed those expected for typical early-type galaxies at their luminosity. From our structural parameter analysis, we conclude that three of the samples should be classified as compact ellipticals or M32-like galaxies, and the remaining four being less extreme systems. The three compact ellipticals are all found to have old luminosity weighted ages (≳12 Gyr), intermediate metallicities (−0.6 < [Fe/H] < −0.1) and high [Mg/Fe] (≳0.25). Our findings support a tidal stripping scenario as the formation mode of compact galaxies covering the luminosity range studied here. We speculate that at least two early-type morphologies may serve as the progenitor of compact galaxies in clusters.

The Evolution of Normal Galaxy X-Ray Emission Through Cosmic History: Constraints from the 6 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South

We present measurements of the evolution of normal-galaxy X-ray emission from