E. Dalla Bontà

SPACE TELESCOPE AND OPTICAL REVERBERATION MAPPING PROJECT. II. SWIFT AND HST REVERBERATION MAPPING OF THE ACCRETION DISK OF NGC 5548

Recent intensive Swift monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 yielded 282 usable epochs over 125 days across six UV/optical bands and the X-rays. This is the densest extended active galactic nucleus (AGN) UV/optical continuum sampling ever obtained, with a mean sampling rate <0.5 day. Approximately daily Hubble Space Telescope UV sampling was also obtained. The UV/optical light curves show strong correlations (r max =0.57-0.90) and the clearest measurement to date of interband lags. These lags are well-fit by a τ ∝ λ4/3 wavelength dependence, with a normalization that indicates an unexpectedly large disk radius of ∼0.35 ± 0.05 lt-day at 1367 A, assuming a simple face-on model. The U band shows a marginally larger lag than expected from the fit and surrounding bands, which could be due to Balmer continuum emission from the broad-line region as suggested by Korista and Goad. The UV/X-ray correlation is weaker (rm < 0.45) and less consistent over time. This indicates that while Swift is beginning to measure UV/optical lags in general agreement with accretion disk theory (although the derived size is larger than predicted), the relationship with X-ray variability is less well understood. Combining this accretion disk size estimate with those from quasar microlensing studies suggests that AGN disk sizes scale approximately linearly with central black hole mass over a wide range of masses.

ON THE RELATION BETWEEN CIRCULAR VELOCITY AND CENTRAL VELOCITY DISPERSION IN HIGH AND LOW SURFACE BRIGHTNESS GALAXIES

In order to investigate the correlation between the circular velocity Vc and the central velocity dispersion of the spheroidal componentc, we analyzed these quantities for a sample of 40 high surface brightness (HSB) disk galaxies, eight giant low surface brightness (LSB) spiral galaxies, and 24 elliptical galaxies characterized by flat rotation curves. Galaxieshave been selectedto have avelocity gradient � 2kms � 1 kpc � 1 forR � 0:35R25.We used these data to better define the previous Vc-� c correlation for spiral galaxies (which turned out to be HSB) and ellipticalgalaxies,especiallyatthelowerendofthecvalues.WefindthattheVc-� crelationisdescribedbyalinear law out to velocity dispersions as low asc � 50 km s � 1 , while in previous works a power law was adopted for galaxies withc > 80 km s � 1 . Elliptical galaxies with Vc based on dynamical models or directly derived from the H i rotation curves follow the same relation as the HSB galaxies in the Vc-� c plane. On the other hand, the LSB galaxies follow a different relation, since most of them show either higher Vc or lowerc with respect to the HSB galaxies.Thisarguesagainsttherelevanceofbaryoncollapsetotheradialdensityprofile ofthedarkmatterhalosof LSB galaxies. Moreover, if theVc-� c relation is equivalent to one between the mass of the dark matter halo and that of the supermassive black hole, then these results suggest that the LSB galaxies host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) with a smaller mass compared to HSB galaxies with an equal dark matter halo. On the other hand, if the fundamental correlation of SMBH mass is with the halo circular velocity, then LSB galaxies should have larger black hole masses for a given bulge dispersion. Elliptical galaxies with Vc derived from H i data and LSB galaxies were not considered in previous studies.

SPACE TELESCOPE AND OPTICAL REVERBERATION MAPPING PROJECT. III. OPTICAL CONTINUUM EMISSION AND BROADBAND TIME DELAYS IN NGC 5548

The LBT is an international collaboration among institutions in the United States, Italy and Germany. LBT Corporation partners are: The Ohio State University, and The Research Corporation, on behalf of The University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota and University of Virginia; The University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona university system; Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy; LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Germany, representing the Max-Planck Society, the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, and Heidelberg University. This paper used data obtained with the MODS spectrographs built with funding from National Science Foundation (NSF) grant AST-9987045 and the NSF Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP), with additional funds from the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio State University Office of Research. This paper made use of the modsIDL spectral data reduction pipeline developed in part with funds provided by NSF Grant AST - 1108693. The Liverpool Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. KAIT and its ongoing operation were made possible by donations from Sun Microsystems, Inc., the Hewlett-Packard Company, AutoScope Corporation, Lick Observatory, the NSF, the University of California, the Sylvia and Jim Katzman Foundation, and the TABASGO Foundation. Research at Lick Observatory is partially supported by a generous gift from Google. Support for HST program number GO-13330 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. M.M.F., G.D.R., B.M.P., C.J.G., and R.W.P. are grateful for the support of the NSF through grant AST- 1008882 to The Ohio State University. A.J.B. and L.P. have been supported by NSF grant AST-1412693. A.V.F. and W.- K.Z. are grateful for financial assistance from NSF grant AST- 1211916, the TABASGO Foundation, and the Christopher R. Redlich Fund. M.C. Bentz gratefully acknowledges support through NSF CAREER grant AST-1253702 to Georgia State University. M.C. Bottorff acknowledges HHMI for support through an undergraduate science education grant to Southwestern University. K.D.D. is supported by an NSF Fellowship awarded under grant AST-1302093. R.E. gratefully acknowledges support from NASA under awards NNX13AC26G, NNX13AC63G, and NNX13AE99G. J.M.G. gratefully acknowledges support from NASA under award NNH13CH61C. P.B.H. is supported by NSERC. M.I. acknowledges support from the Creative Initiative program, No. 2008-0060544, of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRFK) funded by the Korean government (MSIP). M.D.J. acknowledges NSF grant AST-0618209 used for obtaining the 0.91 m telescope at WMO. SRON is financially supported by NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. B.C.K. is partially supported by the UC Center for Galaxy Evolution. C.S.K. acknowledges the support of NSF grant AST-1009756. D.C.L. acknowledges support from NSF grants AST-1009571 and AST-1210311, under which part of this research (photometric observations collected at MLO) was carried out. We thank Nhieu Duong, Harish Khandrika, Richard Mellinger, J. Chuck Horst, Steven Armen, and Eddie Garcia for assistance with the MLO observations. P.L. acknowledges support from Fondecyt grant #1120328. A.P. acknowledges support from a NSF graduate fellowship, a UCSB Dean’s Fellowship, and a NASA Einstein Fellowship. J.S.S. acknowledges CNPq, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Brazil) for partial support and The Ohio State University for warm hospitality. T.T. has been supported by NSF grant AST-1412315. T.T. and B.C.K. acknowledge support from the Packard Foundation in the form of a Packard Research Fellowship to T.T.; also, T.T. thanks the American Academy in Rome and the Observatory of Monteporzio Catone for kind hospitality. The Dark Cosmology Centre is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation. M.V. gratefully acknowledges support from the Danish Council for Independent Research via grant no. DFF–4002-00275. J.-H.W. acknowledges support by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (No. 2010-0027910). E.D.B. is supported by Padua University through grants 60A02-5857/13, 60A02-5833/14, 60A02-4434/15, and CPDA133894. K.H. acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/M001296/1. S.A.K. thanks Dr. I. A. Rakhimov, the Director of Svetloe Observatory, for his support and hospitality. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA.

Upper Limits on the Masses of 105 Supermassive Black Holes from Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Archival Data

A method for the preparation of 1,3-diketones is disclosed wherein the method comprises the steps of:(A) mixing an alkali metal base with a hindered alcohol in an aromatic hydrocarbon solvent;(B) boiling the mixture and azeotropically distilling water formed by the reaction between the base and the alcohol, whereby a solution of a hindered alkali metal alkoxide is formed in situ in the solvent;(C) mixing an ester with the solution of the hindered alkali metal alkoxide in the aromatic hydrocarbon solvent; and then(D) adding a ketone to the mixture.

THE HIGH-MASS END OF THE BLACK HOLE MASS FUNCTION: MASS ESTIMATES IN BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES*

We present Hubble Space Telescope imaging and spectroscopic observations of three Brightest Cluster Galaxies, Abell 1836-BCG, Abell 2052-BCG, and Abell 3565-BCG, obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The data provide detailed information on the structure and mass profile of the stellar component, the dust optical depth, and the spatial distribution and kinematics of the ionized gas within the innermost region of each galaxy. Dynamical models, which account for the observed stellar mass profile and include the contribution of a central supermassive black hole (SBH), are constructed to reproduce the kinematics derived from the H? and [N II]??6548,6583 emission lines. Secure SBH detection with M ? = 3.61+0.41 ?0.50 ? 109 M ? and M ? = 1.34+0.21 ?0.19 ? 109 M ?, respectively, are obtained for Abell 1836-BCG and Abell 3565-BCG, which show regular rotation curves and strong central velocity gradients. In the case of Abell 2052-BCG, the lack of an orderly rotational motion prevents a secure determination, although an upper limit of M ? 4.60 ? 109 M ? can be placed on the mass of the central SBH. These measurements represent an important step forward in the characterization of the high-mass end of the SBH mass function.

SPACE TELESCOPE AND OPTICAL REVERBERATION MAPPING PROJECT. I. ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF THE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY NGC 5548 WITH THE COSMIC ORIGINS SPECTROGRAPH ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

We describe the first results from a six-month long reverberation-mapping experiment in the ultraviolet based on 171 observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Significant correlated variability is found in the continuum and broad emission lines, with amplitudes ranging from ∼30% to a factor of two in the emission lines and a factor of three in the continuum. The variations of all the strong emission lines lag behind those of the continuum, with He II λ1640 lagging behind the continuum by ∼2.5 days and Lyα λ1215 ,C IV λ1550, and Si IV λ1400 lagging by ∼5–6 days. The relationship between the continuum and emission lines is complex. In particular, during the second half of the campaign, all emission-line lags increased by a factor of 1.3–2 and differences appear in the detailed structure of the continuum and emissionline light curves. Velocity-resolved cross-correlation analysis shows coherent structure in lag versus line of sight velocity for the emission lines; the high-velocity wings of C IV respond to continuum variations more rapidly than the line core, probably indicating higher velocity broad-line region clouds at smaller distances from the central

Fast and slow rotators in the densest environments: a FLAMES/GIRAFFE integral field spectroscopy study of galaxies in A1689 at z = 0.183

We present FLAMES/GIRAFFE integral field spectroscopy of 30 galaxies in the massive cluster Abell 1689 at z = 0.183. Conducting an analysis simil ar to that of ATLAS, we extend the baseline of the kinematic morphology-density re lation by an order of magnitude in projected density and show that it is possible to use existin g instruments to identify slow and fast rotators beyond the local Universe. We find 4.5± 1.0 slow rotators with a distribution in magnitude similar to those in the Virgo cluster. The overall slow rotator fraction of our Abell 1689 sample is0.15 ± 0.03, the same as in Virgo using our selection criteria. This sugg ests that the fraction of slow rotators in a cluster is not strongl y dependent on its density. However, within Abell 1689, we find that the fraction of slow rotators i ncreases towards the centre, as was also found in the Virgo cluster.

Structure and dynamics of galaxies with a low surface-brightness disc – II. Stellar populations of bulges

We present the radial profiles of the Hβ, Mg and Fe line-strength indices for a sample of eight spiral galaxies with a low-surface-brightness stellar disc and a bulge. The correlations between the central values of the line-strength indices and velocity dispersion are consistent with those known for early-type galaxies and bulges of high-surface-brightness galaxies. The age, metallicity and α/Fe enhancement of the stellar populations in the bulge-dominated region are obtained using stellar population models with variable element abundance ratios. Almost all the sample bulges are characterized by a young stellar population, ongoing star formation and a solar α/Fe enhancement. Their metallicity spans from high to subsolar values. No significant gradient in age and α/Fe enhancement is measured, whereas a negative metallicity gradient is found only in a few cases. These properties suggest that a pure dissipative collapse cannot explain the formation of all the sample bulges and that other phenomena, such as mergers or acquisition events, need to be invoked. Such a picture is also supported by the lack of a correlation between the central value and the gradient of the metallicity in bulges with very low metallicity. The stellar populations of the bulges hosted by low-surface-brightness discs share many properties with those of high-surface-brightness galaxies. Therefore, they are likely to have common formation scenarios and evolution histories. A strong interplay between bulges and discs is ruled out by the fact that, in spite of being hosted by discs with extremely different properties, the bulges of low- and high-surface-brightness discs are remarkably similar.

Spectroscopic evidence of distinct stellar populations in the counter-rotating stellar disks of NGC 3593 and NGC 4550

Aims. We present the results of integral-field spectroscopic observations of the two disk galaxies NGC 3593 and NGC 4550 obtained with the Visible Multi Object Spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. Both galaxies are known to host two counter-rotating stellar disks, with the ionized gas corotating with one of them. We measured in each galaxy the surface brightness, kinematics, mass surface density, and the stellar populations of the two stellar components, as well as the distribution, kinematics, and metallicity of the ionizedgas component to constrain the formation scenario of these peculiar galaxies. Methods. We applied a novel spectroscopic decomposition technique to both galaxies, to disentangle at each position in the field of view the relative contribution of the two counter-rotating stellar and one ionized-gas components to the observed spectrum. We measured the kinematics and the line strengths of the Lick indices of the two counter-rotating stellar components. We modeled the data of each stellar component with single stellar population models that account for the α/Fe overabundance. Results. In both galaxies we successfully separated the main from the secondary stellar component that is less massive and rotates in the same direction as the ionized-gas component. The two stellar components have exponential surface-brightness profiles. In NGC 3593 they have different scale lengths, with the secondary one dominating the innermost 500 pc. In NGC 4550 they have the same scale lengths, but slightly different scale heights. In both galaxies, the two counter-rotating stellar components have different stellar populations. The secondary stellar disk is younger, more metal poor, and more α-enhanced than the main galaxy stellar disk. Such a difference is stronger in NGC 3593 than in NGC 4550. Conclusions. Our findings rule out an internal origin of the secondary stellar component and favor a scenario where it formed from gas accreted on retrograde orbits from the environment fueling an in situ outside-in rapid star formation. The event occurred � 2G yr ago in NGC 3593 (1.6 ± 0.8 Gyr after the formation of the main galaxy disk), and � 7 Gyr ago in NGC 4550 (less than 1 Gyr after the formation of the main galaxy disk). The formation through a binary galaxy merger cannot be ruled out, and a larger sample is required to statistically determine which mechanism is the most efficient to build counter-rotating stellar disks.

Ngc 4435: a bulge dominated galaxy with an unforeseen low mass central black hole

We present the ionised gas kinematics of the SB0 galaxy NGC 4435 from spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. This galaxy has been selected on the basis of its ground-based spectroscopy, for displaying a positio n velocity diagram consistent with the presence of a circumnuclear Keplerian disc rotating around a supermassive black hole