G. Verdoes Kleijn

The ATLAS3D project – I. A volume‐limited sample of 260 nearby early‐type galaxies: science goals and selection criteria

The ATLAS3D project is a multiwavelength survey combined with a theoretical modelling effort. The observations span from the radio to the millimetre and optical, and provide multicolour imaging, two-dimensional kinematics of the atomic (H i), molecular (CO) and ionized gas (H beta, [O iii] and [N i]), together with the kinematics and population of the stars (H beta, Fe5015 and Mg b), for a carefully selected, volume-limited (1.16 x 105 Mpc3) sample of 260 early-type (elliptical E and lenticular S0) galaxies (ETGs). The models include semi-analytic, N-body binary mergers and cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. Here we present the science goals for the project and introduce the galaxy sample and the selection criteria. The sample consists of nearby (D 15 degrees) morphologically selected ETGs extracted from a parent sample of 871 galaxies (8 per cent E, 22 per cent S0 and 70 per cent spirals) brighter than M-K <-21.5 mag (stellar mass M-star greater than or similar to 6 x109 M-circle dot). We analyse possible selection biases and we conclude that the parent sample is essentially complete and statistically representative of the nearby galaxy population. We present the size-luminosity relation for the spirals and ETGs and show that the ETGs in the ATLAS3D sample define a tight red sequence in a colour-magnitude diagram, with few objects in the transition from the blue cloud. We describe the strategy of the SAURON integral field observations and the extraction of the stellar kinematics with the ppxf method. We find typical 1 Sigma errors of delta V approximate to 6 km s-1, delta Sigma approximate to 7 km s-1, delta h(3) approximate to delta h(4) approximate to 0.03 in the mean velocity, the velocity dispersion and Gauss-Hermite (GH) moments for galaxies with effective dispersion Sigma(e) greater than or similar to 120 km s-1. For galaxies with lower Sigma(e) (approximate to 40 per cent of the sample) the GH moments are gradually penalized by ppxf towards zero to suppress the noise produced by the spectral undersampling and only V and Sigma can be measured. We give an overview of the characteristics of the other main data sets already available for our sample and of the ongoing modelling projects.

The Counterrotating Core and the Black Hole Mass of IC 1459

The E3 giant elliptical galaxy IC 1459 is the prototypical galaxy with a fast counterrotating stellar core. We obtained one Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) long-slit spectrum along the major axis of this galaxy and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) spectra along five position angles. The signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the ground-based data is such that also the higher order Gauss-Hermite moments (h3-h6) can be extracted reliably. We present self-consistent three-integral axisymmetric models of the stellar kinematics, obtained with Schwarzschilds numerical orbit superposition method. The available data allow us to study the dynamics of the kinematically decoupled core (KDC) in IC 1459, and we find that it consists of stars that are well separated from the rest of the galaxy in phase space. In particular, our study indicates that the stars in the KDC counterrotate in a disk on orbits that are close to circular. We estimate that the KDC mass is ≈0.5% of the total galaxy mass or ≈3 × 109 M☉. We estimate the central black hole (BH) mass MBH of IC 1459 independently from both its stellar and its gaseous kinematics. Although both tracers rule out models without a central BH, neither yields a particularly accurate determination of the BH mass. The main problem for the stellar dynamical modeling is the fact that the modest S/N of the STIS spectrum and the presence of strong gas emission lines preclude measuring the full line-of-sight velocity distribution (LOSVD) at HST resolution. The main problem for the gasdynamical modeling is that there is evidence that the gas motions are disturbed, possibly as a result of nongravitational forces acting on the gas. These complications probably explain why we find rather discrepant BH masses with the different methods. The stellar kinematics suggest that MBH = (2.6 ± 1.1) × 109 M☉ (3 σ error). The gas kinematics suggests that MBH ≈ 3.5 × 108 M☉ if the gas is assumed to rotate at the circular velocity in a thin disk. If the observed velocity dispersion of the gas is assumed to be gravitational, then MBH could be as high as ~1.0 × 109 M☉. These different estimates bracket the value MBH = (1.1 ± 0.3) × 109 M☉ predicted by the MBH-σ relation. It will be an important goal for future studies to attempt comparisons of BH mass determinations from stellar and gaseous kinematics for other galaxies. This will assess the reliability of BH mass determinations with either technique. This is essential if one wants to interpret the correlation between the BH mass and other global galaxy parameters (e.g., velocity dispersion) and in particular the scatter in these correlations (believed to be only ~0.3 dex).

Dark matter halo properties of GAMA galaxy groups from 100 square degrees of KiDS weak lensing data

The Kilo-Degree Survey is an optical wide-field survey designed to map the matter distribution in the Universe using weak gravitational lensing. In this paper, we use these data to measure the density profiles and masses of a sample of ∼1400 spectroscopically identified galaxy groups and clusters from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey. We detect a highly significant signal (signal-to-noise-ratio ∼120), allowing us to study the properties of dark matter haloes over one and a half order of magnitude in mass, from M ∼ 1013–1014.5 h−1 M⊙. We interpret the results for various subsamples of groups using a halo model framework which accounts for the mis-centring of the brightest cluster galaxy (used as the tracer of the group centre) with respect to the centre of the groups dark matter halo. We find that the density profiles of the haloes are well described by an NFW profile with concentrations that agree with predictions from numerical simulations. In addition, we constrain scaling relations between the mass and a number of observable group properties. We find that the mass scales with the total r-band luminosity as a power law with slope 1.16 ± 0.13 (1σ) and with the group velocity dispersion as a power law with slope 1.89 ± 0.27 (1σ). Finally, we demonstrate the potential of weak lensing studies of groups to discriminate between models of baryonic feedback at group scales by comparing our results with the predictions from the Cosmo-OverWhelmingly Large Simulations project, ruling out models without AGN feedback.

First discoveries of z~6 quasars with the Kilo Degree Survey and VISTA Kilo-Degree Infrared Galaxy survey

We present the results of our first year of quasar search in the ongoing ESO public Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) and VISTA Kilo-Degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) surveys. These surveys are among the deeper wide-field surveys that can be used to uncover large numbers of z ˜ 6 quasars. This allows us to probe a more common population of z ˜ 6 quasars that is fainter than the well-studied quasars from the main Sloan Digital Sky Survey. From this first set of combined survey catalogues covering ˜250 deg2 we selected point sources down to ZAB = 22 that had a very red i - Z (i - Z > 2.2) colour. After follow-up imaging and spectroscopy, we discovered four new quasars in the redshift range 5.8 <z <6.0. The absolute magnitudes at a rest-frame wavelength of 1450 A are between -26.6 <M1450 <-24.4, confirming that we can find quasars fainter than M*, which at z = 6 has been estimated to be between M* = -25.1 and M* = -27.6. The discovery of four quasars in 250 deg2 of survey data is consistent with predictions based on the z ˜ 6 quasar luminosity function. We discuss various ways to push the candidate selection to fainter magnitudes and we expect to find about 30 new quasars down to an absolute magnitude of M1450 = -24. Studying this homogeneously selected faint quasar population will be important to gain insight into the onset of the co-evolution of the black holes and their stellar hosts.

Star formation in z > 1 3CR host galaxies as seen by Herschel

We present Herschel (PACS and SPIRE) far-infrared (FIR) photometry of a complete sample of z> 1 3CR sources, from the Herschel guaranteed time project The Herschel Legacy of distant radio-loud AGN. Combining these with existing Spitzer photometric data, we perform an infrared (IR) spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis of these landmark objects in extragalactic research to study the star formation in the hosts of some of the brightest active galactic nuclei (AGN) known at any epoch. Accounting for the contribution from an AGN-powered warm dust component to the IR SED, about 40% of our objects undergo episodes of prodigious, ULIRG-strength star formation, with rates of hundreds of solar masses per year, coeval with the growth of the central supermassive black hole. Median SEDs imply that the quasar and radio galaxy hosts have similar FIR properties, in agreement with the orientation-based unification for radio-loud AGN. The star-forming properties of the AGN hosts are similar to those of the general population of equally massive non-AGN galaxies at comparable redshifts, thus there is no strong evidence of universal quenching of star formation (negative feedback) within this sample. Massive galaxies at high redshift may be forming stars prodigiously, regardless of whether their supermassive black holes are accreting or not. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.Tables 1, 2, 4 and Appendices are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

The Herschel-ATLAS: a sample of 500 μm-selected lensed galaxies over 600 deg2

We present a sample of 80 candidate strongly lensed galaxies with flux density above 100 mJy at 500 μm extracted from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey, over an area of 600 deg2. Available imaging and spectroscopic data allow us to confirm the strong lensing in 20 cases and to reject it in one case. For other eight objects, the lensing scenario is strongly supported by the presence of two sources along the same line of sight with distinct photometric redshifts. The remaining objects await more follow-up observations to confirm their nature. The lenses and the background sources have median redshifts zL = 0.6 and zS = 2.5, respectively, and are observed out to zL = 1.2 and zS = 4.2. We measure the number counts of candidate lensed galaxies at 500 μm and compare them with theoretical predictions, finding a good agreement for a maximum magnification of the background sources in the range 10–20. These values are consistent with the magnification factors derived from the lens modelling of individual systems. The catalogue presented here provides sub-mm bright targets for follow-up observations aimed at exploiting gravitational lensing, to study with unprecedented details the morphological and dynamical properties of dusty star-forming regions in z ≳ 1.5 galaxies.

The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey: VI. Colour gradients in giant and dwarf early-type galaxies

Using deep, high-spatial resolution imaging from the HST ACS Coma Cluster Treasury Survey, we determine colour profiles of early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster. From 176 galaxies brighter than MF814W(AB) = 15 mag that are either spectroscopically confirmed members of Coma or identified by eye as likely members from their low surface brightness, data are provided for 142 early-type galaxies. Typically, colour profiles are linear against log(R), sometimes with a nuclear region of distinct, often bluer colour associated with nuclear clusters. Colour gradients are determined for the regions outside the nuclear components. We find that almost all colour gradients are negative, both for elliptical and lenticular galaxies. Most likely, earlier studies that report positive colour gradients in dwarf galaxies are affected by the bluer colours of the nuclear clusters, underlining that high resolution data are essential to disentangle the colour properties of the different morphological components in galaxies. Colour gradients of dwarf galaxies form a continuous sequence with those of elliptical galaxies, becoming shallower toward fainter magnitudes. Interpreting the colours as metallicity tracers, our data suggest that dwarfs as well as giant early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster are less metal rich in their outer parts. We do not find evidence for environmental influence on the gradients, although we note that most of our galaxies are found in the central regions of the cluster. For a subset of galaxies with known morphological types, S0 galaxies have less steep gradients than elliptical galaxies.

The Herschel-ATLAS: a sample of 500{\mu}m-selected lensed galaxies over 600 square degrees

We present a sample of 80 candidate strongly lensed galaxies with flux density above 100 mJy at 500 μm extracted from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey, over an area of 600 deg2. Available imaging and spectroscopic data allow us to confirm the strong lensing in 20 cases and to reject it in one case. For other eight objects, the lensing scenario is strongly supported by the presence of two sources along the same line of sight with distinct photometric redshifts. The remaining objects await more follow-up observations to confirm their nature. The lenses and the background sources have median redshifts zL = 0.6 and zS = 2.5, respectively, and are observed out to zL = 1.2 and zS = 4.2. We measure the number counts of candidate lensed galaxies at 500 μm and compare them with theoretical predictions, finding a good agreement for a maximum magnification of the background sources in the range 10–20. These values are consistent with the magnification factors derived from the lens modelling of individual systems. The catalogue presented here provides sub-mm bright targets for follow-up observations aimed at exploiting gravitational lensing, to study with unprecedented details the morphological and dynamical properties of dusty star-forming regions in z ≳ 1.5 galaxies.

The jet-cloud interacting radio galaxy PKS B2152-699 - I. Structures revealed in new deep radio and X-ray observations

PKS B2152-699, which has radio power characteristic of sources that dominate radio feedback, is exceptional in showing a wide range of features associated with radio-galaxy/gas interactions. We present new deep radio (ATCA), X-ray (Chandra) and ground-based optical observations, and test the energetics of the feedback model. We report the first high-resolution observations of the radio jet, finding that the inner jet exte nds � 8.5 kpc (10 ◦ viewing angle) in the direction of an optical emission-line High Ionizatio n Cloud (HIC) before taking a zigzag path to a position offset from the HIC. Jet synchrotron ra diation to X-ray energies is seen. The HIC is associated with cool, kT � 0.3-keV, X-ray gas of anomalously low metallicity. On larger scales, the radio galaxy displays all three X- ray features that together confirm supersonic expansion of the lobes into the external medium: gas cavities, inverse-Compton emission showing excess internal lobe pressure, and high-contrast arms of temperature above the kT � 1 keV ambient medium. The well-formed southern lobe on the counterjet side is expanding with a Mach number between 2.2 and 3. The lobe energy appears to be more gently dissipated in the north. We estimate a cavity power � 3 × 10 43 ergs s −1 , which falls well below previously reported correlations with radio power. T he total inferred time-averaged jet power, � 4 × 10 44 ergs s −1 , is dominated by the kinetic and thermal energy of shocked gas, and if used instead would bring the source into better agreement with the correlations. The southern hotspot is the more complex, with a spiral polariza tion structure. Its bright peak emits synchrotron X-rays. The fainter northern hotspot is p articularly interesting, with X-rays offset in the direction of the incoming jet by � 1 arcsec relative to the radio peak. Here modest (� � 6) relativistic beaming and a steep radio spectrum cause the j et to be X-ray bright through inverse-Compton scattering before it decelerates . With such beaming, a modest proton content or small departure from minimum energy in the jet will align estimates of the instantaneous and time-averaged jet power. The hotspots suggest acceleration of electrons to a maximum energy� 10 13 eV in the jet termination shocks.

The SAMI Galaxy Survey : the cluster redshift survey, target selection and cluster properties

We describe the selection of galaxies targeted in eight low-redshift clusters (APMCC0917, A168, A4038, EDCC442, A3880, A2399, A119 and A85; 0.029 < z < 0.058) as part of the Sydney-AAO Multi-Object Integral field spectrograph Galaxy Survey (SAMI-GS). We have conducted a redshift survey of these clusters using the AAOmega multi-object spectrograph on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope. The redshift survey is used to determine cluster membership and to characterize the dynamical properties of the clusters. In combination with existing data, the survey resulted in 21 257 reliable redshift measurements and 2899 confirmed cluster member galaxies. Our redshift catalogue has a high spectroscopic completeness (∼94 per cent) for rpetro ≤ 19.4 and cluster-centric distances R < 2R200. We use the confirmed cluster member positions and redshifts to determine cluster velocity dispersion, R200, virial and caustic masses, as well as cluster structure. The clusters have virial masses 14.25 ≤ log(M200/M_⊙) ≤ 15.19. The cluster sample exhibits a range of dynamical states, from relatively relaxed-appearing systems, to clusters with strong indications of merger-related substructure. Aperture- and point spread function matched photometry are derived from Sloan Digital Sky Survey and VLT Survey Telescope/ATLAS imaging and used to estimate stellar masses. These estimates, in combination with the redshifts, are used to define the input target catalogue for the cluster portion of the SAMI-GS. The primary SAMI-GS cluster targets have R