Luis Colina

The 0.12-2.5 micron Absolute Flux Distribution of the Sun for Comparison With Solar Analog Stars

An absolute ux calibrated reference spectrum of the Sun covering the 0.12 to 2.5 m wavelength range is presented. The ultraviolet and optical spectrum is based on absolute ux measurements from satellites and from the ground. The near-infrared spectrum is based on measurements using the NASA CV-990 aircraft and on a model spectrum. The synthetic optical and near-infrared magnitudes of the absolute calibrated solar reference spectrum agree with published values to 0.01 0.03 magnitudes, i.e. within the uncertainties of the measurements. The absolute ux of the reference spectrum over the optical and near-infrared 0.4 to 2.5 m range is known with an uncertainty of 5%, or better. In the blue and ultraviolet, especially for wavelengths in the 0.12 to 0.2 m interval, the uncertainty increases up to about 20% due to the variability of the solar energy output at these wavelengths. The absolute ux spectrum of the Sun presented here will help to establish the absolute calibration of NICMOS, the HST near-infrared camera and Multi-object Spectrograph.

Kinemetry of SINS high-redshift star-forming galaxies: distinguishing rotating disks from major mergers

We present a simple set of kinematic criteria that can distinguish between galaxies dominated by ordered rotational motion and those involved in major merger events. Our criteria are based on the dynamics of the warm ionized gas (as traced by Hα) within galaxies, making this analysis accessible to high-redshift systems, whose kinematics are primarily traceable through emission features. Using the method of kinemetry (developed by Krajnovic and coworkers), we quantify asymmetries in both the velocity and velocity dispersion maps of the warm gas, and the resulting criteria enable us to empirically differentiate between nonmerging and merging systems at high redshift. We apply these criteria to 11 of our best-studied rest-frame UV/optical-selected z ~ 2 galaxies for which we have near-infrared integral-field spectroscopic data from SINFONI on the VLT. Of these 11 systems, we find that >50% have kinematics consistent with a single rotating disk interpretation, while the remaining systems are more likely undergoing major mergers. This result, combined with the short formation timescales of these systems, provides evidence that rapid, smooth accretion of gas plays a significant role in galaxy formation at high redshift.

Near-infrared and star-forming properties of local luminous infrared galaxies

We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NICMOS continuum and Paα observations to study the near-infrared and star formation properties of a representative sample of 30 local (d ~ 35-75 Mpc) luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs, infrared [8-1000 μm] luminosities of log L_IR = 11-11.9 L_☉). The data provide spatial resolutions of 25-50 pc and cover the central ~3.3-7.1 kpc regions of these galaxies. About half of the LIRGs show compact (~1-2 kpc) Paα emission with a high surface brightness in the form of nuclear emission, rings, and minispirals. The rest of the sample show Paα emission along the disk and the spiral arms extending over scales of 3-7 kpc and larger. About half of the sample contains H II regions with Hα luminosities significantly higher than those observed in normal galaxies. There is a linear empirical relationship between the mid-IR 24 μm and hydrogen recombination (extinction-corrected Paα) luminosity for these LIRGs, and the H II regions in the central part of M51. This relation holds over more than four decades in luminosity, suggesting that the mid-IR emission is a good tracer of the star formation rate (SFR). Analogous to the widely used relation between the SFR and total IR luminosity of R. Kennicutt, we derive an empirical calibration of the SFR in terms of the monochromatic 24 μm luminosity that can be used for luminous, dusty galaxies.

Is HCN a True Tracer of Dense Molecular Gas in Luminous and Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

We present the results of the first HCO+ survey probing the dense molecular gas content of a sample of 16 luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs). Previous work, based on HCN (1-0) observations, had shown that LIRGs and ULIRGs possess a significantly higher fraction of dense molecular gas compared to normal galaxies. While the picture issued from HCO+ partly confirms this result, we have discovered an intriguing correlation between the HCN (1-0)/HCO+ (1-0) luminosity ratio and the IR luminosity of the galaxy (LIR). This trend casts doubts on the use of HCN as an unbiased quantitative tracer of the dense molecular gas content in LIRGs and ULIRGs. A plausible scenario explaining the observed trend implies that X-rays coming from an embedded active galactic nucleus may play a dominant role in the chemistry of molecular gas at LIR ? 1012 L?. We discuss the implications of this result for the understanding of LIRGs, ULIRGs, and high-redshift gas-rich galaxies.We present the results of the first HCO+ survey probing the dense molecular gas content of a sample of 16 luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs). Previous work, based on HCN(1-0) observations, had shown that LIRGs and ULIRGs posses a significantly higher fraction of dense molecular gas compared to normal galaxies. While the picture issued from HCO+ partly confirms this result, we have discovered an intriguing correlation between the HCN(1-0)/HCO+(1-0) luminosity ratio and the IR luminosity of the galaxy (L(IR)). This trend casts doubts on the use of HCN as an unbiased quantitative tracer of the dense molecular gas content in LIRGs and ULIRGs. A plausible scenario explaining the observed trend implies that X-rays coming from an embedded AGN may play a dominant role in the chemistry of molecular gas at L(IR) > 1e12 Lsun. We discuss the implications of this result for the understanding of LIRGs, ULIRGs and high redshift gas-rich galaxies.

Star-formation laws in luminous infrared galaxies - new observational constraints on models

The observational study of star formation relations in gala xies is central to unraveling the related physical processe s that are at work on both local and global scales. It is still debated whether s tar formation can be described by a universal law that remains valid in different populations of galaxies. We wish to expand the sample of extreme starbursts, represented by local luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs), with high quality observations in the 1‐0 line of HCN, which is taken as a proxy for the dense molecular gas content. The new data presented in this work allow us to enlarge in particular the number of LIRGs studied in HCN by a factor 3 compared to previous works. The chosen LIRG sample has a range of HCN luminosities that partly overlaps with that of the normal galaxy population. We study if a universal law can account for the star formation relations observed for the dense molecular gas in normal star forming galaxies and extreme starbursts and explore the validity of different theoretical prescriptions of the star formation law. We have used the IRAM 30m telescope to observe a sample of 19 LIRGs in the 1‐0 lines of CO, HCN and HCO + . The galaxies have been extracted from a sample of local LIRGs with available high-quality and high-resolution images obtained at optical, near and mid IR wavelengths, which probe the star formation activity. We have thus derived the star f ormation rates using different tracers and determined the sizes of the star forming regions in all the targets. The analysis of the new data proves that the effi ciency of star formation in the dense molecular gas (SFEdense) of extreme starbursts is a factor 3‐4 higher compared to normal galaxies. Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) power laws have also been derived. We find a dua lity in KS laws that is further reinforced if we account for the likel y different conversion factor for HCN (α HCN ) in extreme starbursts and for the unobscured star formation rate in normal galaxies. This result extends to the higher molecular densities probed by HCN lines the more extreme bimodal behavior of star formation laws, derived from CO molecular lines by two recent surveys. We have confronted our observations with the predictions of theoretical models in which the effi ciency of star formation is determined by the ratio of a constant star formation rate per free-fall time (SFRff) to the local free-fall time (tff). We find that it is possible to fit the observed differences in the SFEdense between normal galaxies and LIRGs/ULIRGs using a common constant SFRff and a set of physically acceptable HCN densities, but only if SFRff∼0.005‐0.01 and/or ifα HCN is a factor of∼a few lower than our favored values. Star formation recipes that explicitly depend on the galaxy global dynamical time scales do not significantly improve th e fit to the new HCN data presented in this work.

HST/WFPC2 imaging of the QDOT ultraluminous infrared galaxy sample

We present HST WFPC2 V-band imaging for 23 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) taken from the QDOT redshift survey. The fraction of sources observed to be interacting is 87 per cent. Most of the merging systems show a number of compact ‘knots’, whose colour and brightness differ substantially from their immediate surroundings. Colour maps for nine of the objects show a non-uniform colour structure. Features include blue regions located towards the centres of merging systems which are likely to be areas of enhanced star formation, and compact red regions which are likely to be dust shrouded starbursts or active galactic nuclei. The host galaxies of the quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) in the sample were found to be either interacting systems or ellipticals. Our data show no evidence that ULIRGs are a simple transition stage between galaxy mergers and QSOs. We propose an alternative model for ULIRGs based on the morphologies in our sample and previous N-body simulations. Under this model ULIRGs as a class are much more diverse than a simple transition between galaxy merger and QSO. The evolution of IR power source and merger morphology in ULIRGs is driven solely by the local environment and the morphologies of the merger progenitors.

Ionized gas outflows and global kinematics of low-z luminous star-forming galaxies

We study the kinematic properties of the ambient ionized ISM and ionized gas outflows in a large and representative sample of local luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (U/LIRGs) (58 systems, 75 galaxies), on the basis of integral field spectroscopy (IFS)-based high S/N integrated spectra at galactic and sub-galactic, i.e. star forming (SF) clumps, scales. Ambient ionized gas. The velocity dispersion of the ionized ISM in U/LIRGs ( ~ 70 kms-1) is larger than in lower luminosity local star forming galaxies ( ~ 25 kms-1). While for isolated disc LIRGs star formation appears to sustain turbulence, gravitational energy release associated to interactions and mergers plays an important role driving sigma in the U/LIRG range. We also find that the impact of an AGN in ULIRGs is strong, increasing sigma by a factor 1.5 on average. The observed weak dependency of sigma with SFR surface density for local U/LIRGs is in very good agreement with that measured in some high-z samples. Ionized outflows. The presence of ionized gas outflows in U/LIRGs seems universal based on the detection of a broad, usually blueshifted, Halpha line. AGNs in U/LIRGs are able to generate faster (x2) and more massive (x1.4) ionized gas outflows than pure starbursts. The derived ionized mass loading factors are in general below one, with only a few AGNs above this limit. Only a small fraction of the ionized material from low mass LIRGs (log(Mdyn/Msun) < 10.4) could reach the intergalactic medium, with more massive galaxies retaining the gas. The observed average outflow properties in U/LIRGs are similar to high-z galaxies of comparable SFR. In the bright SF clumps found in LIRGs, ionized gas outflows appear to be very common. For a given SFR surface density, outflows in LIRG clumps would be about one to two orders of magnitude less energetic than those launched by clumps in high-z SF galaxies.

Gas fraction and star formation efficiency at z < 1.0

After new observations of 39 galaxies at z = 0.6-1.0 obtained at the IRAM 30m telescope, we present our full CO line survey covering the redshift range 0.2 < z < 1. Our aim is to determine the driving factors accounting for the steep decline in the star formation rate during this epoch. We study both the gas fraction, defined as Mgas/(Mgas+Mstar), and the star formation efficiency (SFE) defined by the ratio between far-infrared luminosity and molecular gas mass (LFIR/M(H2), i.e. a measure for the inverse of the gas depletion time. The sources are selected to be ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), with LFIR greater than 10^12 Lo and experiencing starbursts. When we adopt a standard ULIRG CO-to-H2 conversion factor, their molecular gas depletion time is less than 100 Myr. Our full survey has now filled the gap of CO observations in the 0.2

LINER-like Extended Nebulae in ULIRGs: Shocks Generated by Merger-Induced Flows

In this work we studied the two-dimensional ionization structure of the circumnuclear and extranuclear regions in a sample of six low-z ultraluminous infrared galaxies using integral field spectroscopy. The ionization conditions in the extranuclear regions of these galaxies (~5-15 kpc) are typical of LINERs as obtained from the Veilleux-Osterbrock line ratio diagnostic diagrams. The range of observed line ratios is best explained by the presence of fast shocks with velocities of 150-500 km s-1, while ionization by an AGN or nuclear starburst is in general less likely. The comparison of the two-dimensional ionization level and velocity dispersion in the extranuclear regions of these galaxies shows a positive correlation, further supporting the idea that shocks are indeed the main cause of ionization. The origin of these shocks is also investigated. Despite the likely presence of superwinds in the circumnuclear regions of these systems, no evidence for signatures of superwinds such as double velocity components is found in the extended extranuclear regions. We consider a more likely explanation for the presence of shocks, the existence of tidally induced large-scale gas flows caused by the merging process itself, as evidenced by the observed velocity fields characterized by peak-to-peak velocities of 400 km s-1 and velocity dispersions of up to 200 km s-1.

Chandra Observations of Arp 220: The Nuclear Source

We present the first results from 60 ks of observations of Arp 220 using the ACIS-S instrument on Chandra. We report the detection of several sources near the galaxys nucleus, including a point source with a hard spectrum that is coincident with the western radio nucleus B. This point source is mildly absorbed (NH ~ 3 × 1022 cm-2) and has an estimated luminosity of 4 × 1040 ergs s-1. In addition, a fainter source may coincide with the eastern nucleus A. Extended hard X-ray emission in the vicinity raises the total estimated nuclear 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity to 1.2 × 1041 ergs s-1, but we cannot rule out a hidden active galactic nucleus behind columns exceeding 5 × 1024 cm-2. We also detect a peak of soft X-ray emission to the west of the nucleus and a hard point source 2.5 kpc from the nucleus with a luminosity of 6 × 1039 ergs s-1.