R. I. Davies

The rapid formation of a large rotating disk galaxy three billion years after the Big Bang.

Observations and theoretical simulations have established a framework for galaxy formation and evolution in the young Universe. Galaxies formed as baryonic gas cooled at the centres of collapsing dark-matter haloes; mergers of haloes and galaxies then led to the hierarchical build-up of galaxy mass. It remains unclear, however, over what timescales galaxies were assembled and when and how bulges and disks—the primary components of present-day galaxies—were formed. It is also puzzling that the most massive galaxies were more abundant and were forming stars more rapidly at early epochs than expected from models. Here we report high-angular-resolution observations of a representative luminous star-forming galaxy when the Universe was only 20% of its current age. A large and massive rotating protodisk is channelling gas towards a growing central stellar bulge hosting an accreting massive black hole. The high surface densities of gas, the high rate of star formation and the moderately young stellar ages suggest rapid assembly, fragmentation and conversion to stars of an initially very gas-rich protodisk, with no obvious evidence for a major merger.

MOST SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES ARE MAJOR MERGERS

We analyze subarcsecond resolution interferometric CO line data for 12 submillimeter-luminous (S_(850 μm) ≥ 5 mJy) galaxies with redshifts between 1 and 3, presenting new data for 4 of them. Morphologically and kinematically, most of the 12 systems appear to be major mergers. Five of them are well-resolved binary systems, and seven are compact or poorly resolved. Of the four binary systems for which mass measurements for both separate components can be made, all have mass ratios of 1:3 or closer. Furthermore, comparison of the ratio of compact to binary systems with that observed in local ULIRGs indicates that at least a significant fraction of the compact submillimeter-luminous galaxies (SMGs) must also be late-stage mergers. In addition, the dynamical and gas masses we derive are most consistent with the lower end of the range of stellar masses published for these systems, favoring cosmological models in which SMGs result from mergers. These results all point to the same conclusion that most of the bright SMGs with L_(IR) ≳ 5 × 10^(12) L_☉ are likely major mergers.

Dynamical properties of ultraluminous infrared galaxies. I. Mass ratio conditions for ULIRG activity in interacting pairs

We present first results from our Very Large Telescope large program to study the dynamical evolution of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), which are the products of mergers of gas-rich galaxies. The full data set consists of high-resolution long-slit H- and K-band spectra of 38 ULIRGs and 12 QSOs (in the range 0.042 3 : 1 typically do not force enough gas into the center to generate ULIRG luminosities.

THE ROLE OF MOLECULAR GAS IN OBSCURING SEYFERT ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

In a sample of local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) studied at a spatial resolution on the order of 10 pc, we show that the interstellar medium traced by the molecular hydrogen ? = 1-0 S(1) line at 2.1 ?m forms a geometrically thick, clumpy disk. The kinematics of the molecular gas reveals general rotation, although an additional significant component of random bulk motion is required by the high local velocity dispersion. The size scale of the typical gas disk is found to have a radius of ~30 pc with a comparable vertical height. Within this radius, the average gas mass is estimated to be ~107?M ? based on a typical gas mass fraction of 10%, which suggests column densities of N H ~ 5 ? 1023 cm?2. Extinction of the stellar continuum within this same region suggests lower column densities of N H ~2 ? 1022 cm?2, indicating that the gas distribution on these scales is dominated by dense clumps. In half of the observed Seyfert galaxies, this lower column density is still great enough to obscure the AGN at optical/infrared wavelengths. We conclude, based on the spatial distribution, kinematics, and column densities that the molecular gas observed is spatially mixed with the nuclear stellar population and is likely to be associated with the outer extent of any smaller scale nuclear obscuring structure. Furthermore, we find that the velocity dispersion of the molecular gas is correlated with the star formation rate per unit area, suggesting a link between the two phenomena, and that the gas surface density follows known Schmidt-Kennicutt relations. The molecular/dusty structure on these scales may be dynamic since it is possible that the velocity dispersion of the gas, and hence the vertical disk height, is maintained by a short, massive inflow of material into the nuclear region and/or by intense, short-lived nuclear star formation.

MOLECULAR GAS STREAMERS FEEDING AND OBSCURING THE ACTIVE NUCLEUS OF NGC 1068

We report the first direct observations of neutral, molecular gas streaming in the nucleus of NGC 1068 on scales of <30 pc using SINFONI near-infrared integral field spectroscopy. At a resolution of 0075, the flux map of 2.12 μm 1-0 S(1) molecular hydrogen emission around the nucleus in the central arcsec reveals two prominent linear structures leading to the active galactic nucleus from the north and south. The kinematics of the gas in these features are dominated by noncircular motions and indicate that material streams toward the nucleus on highly elliptical or parabolic trajectories, whose orientations are compatible with that of the disk plane of the galaxy. We interpret the data as evidence for fueling of gas to the central region. The radial transport rate from ~30 pc to a few parsecs from the nucleus is ~15 M ☉ yr–1. One of the infalling clouds lies directly in front of the central engine. We interpret it as a tidally disrupted streamer that forms the optically thick outer part of an amorphous clumpy molecular/dusty structure which contributes to the nuclear obscuration.

Stellar and Molecular Gas Kinematics Of NGC?1097: Inflow Driven by a Nuclear Spiral

We present spatially resolved distributions and kinematics of the stars and molecular gas in the central 320 pc of NGC?1097. The stellar continuum confirms the previously reported three-arm spiral pattern extending into the central 100 pc. The stellar kinematics and the gas distribution imply this is a shadowing effect due to extinction by gas and dust in the molecular spiral arms. The molecular gas kinematics show a strong residual (i.e., non-circular) velocity, which is manifested as a two-arm kinematic spiral. Linear models indicate that this is the line-of-sight velocity pattern expected for a density wave in gas that generates a three-arm spiral morphology. We estimate the inflow rate along the arms. Using hydrodynamical models of nuclear spirals, we show that when deriving the accretion rate into the central region, outflow in the disk plane between the arms has to be taken into account. For NGC?1097, despite the inflow rate along the arms being ~ 1.2 M ? yr?1, the net gas accretion rate to the central few tens of parsecs is much smaller. The numerical models indicate that the inflow rate could be as little as ~ 0.06 M ? yr?1. This is sufficient to generate recurring starbursts, similar in scale to that observed, every 20-150 Myr. The nuclear spiral represents a mechanism that can feed gas into the central parsecs of the galaxy, with the gas flow sustainable for timescales of a gigayear.

Host Dynamics and Origin of Palomar-Green QSOs*

We present host galaxy velocity dispersions of 12 local (mainly Palomar-Green) QSOs measured directly from the stellar CO absorption features in the H band. The mean bulge dispersion of the QSOs in our sample is 186 km s-1 with a standard deviation of 24 km s-1. The measurement of the stellar dispersion in QSOs enables us to place them on observational diagrams such as the local black hole mass-bulge velocity dispersion relation and the fundamental plane of early-type galaxies. Concerning the former relation, these QSOs have higher black hole masses than most Seyfert 1 AGNs with similar velocity dispersions. On the fundamental plane, PG QSOs are located between the regions occupied by moderate-mass and giant ellipticals. The QSO bulge and black hole masses, computed from the stellar velocity dispersions, are of order 1011 and 108 M☉, respectively. The Eddington efficiency of their black holes is on average 0.25, assuming that all of the bolometric luminosity originates from the active nucleus. Our data are consistent with other lines of evidence that Palomar-Green QSOs are related to galaxy mergers with gas-rich components and that they are formed in a manner similar to the most massive ultraluminous infrared galaxies, regardless of their far-infrared emission. However, PG QSOs seem to have smaller host dispersions and different formation mechanisms than QSOs with supermassive black holes of 5 × 108-109 M☉ that accrete at low rates and reside in massive spheroids.

The Nuclear gas dynamics and star formation of Markarian 231

We report adaptive optics H- and K-band spectroscopy of the inner few arcseconds of the luminous merger/ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG)/QSO Mrk 231, at spatial resolutions as small as 0085. For the first time we have been able to resolve the active star-forming region close to the active galactic nucleus (AGN) using stellar absorption features, finding that its luminosity profile is well represented by an exponential function with a disk scale length 018-024 (150-200 pc), and implying that the stars exist in a disk rather than a spheroid. The stars in this region are also young (10-100 Myr), and it therefore seems likely that they have formed in situ in the gas disk, which itself resulted from the merger. The value of the stellar velocity dispersion (~100 km s-1 rather than the usual few times 10 km s-1 in large-scale disks) is a result of the large mass surface density of the disk. The stars in this region have a combined mass of at least 1.6 × 109 M☉, and account for 25%-40% of the bolometric luminosity of the entire galaxy. At our spatial resolution the stellar light in the core is diluted by more than a factor of 10 even in the H band by continuum emission from hot dust around the AGN. We have detected the 2.12 μm 1-0 S(1) H2 and 1.64 μm [Fe II] lines out to radii exceeding 05. The kinematics for the two lines are very similar to each other as well as to the stellar kinematics, and broadly consistent with the nearly face-on rotating disk reported in the literature and based on interferometric CO 1-0 and CO 2-1 measurements of the cold gas. However, they suggest a more complex situation in which the inner 02-03 (200 pc) is warped out of its original disk plane. Such a scenario is supported by the projected shape of the nuclear stellar disk, the major axis of which is significantly offset from the nominal direction, and by the pronounced shift on very small scales in the direction of the radio jet axis, which has been reported in the literature.

Shocked Superwinds from the z ~ 2 Clumpy Star-forming Galaxy, ZC406690

We have obtained high-resolution data of the z � 2 ring-like, clumpy star-forming galaxy (SFG) ZC406690 using the VLT/SINFONI with AO (in K-band) and in seeing-limited mode (in H- and J-band). Our data includes all of the main strong optical emission lines: [OII], [OIII], Hα, Hβ, [NII], and [SII]. We find broad, blueshifted Hα and [OIII] emission line wings in the spectra of the galaxy’s massive, star-forming clumps (σ � 85 km s −1 ) and even broader wings (up to 70% of the total Hα flux, with σ � 290 km s −1 ) in regions spatially offset from the clumps by � 2 kpc. The broad emission likely originates from large-scale outflows with mass outflow rates from individual clumps that are 1–8x the SFR of the clumps. Based on emission line ratio diagnostics ([NII]/Hα and [SII]/Hα) and photoionization and shock models, we find that the emission from the clumps is due to a combination of photoionization from the star-forming regions and shocks generated in the outflowing component, with 5–30% of the emission deriving from shocks. In terms of the ionization parameter (6x10 7 -10 8 cm/s, based on both the SFR and the O32 ratio), density (local electron densities of 300–1800 cm −3 in and around the clumps, and ionized gas column densities of 1200–8000 M⊙/pc 2 ), and SFR (10–40 M⊙ yr −1 ), these clumps more closely resemble nuclear starburst regions of local ULIRGs and dwarf irregulars than HII regions in local galaxies. However, the star-forming clumps are not located in the nucleus as in local starburst galaxies but instead are situated in a ring several kpc from the center of their high-redshift host galaxy, and have an overall disk-like morphology. The two brightest clumps are quite different in terms of their internal properties, energetics and relative ages, and thus we are given a glimpse at two different stages in the formation and evolution of rapidly star-forming giant clumps at high-z. Subject headings: galaxies: high redshift – galaxies: evolution – galaxies: emission lines – galaxies: star formation – ISM: jets and outflows

SINFONI adaptive optics integral field spectroscopy of the Circinus Galaxy

Aims. We investigate the star formation activity and the gas and stellar dynamics on scales of a few parsecs in the nucleus of the Circinus Galaxy. Methods. Using the adaptive optics near infrared integral field spectrometer SINFONI on the VLT, we have obtained observations of the Circinus galaxy on scales of a few parsecs and at a spectral resolution of 70 km s −1 FWHM. The physical properties of the nucleus are analyzed by means of line and velocity maps extracted from the SINFONI datacube. Starburst models are constrained using the Brγ flux, stellar continuum (as traced via the CO absorption bandheads longward of 2.3 µm), and radio continuum. Results. The similarity of the morphologies of the H2 1−0S (1) 2.12 µ ma nd Brγ 2.17 µm lines to the stellar continuum and also their kinematics, suggest a common origin in star formation. Within 8 pc of the AGN we find there has been a recent starburst in the last 100 Myr, which currently accounts for 1.4% of the galaxy’s bolometric luminosity. The similarity of the spatial scales over which the stars and gas exist indicates that this star formation is occuring within the torus; and comparison of the gas column density through the torus to the maximum possible optical depth to the stars implies the torus is a clumpy medium. The coronal lines show asymmetric profiles with a spatially compact narrow component and a spatially extended blue wing. These characteristics are consistent with some of the emission arising in clouds gravitationally bound to the AGN, and some outflowing in cloudlets which have been eroded away from the bound clouds.