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1. Unveiling kinematic structure in the starburst heart of NGC 253

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa292  

   Cohen, Daniel P ; Turner, Jean L ; Consiglio, S Michelle ( March 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We observed the Brackett α emission line (4.05 μm) within the nuclear starburst of NGC 253 to measure the kinematics of ionized gas, and distinguish motions driven by star formation feedback from gravitational motions induced by the central mass structure. Using NIRSPEC on Keck II, we obtained 30 spectra through a $0^{\prime \prime }_{.}5$ slit stepped across the central ∼5 arcsec × 25 arcsec (85 × 425 pc) region to produce a spectral cube. The Br α emission resolves into four nuclear sources: S1 at the infrared core (IRC), N1 at the radio core, and the fainter sources N2 and N3 in the northeast. The line profile is characterized by a primary component with Δvprimary ∼90–130 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$ (full width at half-maximum) on top of a broad blue 2wing with Δvbroad ∼300–350 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$, and an additional redshifted narrow component in the west. The velocity field generated from our cube reveals several distinct patterns. A mean NE–SW velocity gradient of +10 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$ arcsec−1 along the major axis traces the solid-body rotation curve of the nuclear disc. At the radio core, isovelocity contours become S-shaped, indicating the presence of secondary nuclear bar of total extent ∼5 arcsec (90 pc). The symmetry of the bar places the galactic centre, and potential supermassivemore »black hole, near the radio peak rather than the IRC. A third kinematic substructure is formed by blueshifted gas near the IRC. This feature likely traces a ∼100–250 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$ starburst-driven outflow, potentially linking the IRC to the galactic wind observed on kpc scales.« less
2. Close-up view of a luminous star-forming galaxy at z = 2.95

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039743  

   Berta, S. ; Young, A. J. ; Cox, P. ; Neri, R. ; Jones, B. M. ; Baker, A. J. ; Omont, A. ; Dunne, L. ; Carnero Rosell, A. ; Marchetti, L. ; et al ( February 2021 , Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   Exploiting the sensitivity of the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) and its ability to process large instantaneous bandwidths, we have studied the morphology and other properties of the molecular gas and dust in the star forming galaxy, H-ATLAS J131611.5+281219 (HerBS-89a), at z = 2.95. High angular resolution (0 . ″3) images reveal a partial 1 . ″0 diameter Einstein ring in the dust continuum emission and the molecular emission lines of 12 CO(9−8) and H 2 O(2 02  − 1 11 ). Together with lower angular resolution (0 . ″6) images, we report the detection of a series of molecular lines including the three fundamental transitions of the molecular ion OH + , namely (1 1  − 0 1 ), (1 2  − 0 1 ), and (1 0  − 0 1 ), seen in absorption; the molecular ion CH + (1 − 0) seen in absorption, and tentatively in emission; two transitions of amidogen (NH 2 ), namely (2 02  − 1 11 ) and (2 20  − 2 11 ) seen in emission; and HCN(11 − 10) and/or NH(1 2  − 0 1 ) seen in absorption. The NOEMA data are complemented with Very Large Array data tracing the 12 CO(1 − 0) emission line, which provides a measurement ofmore »the total mass of molecular gas and an anchor for a CO excitation analysis. In addition, we present Hubble Space Telescope imaging that reveals the foreground lensing galaxy in the near-infrared (1.15  μ m). Together with photometric data from the Gran Telescopio Canarias, we derive a photometric redshift of z phot = 0.9 −0.5 +0.3 for the foreground lensing galaxy. Modeling the lensing of HerBS-89a, we reconstruct the dust continuum (magnified by a factor μ  ≃ 5.0) and molecular emission lines (magnified by μ  ∼ 4 − 5) in the source plane, which probe scales of ∼0 . ″1 (or 800 pc). The 12 CO(9 − 8) and H 2 O(2 02  − 1 11 ) emission lines have comparable spatial and kinematic distributions; the source-plane reconstructions do not clearly distinguish between a one-component and a two-component scenario, but the latter, which reveals two compact rotating components with sizes of ≈1 kpc that are likely merging, more naturally accounts for the broad line widths observed in HerBS-89a. In the core of HerBS-89a, very dense gas with n H 2  ∼ 10 7 − 9 cm −3 is revealed by the NH 2 emission lines and the possible HCN(11 − 10) absorption line. HerBS-89a is a powerful star forming galaxy with a molecular gas mass of M mol  = (2.1 ± 0.4) × 10 11   M ⊙ , an infrared luminosity of L IR  = (4.6 ± 0.4) × 10 12   L ⊙ , and a dust mass of M dust  = (2.6 ± 0.2) × 10 9   M ⊙ , yielding a dust-to-gas ratio δ GDR  ≈ 80. We derive a star formation rate SFR = 614 ± 59  M ⊙ yr −1 and a depletion timescale τ depl  = (3.4 ± 1.0) × 10 8 years. The OH + and CH + absorption lines, which trace low (∼100 cm −3 ) density molecular gas, all have their main velocity component red-shifted by Δ V  ∼ 100 km s −1 relative to the global CO reservoir. We argue that these absorption lines trace a rare example of gas inflow toward the center of a galaxy, indicating that HerBS-89a is accreting gas from its surroundings.« less
3. ALMA confirmation of an obscured hyperluminous radio-loud AGN at z  = 6.853 associated with a dusty starburst in the 1.5 deg2 COSMOS field

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad266  

   Endsley, Ryan ; Stark, Daniel P. ; Lyu, Jianwei ; Wang, Feige ; Yang, Jinyi ; Fan, Xiaohui ; Smit, Renske ; Bouwens, Rychard ; Hainline, Kevin ; Schouws, Sander ( February 2023 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   We present band 6 ALMA observations of a heavily obscured radio-loud (L1.4 GHz = 1025.4 W Hz−1) active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidate at zphot = 6.83 ± 0.06 found in the 1.5 deg2 COSMOS field. The ALMA data reveal detections of exceptionally strong [C ii]158 $\mu$m (z[C ii] = 6.8532) and underlying dust continuum emission from this object (COS-87259), where the [C ii] line luminosity, line width, and 158 $\mu$m continuum luminosity are comparable to those seen from z ∼ 7 sub-mm galaxies and quasar hosts. The 158 $\mu$m continuum detection suggests a total infrared luminosity of $9\times 10^{12}\, \mathrm{ L}_\odot$ with corresponding very large obscured star formation rate (1300 M⊙ yr−1) and dust mass ($2\times 10^9\, \mathrm{ M}_\odot$). The strong break seen between the VIRCam and IRAC photometry perhaps suggests that COS-87259 is an extremely massive reionization-era galaxy with $M_\ast \approx 1.7\times 10^{11}\, \mathrm{ M}_\odot$. Moreover, the MIPS, PACS, and SPIRE detections imply that this object harbours an AGN that is heavily obscured ($\tau _{_{\mathrm{9.7\,\mu m}}}=2.3$) with a bolometric luminosity of approximately $5\times 10^{13}\, \mathrm{ L}_\odot$. Such a very high AGN luminosity suggests that this object is powered by an ≈1.6 × 10$^9\, \mathrm{ M}_\odot$ black hole if accreting near the Eddington limit, and is effectively a highly obscured version of an extremely ultravioletmore »(UV)-luminous (M1450 ≈ −27.3) z ∼ 7 quasar. Notably, these z ∼ 7 quasars are an exceedingly rare population (∼0.001 deg−2), while COS-87259 was identified over a relatively small field. Future very wide area surveys with e.g. Roman and Euclid have the potential to identify many more extremely red yet UV-bright z ≳ 7 objects similar to COS-87259, providing richer insight into the occurrence of intense obscured star formation and supermassive black hole growth among this population.

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4. Discovery of a Protocluster Core Associated with an Enormous Lya Nebula at z = 2.3

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac29c6  

   Li, Qiong ; Wang, Ran ; Dannerbauer, Helmut ; Cai, Zheng ; Emonts, Bjorn ; Prochaska, Jason Xavier ; Battaia, Fabrizio Arrigoni ; Neri, Roberto ; Zhang, Chengpeng ; Fan, Xiaohui ; et al ( December 2021 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract The MAMMOTH-1 nebula at z = 2.317 is an enormous Ly α nebula (ELAN) extending to a ∼440 kpc scale at the center of the extreme galaxy overdensity BOSS 1441. In this paper, we present observations of the CO(3 − 2) and 250 GHz dust-continuum emission from MAMMOTH-1 using the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array. Our observations show that CO(3 − 2) emission in this ELAN has not extended widespread emission into the circum- and inter-galactic media. We also find a remarkable concentration of six massive galaxies in CO(3 − 2) emission in the central ∼100 kpc region of the ELAN. Their velocity dispersions suggest a total halo mass of M 200 c ∼ 10 13.1 M ⊙ , marking a possible protocluster core associated with the ELAN. The peak position of the CO(3 − 2) line emission from the obscured AGN is consistent with the location of the intensity peak of MAMMOTH-1 in the rest-frame UV band. Its luminosity line ratio between the CO(3 − 2) and CO(1 − 0) r 3,1 is 0.61 ± 0.17. The other five galaxies have CO(3 − 2) luminosities in the range of (2.1–7.1) × 10 9 K km s −1 pcmore »2 , with the star-formation rates derived from the 250 GHz continuum of (<36)–224 M ⊙ yr −1 . Follow-up spectroscopic observations will further confirm more member galaxies and improve the accuracy of the halo mass estimation.« less
5. Revealing the intermediate-mass black hole at the heart of the dwarf galaxy NGC 404 with sub-parsec resolution ALMA observations

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa1567  

   Davis, Timothy A ; Nguyen, Dieu D ; Seth, Anil C ; Greene, Jenny E ; Nyland, Kristina ; Barth, Aaron J ; Bureau, Martin ; Cappellari, Michele ; den Brok, Mark ; Iguchi, Satoru ; et al ( August 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We estimate the mass of the intermediate-mass black hole at the heart of the dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 404 using Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) observations of the molecular interstellar medium at an unprecedented linear resolution of ≈0.5 pc, in combination with existing stellar kinematic information. These ALMA observations reveal a central disc/torus of molecular gas clearly rotating around the black hole. This disc is surrounded by a morphologically and kinematically complex flocculent distribution of molecular clouds, that we resolve in detail. Continuum emission is detected from the central parts of NGC 404, likely arising from the Rayleigh–Jeans tail of emission from dust around the nucleus, and potentially from dusty massive star-forming clumps at discrete locations in the disc. Several dynamical measurements of the black hole mass in this system have been made in the past, but they do not agree. We show here that both the observed molecular gas and stellar kinematics independently require a ≈5 × 105 M⊙ black hole once we include the contribution of the molecular gas to the potential. Our best estimate comes from the high-resolution molecular gas kinematics, suggesting the black hole mass of this system is 5.5$^{+4.1}_{-3.8}\times 10^5$ M⊙ (at the 99 per cent confidence level), in good agreement with ourmore »revised stellar kinematic measurement and broadly consistent with extrapolations from the black hole mass–velocity dispersion and black hole mass–bulge mass relations. This highlights the need to accurately determine the mass and distribution of each dynamically important component around intermediate-mass black holes when attempting to estimate their masses.« less