skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Dwarf Galaxies with Radio-excess Active Galactic Nuclei in the Very Large Array Sky Survey
Abstract We present a systematic search for radio active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in dwarf galaxies using recent observations taken by the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). To select these objects, we first establish a criterion to identify radio-excess AGNs using the infrared-radio correlation parameter,q, that describes the tight relation between radio and IR emission in star-forming galaxies. We find a 2σthreshold ofq< 1.94 to select radio-excess AGNs, which is derived from a sample of ∼7000 galaxies across the full mass range in the NASA-Sloan Atlas that have radio and IR detections from VLASS and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, respectively. We create catalogs of radio-excess AGNs and star-forming galaxies and make these available to the community. Applying our criterion to dwarf galaxies with stellar massesM⋆≲ 3 × 109M⊙and redshiftsz≤ 0.15, and carefully removing interlopers, we find 10 radio-excess AGNs with radio-optical positional offsets between ∼0″ and 2.′3 (0–2.7 kpc). Based on statistical arguments and emission line diagnostics, we expect the majority of these radio-excess AGNs to be associated with the dwarf host galaxies rather than background AGNs. Five of the objects have evidence for hosting AGNs at other wavelengths, and five objects are identified as AGNs in dwarf galaxies for the first time. We also identify eight variable radio sources in dwarf galaxies by comparing the VLASS epoch 1 and epoch 2 observations to Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters detections presented in A. E. Reines et al. (2020).  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2235277
PAR ID:
10597710
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
The Astrophysical Journal
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
978
Issue:
2
ISSN:
0004-637X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
158
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, The Astrophysical Journal)
    Abstract To facilitate new studies of galaxy-merger-driven fueling of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we present a catalog of 387 AGNs that we have identified in the final population of over 10,000z< 0.15 galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV (SDSS-IV) integral field spectroscopy survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA). We selected the AGNs via mid-infrared Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer colors, Swift/Burst Alert Telescope ultra-hard X-ray detections, NRAO Very Large Array Sky Survey and Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeters radio observations, and broad emission lines in SDSS spectra. By combining the MaNGA AGN catalog with a new SDSS catalog of galaxy mergers that were identified based on a suite of hydrodynamical simulations of merging galaxies, we study the link between galaxy mergers and nuclear activity for AGNs above a limiting bolometric luminosity of 1044.4erg s−1. We find an excess of AGNs in mergers, relative to nonmergers, for galaxies with stellar mass ∼1011M⊙, where the AGN excess is somewhat stronger in major mergers than in minor mergers. Further, when we combine minor and major mergers and sort by merger stage, we find that the highest AGN excess occurs in post-coalescence mergers in the highest-mass galaxies. However, we find no evidence of a correlation between galaxy mergers and AGN luminosity or accretion rate. In summary, while galaxy mergers overall do appear to trigger or enhance AGN activity more than nonmergers, they do not seem to induce higher levels of accretion or higher luminosities. We provide the MaNGA AGN Catalog and the MaNGA Galaxy Merger Catalog for the community here. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, The Astrophysical Journal)
    Abstract The coevolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies represents a fundamental question in astrophysics. One approach to investigating this question involves comparing the star formation rates (SFRs) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with those of typical star-forming galaxies. At relatively low redshifts (z≲ 1), radio AGNs manifest diminished SFRs, indicating suppressed star formation, but their behavior at higher redshifts is unclear. To examine this, we leveraged galaxy and radio-AGN data from the well-characterized W-CDF-S, ELAIS-S1, and XMM-LSS fields. We established two mass-complete reference star-forming galaxy samples and two radio-AGN samples, consisting of 1763 and 6766 radio AGNs, the former being higher in purity and the latter more complete. We subsequently computed star-forming fractions (fSF; the fraction of star-forming galaxies to all galaxies) for galaxies and radio-AGN host galaxies and conducted a robust comparison between them up toz≈ 3. We found that the tendency for radio AGNs to reside in massive galaxies primarily accounts for their lowfSF, which also shows a strong negative dependence uponM⋆and a strong positive evolution withz. To investigate further the star formation characteristics of those star-forming radio AGNs, we constructed the star-forming main sequence (MS) and investigated the behavior of the position of AGNs relative to the MS atz≈ 0–3. Our results reveal that radio AGNs display lower SFRs than star-forming galaxies in the low-zand high-M⋆regime and, conversely, exhibit comparable or higher SFRs than MS star-forming galaxies at higher redshifts or lowerM⋆. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, The Astrophysical Journal)
    Abstract Despite the importance of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in galaxy evolution, accurate AGN identification is often challenging, as common AGN diagnostics can be confused by contributions from star formation and other effects (e.g., Baldwin–Phillips–Terlevich diagrams). However, one promising avenue for identifying AGNs is “coronal emission lines” (“CLs”), which are highly ionized species of gas with ionization potentials ≥100 eV. These CLs may serve as excellent signatures for the strong ionizing continuum of AGNs. To determine if CLs are in fact strong AGN tracers, we assemble and analyze the largest catalog of optical CL galaxies using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) catalog. We detect CL emission in 71 MaNGA galaxies, out of the 10,010 unique galaxies from the final MaNGA catalog, with ≥5σconfidence. In our sample, we measure [Nev]λ3347,λ3427, [Fevii]λ3586,λ3760,λ6086, and [Fex]λ6374 emission and crossmatch the CL galaxies with a catalog of AGNs that were confirmed with broad-line, X-ray, IR, and radio observations. We find that [Nev] emission, compared to [Fevii] and [Fex] emission, is best at identifying high-luminosity AGNs. Moreover, we find that the CL galaxies with the least dust extinction yield the most iron CL detections. We posit that the bulk of the iron CLs are destroyed by dust grains in the galaxies with the highest [Oiii] luminosities in our sample, and that AGNs in the galaxies with low [Oiii] luminosities are possibly too weak to be detected using traditional techniques. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series)
    Abstract Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can often be identified in radio images as two lobes, sometimes connected to a core by a radio jet. This multicomponent morphology unfortunately creates difficulties for source finders, leading to components that are (a) separate parts of a wider whole, and (b) offset from the multiwavelength cross identification of the host galaxy. In this work we define an algorithm, DRAGN hunter , for identifying double radio sources associated with AGNs (DRAGNs) from component catalog data in the first epoch Quick Look images of the high-resolution (≈3″ beam size) Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). We use DRAGN hunter to construct a catalog of >17,000 DRAGNs in VLASS for which contamination from spurious sources is estimated at ≈11%. A “high-fidelity” sample consisting of 90% of our catalog is identified for which contamination is <3%. Host galaxies are found for ≈13,000 DRAGNs as well as for an additional 234,000 single-component radio sources. Using these data, we explore the properties of our DRAGNs, finding them to be typically consistent with Fanaroff–Riley class II sources and to allow us to report the discovery of 31 new giant radio galaxies identified using VLASS. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; (, The Astrophysical Journal)
    Abstract Effectively finding and identifying active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in dwarf galaxies is an important step in studying black hole formation and evolution. In this work, we examine four mid-infrared (IR)-selected AGN candidates in dwarf galaxies with stellar masses betweenM⋆ ~ 108and 109M⊙and find that the galaxies are host to nuclear star clusters (NSCs) that are notably rare in how young and massive they are. We perform photometric measurements on the central star clusters in our target galaxies using Hubble Space Telescope optical and near-IR imaging and compare their observed properties to models of stellar population evolution. We find that these galaxies are host to very massive (~107M⊙), extremely young (≲8 Myr), and dusty (0.6 ≲ Av ≲ 1.8) NSCs. Our results indicate that these galactic nuclei have ongoing star formation, are still at least partially obscured by clouds of gas and dust, and are most likely producing the extremely red AGN-like mid-IR colors. Moreover, prior work has shown that these galaxies do not exhibit X-ray or optical AGN signatures. Therefore, we recommend caution when using mid-IR color–color diagnostics for AGN selection in dwarf galaxies, since, as directly exemplified in this sample, they can be contaminated by massive star clusters with ongoing star formation. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email