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Creators/Authors contains: "Genzel, Reinhard"

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  1. Abstract We investigate the multiphase structure of gas flows in galaxies. We study 80 galaxies during the epoch of peak star formation (1.4 ≤z≤ 2.7) using data from the Keck/Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) and the Very Large Telescope/K-Band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS). Our analysis provides a simultaneous probe of outflows using UV emission and absorption features and Hαemission. With this unprecedented data set, we examine the properties of gas flows estimated from LRIS and KMOS in relation to other galaxy properties, such as star formation rate (SFR), SFR surface density (ΣSFR), stellar mass (M*), and main-sequence offset (ΔMS). We find no strong correlations between outflow velocity measured from rest-UV line centroids and galaxy properties. However, we find that galaxies with detected outflows show higher averages in SFR, ΣSFR, and ΔMS than those lacking outflow detections, indicating a connection between outflow and galaxy properties. Furthermore, we find a lower average outflow velocity than previously reported, suggesting greater absorption at the systemic redshift of the galaxy. Finally, we detect outflows in 49% of our LRIS sample and 30% in the KMOS sample and find no significant correlation between outflow detection and inclination. These results may indicate that outflows are not collimated and that Hαoutflows have a lower covering fraction than low-ionization interstellar absorption lines. Additionally, these tracers may be sensitive to different physical scales of outflow activity. A larger sample size with a wider dynamic range in galaxy properties is needed to further test this picture. 
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  2. We investigate the multi-phase structure of gas flows in galaxies. We study 80 galaxies during the epoch of peak star formation (1.4≤z≤2.7) using data from Keck/LRIS and VLT/KMOS. Our analysis provides a simultaneous probe of outflows using UV emission and absorption features and Hα emission. With this unprecedented data set, we examine the properties of gas flows estimated from LRIS and KMOS in relation to other galaxy properties, such as star formation rate (SFR), star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR), stellar mass (M∗), and main sequence offset (ΔMS). We find no strong correlations between outflow velocity measured from rest-UV lines centroids and galaxy properties. However, we find that galaxies with detected outflows show higher averages in SFR, ΣSFR, and ΔMS than those lacking outflow detections, indicating a connection between outflow and galaxy properties. Furthermore, we find a lower average outflow velocity than previously reported, suggesting greater absorption at the systemic redshift of the galaxy. Finally, we detect outflows in 49% of our LRIS sample and 30% in the KMOS sample, and find no significant correlation between outflow detection and inclination. These results may indicate that outflows are not collimated and that Hα outflows have a lower covering fraction than low-ionization interstellar absorption lines. Additionally, these tracers may be sensitive to different physical scales of outflow activity. A larger sample size with a wider dynamic range in galaxy properties is needed to further test this picture. 
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  3. Abstract We resolve the multiple images of the binary-lens microlensing event ASASSN-22av using the GRAVITY instrument of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). The light curves show weak binary-lens perturbations, complicating the analysis, but the joint modeling with the VLTI data breaks several degeneracies, arriving at a strongly favored solution. Thanks to precise measurements of the angular Einstein radiusθE= 0.724 ± 0.002 mas and microlens parallax, we determine that the lens system consists of two M dwarfs with masses ofM1= 0.258 ± 0.008MandM2= 0.130 ± 0.007M, a projected separation ofr= 6.83 ± 0.31 au, and a distance ofDL= 2.29 ± 0.08 kpc. The successful VLTI observations of ASASSN-22av open up a new path for studying intermediate-separation (i.e., a few astronomical units) stellar-mass binaries, including those containing dark compact objects such as neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
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  5. As the closest example of a galactic nucleus, the Galactic center (GC) presents an exquisite laboratory for learning about supermassive black holes (SMBH) and their environment. We describe several exciting new research directions that, over the next 10 years, 1 arXiv:1903.05293v1 [astro-ph.GA] 13 Mar 2019 hold the potential to answer some of the biggest scientific questions raised in recent decades: Is General Relativity (GR) the correct description for supermassive black holes? What is the nature of star formation in extreme environments? How do stars and compact objects dynamically interact with the supermassive black hole? What physical processes drive gas accretion in low-luminosity black holes? We describe how the high sensitivity, angular resolution, and astrometric precision offered by the next generation of large ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics will help us answer these questions. First, it will be possible to obtain precision measurements of stellar orbits in the Galaxy’s central potential, providing both tests of GR in the unexplored regime near a SMBH and measurements of the extended dark matter distribution that is predicted to exist at the GC. The orbits of these stars will also allow us to measure the spin of the SMBH. Second, we will probe stellar populations at the GC to significantly lower masses than are possible today, down to the brown dwarf limit. Their structure and dynamics will provide an unprecedented view of the stellar cusp around the SMBH and will distinguish between models of star formation in the extreme environment of galactic nuclei. This increase in depth will also allow us to measure the currently unknown population of compact remnants at the GC by observing their effects on luminous sources. Third, uncertainties on the mass of and distance to the SMBH can be improved by a factor of ∼10. Finally, we can also study the near-infrared accretion onto the black hole at unprecedented sensitivity and time resolution, which can reveal the underlying physics of black hole accretion. 
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