Search Publications

Quasar Accretion Disks are Strongly Inhomogeneous
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/727/1/L24 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...727L..24D

Agol, Eric; Dexter, Jason

Active galactic nuclei have been observed to vary stochastically with 10%-20% rms amplitudes over a range of optical wavelengths where the emission arises in an accretion disk. Since the accretion disk is unlikely to vary coherently, local fluctuations may be significantly larger than the global rms variability. We investigate toy models of quasar…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
eHST 177
Gas Clumping in the Outskirts of ΛCDM Clusters
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/731/1/L10 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...731L..10N

Nagai, Daisuke; Lau, Erwin T.

Recent Suzaku X-ray observations revealed that the observed entropy profile of the intracluster medium (ICM) deviates significantly from the prediction of hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters. In this work, we show that gas clumping introduces significant biases in X-ray measurements of the ICM profiles in the outskirts of galaxy clusters…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
Suzaku 176
HST WFC3/IR Observations of Active Galactic Nucleus Host Galaxies at z ~ 2: Supermassive Black Holes Grow in Disk Galaxies
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/727/2/L31 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...727L..31S

Schawinski, Kevin; Urry, C. Megan; Treister, Ezequiel +3 more

We present the rest-frame optical morphologies of active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxies at 1.5 < z < 3, using near-infrared imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3, the first such study of AGN host galaxies at these redshifts. The AGNs are X-ray-selected from the Chandra Deep Field South and have typical luminositie…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
eHST 176
A Complete Sample of Ultraluminous X-ray Source Host Galaxies
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/741/1/49 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...741...49S

Soria, Roberto; Tennant, Allyn F.; Swartz, Douglas A. +1 more

One hundred seven ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with 0.3-10.0 keV luminosities in excess of 1039 erg s-1 are identified in a complete sample of 127 nearby galaxies. The sample includes all galaxies within 14.5 Mpc above the completeness limits of both the Uppsala Galaxy Catalogue and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite s…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
XMM-Newton 175
Exploring the Low-mass End of the M BH* Relation with Active Galaxies
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/739/1/28 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...739...28X

Ho, Luis C.; Barth, Aaron J.; Greene, Jenny E. +4 more

We present new measurements of stellar velocity dispersions, using spectra obtained with the Keck Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) and the Magellan Echellette (MagE), for 76 Seyfert 1 galaxies from the recent catalog of Greene & Ho. These objects were selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to have estimated black hole (BH) m…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
eHST 175
The HETDEX Pilot Survey. II. The Evolution of the Lyα Escape Fraction from the Ultraviolet Slope and Luminosity Function of 1.9 < z < 3.8 LAEs
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/736/1/31 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...736...31B

Finkelstein, Steven L.; Schneider, Donald P.; Roth, Martin M. +18 more

We study the escape of Lyα photons from Lyα emitting galaxies (LAEs) and the overall galaxy population using a sample of 99 LAEs at 1.9 < z < 3.8 detected through integral-field spectroscopy of blank fields by The Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Pilot Survey. For 89 LAEs with broadband counterparts we measure ultraviolet (UV) l…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
eHST 172
The Distribution of Thermal Pressures in the Diffuse, Cold Neutral Medium of Our Galaxy. II. An Expanded Survey of Interstellar C I Fine-structure Excitations
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/734/1/65 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...734...65J

Tripp, Todd M.; Jenkins, Edward B.

We analyzed absorption features arising from interstellar neutral carbon that appeared in the UV spectra of 89 stars recorded in the highest resolution echelle modes of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope so that we could determine the relative populations of collisionally excited fine-structure levels in t…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
eHST 170
Herschel-ATLAS Galaxy Counts and High-redshift Luminosity Functions: The Formation of Massive Early-type Galaxies
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/1/24 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...742...24L

Rodighiero, G.; Clements, D. L.; Danese, L. +35 more

Exploiting the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey Science Demonstration Phase survey data, we have determined the luminosity functions (LFs) at rest-frame wavelengths of 100 and 250 µm and at several redshifts z >~ 1, for bright submillimeter galaxies with star formation rates (SFRs) >~ 100 M yr-1

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
Herschel 168
A New Cepheid Distance to the Giant Spiral M101 Based on Image Subtraction of Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys Observations
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/733/2/124 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...733..124S

Stanek, K. Z.; Shappee, Benjamin J.

We accurately determine a new Cepheid distance to M101 (NGC 5457) using archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys V and I time series photometry of two fields within the galaxy. We make a slight modification to the ISIS image subtraction package to obtain optimal differential light curves from HST data. We discovered 827 Ce…

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
eHST 166
Shocks and Cavities from Multiple Outbursts in the Galaxy Group NGC 5813: A Window to Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/726/2/86 Bibcode: 2011ApJ...726...86R

Simionescu, A.; Churazov, E.; Giacintucci, S. +10 more

We present results from new Chandra, GMRT, and SOAR observations of NGC 5813, the dominant central galaxy in a nearby galaxy group. The system shows three pairs of collinear cavities at 1 kpc, 8 kpc, and 20 kpc from the central source, from three distinct outbursts of the central active galactic nucleus (AGN), which occurred 3 × 106, 2 …

2011 The Astrophysical Journal
XMM-Newton 165