A DEEP HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE H-BAND IMAGING SURVEY OF MASSIVE GAS-RICH MERGERS. II. THE QUEST QSOs

By Sylvain Veilleux, D.-C. Kim, D. Rupke, C. Peng, L. Tacconi, R. Genzel, D. Lutz, E. Sturm, A. Contursi, M. Schweitzer and 4 more. 2006

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We report the results from a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NICMOS H-band imaging survey of 28 z < 0.3 QSOs from the Palomar-Green (PG) sample. This program is part of QUEST (Quasar/ULIRG Evolution Study) and complements a similar set of data on 26 highly nucleated ULIRGs presented in Paper I. Our analysis indicates that the fraction of QSOs with elliptical hosts is higher among QSOs with undetected far-infrared (FIR) emission, small infrared excess (LIR/LB < 10), and luminous hosts. The hosts of FIR-faint QSOs show a tendency to have less pronounced merger-induced morphological anomalies and larger QSO-to-host luminosity ratios on average than the hosts of FIR-bright QSOs, consistent with late-merger evolution from FIR-bright to FIR-faint QSOs. The spheroid sizes (∼ 0.3–5.5 kpc) and total host luminosities (∼ 0.6–7.2 L*H) of the radio-quiet PG QSOs in our sample are statistically indistinguishable from the ULIRG hosts presented in Paper I, while those of radio-loud PG QSOs are systematically larger and more luminous. ULIRGs and PG QSOs with elliptical hosts fall near, but not exactly on, the fundamental plane of inactive spheroids. We confirm the systematic trend noted in Paper I for objects with small (≲ 2 kpc) spheroids to be up to ∼ 1 mag brighter than inactive spheroids. The host colors and wavelength dependence of their sizes support the idea that these deviations are at least in part due to non-nuclear star formation. However, the amplitudes of these deviations depend mainly on host sizes, and possibly on infrared excess, but not on merger phase, QSO-to-host luminosity ratio, optical spectral type, active galactic nucleus fractional contribution to the bolometric luminosity, or host R − H color. Taken at face value (i.e., no correction for extinction or the presence of a young stellar population), the H-band spheroid-host luminosities imply black hole masses ∼ (5–200) × 107 M☉ and sub-Eddington mass accretion rates for both QSOs and ULIRGs. These results are compared with published black hole mass estimates derived from other methods.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/777c781962239cd4942af26ffdfd3c1a1a6c78d0

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A CORRELATION BETWEEN STAR FORMATION RATE AND AVERAGE BLACK HOLE ACCRETION IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES (2013, background): “The first mode can be fueled by continuous gas inflow (Kawakatu & Wada 2008; Dekel et al. 2009; Ciotti et al. 2010) and the second mode is postulated to be triggered by gas-rich major mergers (e.g. Hopkins & Hernquist 2009a; Veilleux et al. 2009).”
Revisiting the Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei (2015, background): “A low redshift sample of this type is the QUEST (Quasar/ULIRG Evolutionary Study) sample (see Veilleux et al. 2006, 2009, Veilleux et al. 2009, and references therein).”
Morphologies of z ∼ 0.7 AGN host galaxies in CANDELS: no trend of merger incidence with AGN luminosity (2014, result): “Veilleux et al. (2009) found that local PG quasars show relatively low incidence of strong merger features, while the subsample of PG quasars with ULIRG-like FIR luminosities show large incidence of merger features, consistent with the local ULIRG population.”
Spitzer Quasar and ULIRG Evolution Study (QUEST). I. The Origin of the Far-Infrared Continuum of QSOs (2006, methodology): “…the possible connections between those two groups of luminous (LBol k 1012 L ) objects in the nearby universe, and is closely connected to optical and near-infrared studies of the morphology and dynamical properties of these two populations (e.g., Dasyra et al. 2006a, 2006b; Veilleux et al. 2006).”
A study of the gas–star formation relation over cosmic time (2010, background): “In several well-known z ∼ 0 ULIRGs, such as Mrk 231 and Mrk 273, the FIR emission of the central AGN likely dominates the luminosity, in others it probably contributes a fraction (≤50 per cent) of the luminosity (Sanders & Mirabel 1996; Genzel et al. 1998; Veilleux et al. 2009).”
The innermost region of AGN tori: implications from the HST/NICMOS type 1 point sources and near-IR reverberation (2007, methodology): “These have been observed for the PSF measurements by Kukula et al. (2001; see also Veilleux et al. 2006, for notes on the latter star).”
Observational evidence for AGN feedback in early-type galaxies (2007, background): “Dasyra et al. (2006a, 2006b) and Veilleux et al. (2006) have analysed HST H-band imaging and VLT spectra of low redshift ULRIGs and QSOs and concluded that while most of them are ongoing mergers, their kinematic, structural, and photometric properties are consistent with them becoming elliptical…”
Enhanced star formation rates in AGN hosts with respect to inactive galaxies from PEP-Herschel observations (2012, methodology): “Although a morphological analysis is beyond the scope of the present study, we note that the morphological mix in the low-LX and high-LX AGNs subsamples may in general be different (e.g. Hutchings et al. 2002, 2009; Veilleux et al. 2009a; Mainieri et al. 2011; Kocevski et al. 2012).”
Evolution of the Frequency of Luminous (≥LV⋆) Close Galaxy Pairs at z < 1.2 in the COSMOS Field (2007, background): “…with luminosities ≥ L∗ are likely to be responsible for some of the most luminous and rapid phases in galaxy evolution, including ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs: e.g., Kim & Sanders 1998; Dasyra et al. 2006) and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs: e.g., Veilleux et al. 2006; Guyon et al. 2006).”
STRUCTURE AND FORMATION OF ELLIPTICAL AND SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES (2008, background): “Their structural parameters are consistent with the fundamental plane (Kormendy & Sanders 1992; Doyon et al. 1994; Genzel et al. 2001; Tacconi et al. 2002; Veilleux et al. 2006; Dasyra et al. 2006a, b).”
The mean star formation rate of X-ray selected active galaxies and its evolution from z~2.5: results from PEP-Herschel (2012, background): “Morphological studies of low-redshift star-forming QSOs also find frequent merger signatures (Canalizo & Stockton 2001; Urrutia et al. 2008; Veilleux et al. 2009).”
THE MULTIPHASE STRUCTURE AND POWER SOURCES OF GALACTIC WINDS IN MAJOR MERGERS (2013, background): “Mrk 231 is dominated by a central point source (3× brighter than the host at H; Veilleux et al. 2006) that has a QSO spectrum with broad Balmer and Fe lines (Boksenberg et al. 1977).”
What drives the growth of black holes (2011, background): “…galaxies, with a non-negligible fraction found in galaxies with a significant disc component (e.g., Dunlop et al., 2003; Floyd et al., 2004; Kotilainen et al., 2007; Bennert et al., 2008; Schramm et al., 2008; Tasse et al., 2008; Kotilainen et al., 2009; Veilleux et al., 2009; Floyd et al., 2010).”
SPITZER QUASAR AND ULIRG EVOLUTION STUDY (QUEST). IV. COMPARISON OF 1 Jy ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES WITH PALOMAR-GREEN QUASARS (2009, methodology): “ULIRGs are on-going mergers that sample the Toomre merger sequence beyond the first peri-passage (Veilleux et al. 2002, 2006), while many PG QSOs are advanced mergers where the nuclei of the progenitor galaxies have apparently coalesced (e.g., Surace et al. 2001; Guyon et al. 2006; Veilleux et al.…”
FAST MOLECULAR OUTFLOWS IN LUMINOUS GALAXY MERGERS: EVIDENCE FOR QUASAR FEEDBACK FROM HERSCHEL (2013, background): “GTO ULIRGs are cold (small f25/f60 ratio) pre-mergers or recent mergers, where the bolometric and mechanical luminosities are still dominated by the nuclear starburst (Veilleux et al. 2009b, hereafter V09).”
How do massive black holes get their gas (2009, background): “Observationally, major mergers are associated with enhancements in star formation in ULIRGs, submillimetre galaxies and pairs more generally (e.g. Sanders & Mirabel 1996; Schweizer 1998; Dasyra et al. 2006; Jogee 2006; Woods, Geller & Barton 2006; Veilleux et al. 2009).”
GOODS-HERSCHEL AND CANDELS: THE MORPHOLOGIES OF ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES AT z ∼ 2 (2011, result): “…IRAS 1 Jy Survey of ULIRGs by Veilleux et al. (2002) found that they are best fit by r1/4 profiles and have mean half-light radii of 4.80± 1.37kpc. Veilleux et al. (2006) found similar results with a NICMOS survey of 33 nearby ULIRGs – single nucleus systems have elliptical-like radial profiles,…”