Search

High redshift quasars ($z>5$) that also shine brightly at radio wavelengths are unique signposts of supermassive black hole activity in the early universe. However, bright radio sources at $z\ge5$ are extremely rare and therefore we have started a campaign to search for new high-$z$ quasars by combining an optical dropout selection driven by the $g$, $r$, and $z$ bands from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys with low-frequency radio observations from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Currently, LoTSS covers a large fraction of the northern sky (5720 deg$^2$) to such a depth (median noise level of 83 $\mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$) that about 30% of the general quasar population is detected $-$ which is a factor of 5-10 more than previous large sky radio surveys such as NVSS and FIRST, respectively. In this paper, we present the discovery of 20 new quasars (and the independent confirmation of 4) between $4.9\leq z\leq 6.6$. Out of the 24 quasars, 21 satisfy the traditional radio-loudness criterion of $R=f_{5\text{GHz}}/f_{4400A} > 10$, with the full sample spanning $R\sim$6-1000, thereby more than doubling the sample of known radio-loud quasars at $z \ge 5$. Our radio detection requirement strongly decreases the contamination of stellar sources and allows one to select these quasars in a broad redshift range. Despite selecting our quasar candidates using fewer and less conservative colour restrictions, both the optical and near-infrared colours, Ly$\alpha$ emission line properties, and dust reddening, $E(B-V)$, measurements of our quasar sample do not deviate from the known radio-quiet quasar population, suggesting similar optical quasar properties of the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasar population at high-$z$. Our campaign demonstrates the potential for discovering new high-$z$ quasar populations through next generation radio continuum surveys., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, Tab A1 corrected, accepted for publication in A&A

Motivated by the recent discovery of rare Enormous Lyman-Alpha Nebulae (ELAN) around z~2 quasars, we have initiated a long-term observational campaign with the MUSE instrument to directly uncover the astrophysics of the gas around quasars. We present here the first 61 targets of our effort under the acronym QSO MUSEUM (Quasar Snapshot Observations with MUse: Search for Extended Ultraviolet eMission). These quasars have a median redshfit of z=3.17, absolute $i$ magnitude in the range $-29.67\leq M_i(z=2)\leq-27.03$, and different levels of radio-loudness. This sample unveils diverse specimens of Ly$��$ nebulosities extending for tens of kiloparsecs around these quasars (on average out to a maximum projected distance of 80 kpc) above a surface brightness SB$>8.8\times10^{-19}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ arcsec$^{-2}$ ($2��$). The bulk of the extended Ly$��$ emission is within R, 48 pages, 3 page-long tables, 28 figures, 3 appendices. Submitted to MNRAS. Comments are welcome

The latest measurements of CMB electron scattering optical depth reported by Planck significantly reduces the allowed space of HI reionization models, pointing toward a later ending and/or less extended phase transition than previously believed. Reionization impulsively heats the intergalactic medium (IGM) to $\sim10^4$ K, and owing to long cooling and dynamical times in the diffuse gas, comparable to the Hubble time, memory of reionization heating is retained. Therefore, a late ending reionization has significant implications for the structure of the $z\sim5-6$ Lyman-$��$ (ly$��$) forest. Using state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations that allow us to vary the timing of reionization and its associated heat injection, we argue that extant thermal signatures from reionization can be detected via the Ly$��$ forest power spectrum at $5< z, 14 pages, 7 Figures. Matches version accepted by ApJ. UVB models used in this work can be downloaded from http://thermal.joseonorbe.com/uvbtables.html

The fraction of AGN luminosity obscured by dust and re-emitted in the mid-IR is critical for understanding AGN evolution, unification, and parsec-scale AGN physics. For unobscured (Type-1) AGN, where we have a direct view of the accretion disk, the dust covering factor can be measured by computing the ratio of re-processed mid-IR emission to intrinsic nuclear bolometric luminosity. We use this technique to estimate the obscured AGN fraction as a function of luminosity and redshift for 513 Type-1 AGN from the XMM-COSMOS survey. The re-processed and intrinsic luminosities are computed by fitting the 18-band COSMOS photometry with a custom SED-fitting code, which jointly models emission from: hot-dust in the AGN torus, the accretion disk, and the host-galaxy. We find a relatively shallow decrease of the luminosity ratio as a function of Lbol, which we interpret as a corresponding decrease in the obscured fraction. In the context of the receding torus model, where dust sublimation reduces the covering factor of more luminous AGN, our measurements require a torus height which increases with luminosity as h ~ Lbol^{0.3-0.4}. Our obscured fraction-luminosity relation agrees with determinations from SDSS censuses of Type-1 and Type-2 quasars, and favors a torus optically thin to mid-IR radiation. We find a much weaker dependence of obscured fraction on 2-10 keV luminosity than previous determinations from X-ray surveys, and argue that X-ray surveys miss a significant population of highly obscured Compton-thick AGN. Our analysis shows no clear evidence for evolution of obscured fraction with redshift., Comment: 33 pages, 24 figures, ApJ accepted

We report the discovery of a multiply lensed Ly Alpha (Lya) emitter at z = 3.90 behind the massive galaxy cluster WARPS J1415.1+3612 at z = 1.026. Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope(HST) using ACS reveal a complex lensing system that produces a prominent, highly magnified arc and a triplet of smaller arcs grouped tightly around a spectroscopically confirmed cluster member. Spectroscopic observations using FOCAS on Subaru confirm strong Lya emission in the source galaxy and provide redshifts for more than 21 cluster members, from which we obtain a velocity dispersion of 807+/-185 km/s. Assuming a singular isothermal sphere profile, the mass within the Einstein ring (7.13+/-0.38") corresponds to a central velocity dispersion of 686+15-19 km/s for the cluster, consistent with the value estimated from cluster member redshifts. Our mass profile estimate from combining strong lensing and dynamical analyses is in good agreement with both X-ray and weak lensing results., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted by ApJL. See http://www.supernova.lbl.gov/ for additional information pertaining to the HST Cluster SN Survey. (This added URL is the only change in this version.)

We study how X-rays from stellar binary systems and the hot intracluster medium (ICM) affect the radiative cooling rates of gas in galaxies. Our study uses a novel implementation of gas cooling in the moving-mesh hydrodynamics code \textsc{arepo}. X-rays from stellar binaries do not affect cooling at all as their emission spectrum is too hard to effectively couple with galactic gas. In contrast, X-rays from the ICM couple well with gas in the temperature range $10^4 - 10^6$ K. Idealised simulations show that the hot halo radiation field has minimal impact on the dynamics of cooling flows in clusters because of the high virial temperature ($> 10^7$K), making the interaction between the gas and incident photons very ineffective. Satellite galaxies in cluster environments, on the other hand, experience a high radiation flux due to the emission from the host halo. Low mass satellites ($< 10^{12}\rm{M_\odot}$) in particular have virial temperatures that are exactly in the regime where the effect of the radiation field is maximal. Idealised simulations of satellite galaxies including only the effect of host halo radiation (no ram pressure stripping or tidal effects) fields show a drastic reduction in the amount of cool gas formed ($\sim 40\%$) on a short timescale of about $0.5$ Gyrs. A galaxy merger simulation including all the other environmental quenching mechanisms, shows about $20\%$ reduction in the stellar mass of the satellite and about $\sim 30\%$ reduction in star formation rate after $1$ Gyr due to the host hot halo radiation field. These results indicate that the hot halo radiation fields potentially play an important role in quenching galaxies in cluster environments., 14 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRAS