Search

We present the results of an optical and near-IR spectroscopic study of giant nebular emission line halos associated with three z > 3 radio galaxies, 4C 41.17, 4C 60.07 and B2 0902+34. Previous deep narrow band Ly-alpha imaging had revealed complex morphologies with sizes up to 100 kpc), possibly connected to outflows and AGN feedback from the central regions. The outer regions of these halos show quiet kinematics with typical velocity dispersions of a few hundred km/s, and velocity shears that can mostly be interpreted as being due to rotation. The inner regions show shocked cocoons of gas closely associated with the radio lobes. These display disturbed kinematics and have expansion velocities and/or velocity dispersions >1000 km/s. The core region is chemically evolved, and we also find spectroscopic evidence for the ejection of enriched material in 4C 41.17 up to a distance of approximately 60 kpc along the radio-axis. The dynamical structures traced in the Ly-alpha line are, in most cases, closely echoed in the Carbon and Oxygen lines. This shows that the Ly-alpha line is produced in a highly clumped medium of small filling factor, and can therefore be used as a tracer of the dynamics of high-z radio galaxies (HzRGs). We conclude that these HzRGs are undergoing a final jet-induced phase of star formation with ejection of most of their interstellar medium before becoming "red and dead" Elliptical galaxies., Accepted for publication in AJ (June 2007 issue); 24 pages, 12 figures (reduced in size)

PKS 1138-262 is a massive radio galaxy at z = 2.16 surrounded by overdensities of Lya emitters, Ha emitters, EROs and X-ray emitters. Numerous lines of evidence exist that it is located in a forming cluster. We report on Keck spectroscopy of candidate members of this protocluster, including nine of the 18 X-ray sources detected by Pentericci et al. (2002) in this field. Two of these X-ray sources (not counting PKS 1138-262 itself) were previously confirmed to be members of the protocluster; we have discovered that an additional two (both AGN) are members of a filamentary structure, at least 3.5 Mpc in projection, aligned with the radio jet axis, the 150 kpc-sized emission-line halo, and the extended X-ray emission around the radio galaxy. Three of the nine X-ray sources observed are lower redshift AGN, and three are M-dwarf stars., 16 pages, 4 figures, To appear in AJ, September 2005

Accumulating observational evidence for a number of radio galaxies suggests an association between their jets and regions of active star formation. The standard picture is that shocks generated by the jet propagate through an inhomogeneous medium and trigger the collapse of overdense clouds, which then become active star-forming regions. In this contribution, we report on recent hydrodynamic simulations of radiative shock-cloud interactions using two different cooling models: an equilibrium cooling-curve model assuming solar metallicities and a non-equilibrium chemistry model appropriate for primordial gas clouds. We consider a range of initial cloud densities and shock speeds in order to quantify the role of cooling in the evolution. Our results indicate that for moderate cloud densities (>1 cm^{-3}) and shock Mach numbers (0.01 and total H_2 mass fractions of >10^{-5} for the cloud gas. Finally, we compare our results with the observations of jet-induced star formation in ``Minkowski's Object.'' We conclude that its morphology, star formation rate (~ 0.3M_solar/yr) and stellar mass (~ 1.2 x 10^7 M_solar) can be explained by the interaction of a 90,000 km/s jet with an ensemble of moderately dense (~ 10 cm^{-3}), warm (10^4 K) intergalactic clouds in the vicinity of its associated radio galaxy at the center of the galaxy cluster., 30 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal

Perhaps as many as 10% of high redshift radio galaxy (HzRG; z > 2) candidates that are selected using an Ultra Steep radio Spectrum (USS) criterion fail to show optical emission (continuum, lines) in deep Keck exposures. Their parent objects are only detected in the near-IR and are probably heavily obscured and/or at very high redshift. To search for signatures of dust and help constrain the nature and redshifts of these ``no-z'' radio galaxies, we have conducted a program of submillimeter and millimeter observations. Here we report the first results of a detailed study of one of these objects, WN J0305+3525. WN J0305+3525 appears associated with a small group of K ~ 21 - 22 objects and is strongly detected at both 850 micron and 1.25 mm. On the basis of its faint K-band magnitude, spectral energy distribution (SED) and other evidence we estimate that the radio galaxy is probably at a redshift z = 3 +/- 1. This would make WN J0305+3525 a radio-loud Hyper Luminous Infrared Galaxy (LFIR ~ 10^13 Lsun) similar to, but more obscured than, other dusty radio galaxies in this redshift range. This, together with the absence of Lya emission and compact (theta < 1.9") radio structure, suggests that WN J0305+3525 is embedded in a very dense, dusty medium and is probably at an early stage of its formation., 13 Pages LaTeX, including 3 Postscript figures

The 352 MHz Westerbork In the Southern Hemisphere (WISH) survey is the southern extension of the WENSS, covering 1.60 sr between -9 < DEC < -26 to a limiting flux density of ~18 mJy (5sigma). Due to the very low elevation of the observations, the survey has a much lower resolution in declination than in right ascension (54" x 54"cosec(DEC)). A correlation with the 1.4 GHz NVSS shows that the positional accuracy is less constrained in declination than in right ascension, but there is no significant systematic error. We present a source list containing 73570 sources. We correlate this WISH catalogue with the NVSS to construct a sample of faint Ultra Steep Spectrum (USS) sources, which is accessible for follow-up studies with large optical telescopes in the southern hemisphere. This sample is aimed at increasing the number of known high redshift radio galaxies to allow detailed follow-up studies of these massive galaxies and their environments in the early Universe., 12 Pages, including 5 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The full WISH catalog with 73570 sources is available from http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/wenss/

We report the serendipitous detection in high-resolution optical spectroscopy of a strong, asymmetric Ly-alpha emission line at z = 5.190. The detection was made in a 2.25 hour exposure with the Echelle Spectrograph and Imager on the Keck II telescope through a spectroscopic slit of dimensions 1" x 20". The progenitor of the emission line, J123649.2+621539 (hereafter ES1), lies in the Hubble Deep Field North West Flanking Field where it appears faint and compact, subtending just 0.3" (FWHM) with I(AB) = 25.4. The ES1 Ly-alpha line flux of 3.0 x 10^(-17) ergs/cm^2/s corresponds to a luminosity of 9.0 x 10^(42) ergs/s, and the line profile shows the sharp blue cut-off and broad red wing commonly observed in star-forming systems and expected for radiative transfer in an expanding envelope. We find that the Ly-alpha profile is consistent with a galaxy-scale outflow with a velocity of v > 300 km/s. This value is consistent with wind speeds observed in powerful local starbursts (typically 10^2 to 10^3 km/s), and compares favorably to simulations of the late-stage evolution of Ly-alpha emission in star-forming systems. We discuss the implications of this high-redshift galactic wind for the early history of the evolution of galaxies and the intergalactic medium, and for the origin of the UV background at z > 3.

We present optical and/or near-IR images of 128 ultra steep spectrum (USS) radio sources. Roughly half of the objects are identified in the optical images (R 94% are detected at K 5). The major axes of the identifications in K-band are preferentially oriented along the radio axes, with half of them having compact morphologies. The 22 sources with spectroscopic redshifts and K-band magnitudes follow the K-z relation found from previous radio samples, but with a larger scatter. We argue that this may be due to a dependence of K-magnitude on the radio power, with the highest radio power sources inhabiting the most massive host galaxies. We present a composite K-z diagram of radio-loud and radio-quiet galaxies, selected from the HDF-North and the Hawaii surveys. Out to z ~ 1, the radio-loud galaxies are >~ 2 magnitudes brighter. We argue that this is not due to a contribution from the AGN or emission lines. This difference strongly suggests that radio galaxies pinpoint the most massive systems out to the highest known redshifts, probably due to the mutual correlation of the mass of the galaxy and the radio power on the mass of the central black hole.

We present the results of UV spectropolarimetry (λrest 2000-3000 A) and far-UV spectroscopy (λrest 1500-2000 A) of two low-redshift narrow-line radio galaxies (NLRGs) taken with the Faint Object Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Spectropolarimetry of several NLRGs has shown that, by the presence of broad permitted lines in polarized flux spectrum, they have hidden quasars seen through scattered light. Imaging polarimetry has shown that NLRGs including our targets often have large scattering regions of a few to 10 kpc scale. This has posed a problem concerning the nature of the scatterers in these radio galaxies. Their polarized continuum has the spectral index similar to or no bluer than that of quasars, which favors electrons as the dominant scattering particles. The large scattering region size, however, favors dust scattering because of its higher scattering efficiency compared to electrons. In this paper we investigate the polarized flux spectrum over a wide wavelength range, combining our UV data with previous optical/infrared polarimetry data. We infer that the scattering would be often caused by opaque dust clouds in the NLRGs and this would be part of the reason for the apparently gray scattering. In the high-redshift radio galaxies, these opaque clouds could be the protogalactic subunits inferred to be seen in the HST images. However, we still cannot rule out the possibility of electron scattering, which could imply the existence of a large gas mass surrounding these radio galaxies.

We present rest-frame UV and Lyα images of spatially resolved structures ("hosts") around five high-redshift radio-loud quasars obtained with the WFPC2 camera on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The quasars were imaged with the PC1 through the F555W ("V"-band) filter, which at the redshifts of the quasars (2.1 < z < 2.6) have central wavelengths of λrest ≈ 1500-1800 A, and at rest-frame Lyα using appropriately chosen narrowband filters with the WFC2. The objects were selected from ground-based imaging surveys. Those had shown that many radio-loud quasars at high redshift have prominent host galaxies that appeared to have properties similar to those of high-redshift radio galaxies. Our HST observations allow a more detailed investigation of quasar host morphologies and a comparison with similar HST studies of radio galaxies by others. Using several methods to measure and quantify the host properties we find that all five quasars are extended and that this "fuzz" contains ≈5%-40% of the total continuum flux and 15%-65% of the Lyα flux within a radius of about 15. The rest-frame UV luminosities of the hosts are log λPλ ≈ 11.9-12.5 L☉ (assuming no internal dust extinction), comparable to the luminous radio galaxies at similar redshifts and a factor 10 higher than both radio-quiet field galaxies at z ~ 2-3 and the most UV-luminous low-redshift starburst galaxies. The Lyα luminosities of the hosts are log LLyα ≈ 44.3-44.9 ergs s-1, which are also similar to the those of luminous high-redshift radio galaxies and considerably larger than the Lyα luminosities of high-redshift field galaxies. To generate the Lyα luminosities of the hosts would require roughly a few percent of the total observed ionizing luminosity of the quasar. The UV continuum morphologies of the hosts appear complex and knotty at the relatively high surface brightness levels of our exposures (about 24 V mag arcsec-2). In two quasars we find evidence for foreground galaxies that confuse the host galaxy morphologies and that are responsible for some of the perceived radio/optical misalignments observed in ground-based imaging data. We do find good alignment between the extended Lyα and the radio sources, strong evidence for jet-cloud interactions in two cases, again resembling radio galaxies, and what is possibly the most luminous radio-UV synchrotron jet in one of the hosts at z = 2.110. We discuss the significance of jet-cloud collisions in radio-loud quasars and their influence on radio morphologies in the framework of simple orientation-based quasar/radio galaxy unification schemes. Our observations suggest that the host galaxies of radio-loud steep-spectrum quasars are similar to those of radio galaxies and strengthen previous conclusions based on ground-based data that both types of objects are probably members of the same parent population.

We report the discovery of the most distant known active galactic nucleus, the radio galaxy TN J0924-2201 at z=5.19. The radio source was selected from a new sample of ultrasteep spectrum sources, has an extreme radio spectral index α=-1.63, and is identified at near-IR wavelengths with a very faint, K=21.3±0.3 object. Spectroscopic observations show a single emission line at λ~7530 A, which we identify as Lyα. The K-band image, sampling rest-frame U band, shows a multicomponent, radio-aligned morphology, which is typical of lower-redshift radio galaxies. TN J0924-2201 extends the near-IR Hubble, or K-z, relation for powerful radio galaxies to z>5 and is consistent with models of massive galaxies forming at even higher redshifts.

We have carried out a spectropolarimetric search for hidden broad-line quasars in three ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) discovered in the positional correlations between sources detected in deep radio surveys and the IRAS Faint Source Catalog. Only the high-ionization Seyfert 2 galaxy TF J1736+1122 is highly polarized, displaying a broad-line spectrum visible in polarized light. The other two objects, TF J1020+6436 and FF J1614+3234, display spectra dominated by a population of young (A-type) stars similar to those of ``E + A'' galaxies. They are unpolarized, showing no sign of hidden broad-line regions. The presence of young starburst components in all three galaxies indicates that the ULIRG phenomenon encompasses both AGN and starburst activity, but the most energetic ULIRGs do not necessarily harbor ``buried quasars''. We find that a luminous infrared galaxy is most likely to host an obscured quasar if it exhibits a high-ionization ([O III] 5007/Hb >~ 5) spectrum typical of a ``classic'' Seyfert 2 galaxy with little or no Balmer absorption lines, is ``ultraluminous'' (L_IR >~ 10^12 L_sun), and has a ``warm'' IR color (f_25/f_60 >~ 0.25). The detection of hidden quasars in this group but not in the low-ionization, starburst-dominated ULIRGs (classified as LINERs or H II galaxies) may indicate an evolutionary connection, with the latter being found in younger systems., 30 pages, including 3 tables and 8 figs, to be published in the Astrophysical Journal

This is the second in a series of papers discussing the radio, optical, and near-IR properties of a large and complete sample of radio sources selected from the Molonglo Reference Catalog (MRC) at 408 MHz. The sample consists of 557 radio sources from the MRC that have S0.408 ≥ 0.95 Jy, -30° 4.860.408>0.5 and linear size l 20 kpc (for H0 = 50 km s-1 Mpc-1; q0 = 0.5).

We report the discovery of five broad-absorption-line (BAL) QSOs in a complete sample of 111 ultraviolet excess (UVX) QSO candidates also detected in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey. All five BAL QSOs, which include two high-ionization BAL QSOs and three low-ionization BAL QSOs, are formally radio-loud. Of QSOs with z > 0.4, 3+/-2% show low-ionization BALs, and of QSOs with z > 1.5, all radio-loud, 9+/-5% show BALs; these frequencies are consistent with those of optical surveys. While the first reported radio-loud BAL QSO, FIRST J155633.8+351758, is likely to be heavily dust reddened and thus less radio-loud than indicated by its observed radio-to-optical luminosity, these QSOs are UVX selected and probably free of significant dust along the line of sight. We point out unusual features in two of the BAL QSOs and discuss the significance finding these heretofore rare objects., 9 pages, 1 figure, accepted by ApJ Letters. Table 1 has been revised with a 0.24 mag zero point correction to the BAL QSO U-Bj colors

We present deep near-IR images of high redshift radio galaxies obtained with NIRC on the Keck I telescope. In most cases, the near-IR data sample rest wavelengths at ~4000 Angstroms, free of strong emission lines. At z > 3, the rest frame optical morphologies generally have faint, large-scale emission surrounding multiple components of ~10 kpc size. The brightest of the small knots are often aligned with the radio structures. At z < 3, the morphologies change dramatically, showing single, compact structures without radio-aligned features. The sizes and luminosities of the individual components in the z > 3 radio galaxies are similar to those of the radio-quiet star-forming galaxies discovered at z ~ 3 by the Lyman dropout technique. The rest frame optical colors of the z > 3 radio galaxies are consistent with models in which recent star formation dominates the observed IR light, and in one case (4C 41.17) we have direct spectroscopic evidence for massive star formation (Dey et al. 1997a). Our results suggest that the z > 3 radio galaxies evolve into very massive elliptical galaxies at 2 < z < 3, in qualitative agreement with the hierarchical model of galaxy formation. We also discuss the Hubble diagram of radio galaxies, the possibility of a radio power dependence in the K-z relation, and the implications for radio galaxy formation., Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 34 pages including 8 postscript figures; plates 1-4 may be obtained from ftp://bigz.berkeley.edu/pub/nirc/

We present Keck spectropolarimetry of the highly polarized radio-loud quasar 3CR 68.1 (z=1.228, V=19). The polarization increases from 5 in the red (4000 A rest-frame) to >10% in the blue (1900 A rest-frame). The broad emission lines are polarized the same as the continuum, which shows that 3CR 68.1 is not a blazar as it has sometimes been regarded in the past. We also present measurements of the emission lines and a strong, blueshifted, associated absorption line system, as well as a detection at the emission-line redshift of Ca II K absorption, presumably from stars in the host galaxy. 3CR 68.1 belongs to an observationally rare class of highly polarized quasars that are neither blazars nor partially obscured radio-quiet QSOs. Taking into account 3CR 68.1's other unusual properties, such as its extremely red spectral energy distribution and its extreme lobe dominance, we explain our spectropolarimetric results in terms of unified models. We argue that we have a dusty, highly inclined view of 3CR 68.1, with reddened scattered (polarized) quasar light diluted by even more dust-reddened quasar light reaching us directly from the nucleus., 20 pages, includes 3 tables, 6 figures. Accepted by ApJ

We report the discovery of WN J0717+4611, a highly polarized red quasar at z=1.462, selected from a sample of faint (S_{1.4GHz} > 10 mJy) ultra steep spectrum (alpha < -1.3) radio sources. VLA observations at 4.85 GHz show that the radio source is dominated by a 21 mJy core. Using the Keck telescopes, we obtained spectra with a combined wavelength range covering 4000 Angstroms to 1.6 microns, and spectropolarimetric observations between 4000 Angstroms and 9000 Angstroms. We identify WN J0717+4611 as a quasar based on broad emission of Mg II 2799 (FWHM ~ 11,000 km/s), a stellar R_S band Lick image and the high luminosity of the object (M_B = -24.2). The optical linear polarization is wavelength-independent at 15% in both the continuum and the emission lines, with the polarization angle orthogonal to the radio jet axis. We argue that the polarization mechanism is scattering of quasar light by surrounding small dust grains or electrons. WN J0717+4611 appears highly reddened for a core-dominated quasar.

We present Keck spectropolarimetry of two rare low-ionization broad absorption line (BAL) quasars (QSOs), FIRST J084044.5+363328 and FIRST J155633.8+351758, that also exhibit narrow absorption lines from metastable excited levels of Fe II (iron Lo-BALs). These QSOs were discovered in optical follow-ups to a deep radio survey; FIRST J155633.8+351758 is radio-loud, the first BAL QSO so identified. FIRST J084044.5+363328 is highly polarized and exhibits many features found in other BAL QSOs. The continuum is ? 4% polarized near the 2000 ? rest frame, falling to ? 2% at longer wavelengths, at a position angle of ? 50?. The emission lines are unpolarized. The polarization rises to ? 8% in the low-ionization troughs of Mg II ?2800 and Al III ?1860. The polarization and its position angle vary in a complicated manner across the metastable Fe II absorption lines, which suggests that more than one mechanism is at work or that the system geometry is complex. FIRST J155633.8+351758 may be the most highly polarized BAL QSO known, and it exhibits other unusual polarization properties compared with those of other highly polarized BAL QSOs. The continuum is ? 13% polarized near the 2000 ? rest frame, falling to ? 7% at longer wavelengths, at a position angle of 153?. The emission lines are polarized like the continuum, but in the absorption troughs the polarization drops to zero. Currently available data cannot yet discriminate among the possible lines of sight to BAL QSOs (edge-on, pole-on, or random).

We present the first results of optical spectropolarimetry of high z radio galaxies performed at the W.M. Keck 10m telescope, and discuss the main implications about the components of the UV continuum and the relation to the Unified Model of radio—loud AGN.

We present the first results of a multiwavelength study of IRAS galaxies with excess radio emission. The sample was selected by cross-correlating the IRAS Faint Source Survey (for |b| ≥ 50°) and the Point Source Catalogue (for 10° < |b| < 50°) with the Texas radio survey. Recent optical (imaging and spectroscopic) and radio (VLA) observations are discussed. These observations will be used to investigate possible connections between radio galaxy activity, star formation and galaxy interactions.

We present the results of a comprehensive Spitzer survey of 69 radio galaxies across 160% for ~75% the high redshift radio galaxies. As expected from unified models of AGN, the stellar fraction of the rest-frame H-band luminosity has no correlation with redshift, radio luminosity, or rest-frame mid-IR (5um) luminosity. Additionally, while the stellar H-band luminosity does not vary with stellar fraction, the total H-band luminosity anti-correlates with the stellar fraction as would be expected if the underlying hosts of these radio galaxies comprise a homogeneous population. The resultant stellar luminosities imply stellar masses of 10^{11-11.5}Msun even at the highest redshifts. Powerful radio galaxies tend to lie in a similar region of mid-IR color-color space as unobscured AGN, despite the stellar contribution to their mid-IR SEDs at shorter-wavelengths. The mid-IR luminosities alone classify most HzRGs as LIRGs or ULIRGs with even higher total-IR luminosities. As expected, these exceptionally high mid-IR luminosities are consistent with an obscured, highly-accreting AGN. We find a weak correlation of stellar mass with radio luminosity., Comment: 63 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJS

We report deep Keck narrow-band Lya images of the luminous z > 3 radio galaxies 4C 41.17, 4C 60.07, and B2 0902+34. The images show giant, 100-200 kpc scale emission line nebulae, centered on these galaxies, which exhibit a wealth of morphological structure, including extended low surface brightness emission in the outer regions, radially directed filaments, cone-shaped structures and (indirect) evidence for extended Lya absorption. We discuss these features within a general scenario where the nebular gas cools gravitationally in large Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halos, forming stars and multiple stellar systems. Merging of these ``building'' blocks triggers large scale starbursts, forming the stellar bulges of massive radio galaxy hosts, and feeds super-massive black holes which produce the powerful radio jets and lobes. The radio sources, starburst superwinds and AGN radiation then disrupt the accretion process limiting galaxy and black hole growth, and imprint the observed filamentary and cone-shaped structures of the Lya nebulae., 36 Pages, including 8 Postscript figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We have analyzed galaxy properties in the neighborhood of 20 Ultra-Steep Spectrum Radio sources (USS) taken from the WISH catalog of De Breuck et al. (2002). Galaxies in these USS fields were identified in deep observations that were carried out in the K'-band using the OSIRIS imager at the CTIO 4m telescope. We find a statistically significant signal of clustering around our sample of USS. The angular extension of the detected USS-galaxy clustering is theta_c~20" corresponding to a spatial scale ~120 h^{-1}kpc, assuming the sources are at z~1 in a Omega_m=0.3, Omega_{\Lambda}=0.7 model universe. These results are in agreement with those obtained by Best (2000) for radio galaxy-galaxy correlation, and Best et al. (2003) for radio-loud AGN-galaxy correlation. We have also analyzed the light distribution of the galaxies by fitting Sersic's law profiles. Our results show no significant dependence of the galaxy shape parameters on the projected distance to the USS., Comment: Accepted for its publication in Astronomical Journal, 9 figures

The large, powerful Fanaroff-Riley class II radio source 3CR 68.1 is an optically red quasar with strong evidence for dust reddening, intrinsic ultraviolet line absorption, and X-ray absorption. In the context of its large, extended radio structure and the evidence for intrinsic material along the line of sight, it is a good candidate for a quasar seen through the edge of an obscuring torus proposed by unified schemes. The compact radio core coincident with the optical position of the quasar is extremely weak compared to the very bright and luminous radio lobes, suggesting that the radio core might also suffer absorption. We observed 3CR 68.1 at six frequencies and show that the radio core has a flat spectrum with no evidence for free-free absorption or other strong absorption mechanisms. This result helps establish an empirical intrinsic lower range for core-to-lobe radio flux in the most powerful radio sources., Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal

We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2 images of the post-starburst quasar UN J1025-0040, which contains both an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and a 400-Myr-old nuclear starburst of similar bolometric luminosity (10^{11.6} solar luminosities). The F450W and F814W images resolve the AGN from the starburst and show that the bulk of the star light (6 x 10^{10} solar masses) is contained within a central radius of about 600 parsecs, and lacks clear morphological structures at this scale. Equating the point-source light in each image with the AGN contribution, we determined the ratio of AGN-to-starburst light. This ratio is 69% in the red F814W image, consistent with our previous spectral analysis, but about 50% in the blue F450W image whereas we had predicted 76%. The HST images are consistent with previous photometry, ruling out variability (a fading AGN) as a cause for this result. We can explain the new data if there is a previously unknown young stellar population present, 40 Myr or younger, with as much as 10% of the mass of the dominant 400-Myr-old population. This younger starburst may represent the trigger for the current nuclear activity. The multiple starburst ages seen in UN J1025-0040 and its companion galaxy indicate a complex interaction and star-formation history., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures (3 in color), accepted by PASP

The BIGGEST starbursts at the HIGHEST redshifts are associated with high redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs). They may well mark the beginnings of the most massive galaxies seen today. We review current evidence in support of large scale starbursts in HzRGs, and will discuss recent results of sub-mm observations.

We describe deep (40 orbits) HST/STIS observations of the BALQSO PG 0946+301 and make them available to the community. These observations are the major part of a multi-wavelength campaign on this object aimed at determining the ionization equilibrium and abundances (IEA) in broad absorption line (BAL) QSOs. We present simple template fits to the entire data set, which yield firm identifications for more than two dozen BALs from 18 ions and give lower limits for the ionic column densities. We find that the outflow's metalicity is consistent with being solar, while the abundance ratio of phosphorus to other metals is at least ten times solar. These findings are based on diagnostics that are not sensitive to saturation and partial covering effects in the BALs, which considerably weakened previous claims for enhanced metalicity. Ample evidence for these effects is seen in the spectrum. We also discuss several options for extracting tighter IEA constraints in future analyses, and present the significant temporal changes which are detected between these spectra and those taken by the HST/FOS in 1992., Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures, to appear in ApJ. See also companion paper by Arav, Korista and De Kool

At low redshifts powerful radio sources are uniquely associated with massive galaxies, and are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes. Modern 8m -- 10m telescopes may be used used to find their likely progenitors at very high redshifts to study their formation and evolution.

We present a new sample of distant ultraluminous infrared galaxies. The sample was selected from a positional cross--correlation of the IRAS Faint Source Catalog with the FIRST database. Objects from this set were selected for spectroscopy by virtue of following the well-known star-forming galaxy correlation between 1.4 GHz and 60 micron flux, and by being optically faint on the POSS. Optical identification and spectroscopy were obtained for 108 targets at the Lick Observatory 3m telescope. Most objects show spectra typical of starburst galaxies, and do not show the high ionization lines of active galactic nuclei. The redshift distribution covers 0.1 < z < 0.9, with 13 objects at z > 0.5 and an average redshift of 0.31. K-band images were obtained at the IRTF, Lick, and Keck observatories in sub-arcsec seeing of all optically identified targets. About 2/3 of the objects appear to be interacting galaxies, while the other 1/3 appear to be normal. Nearly all the identified objects have far-IR luminosities greater than 10^11 L_sun, and ~25% have L_FIR > 10^12 L_sun., 22 pages. Figures 1,2,4 and 5 included in-line, figure 3 as 54 gifs. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement

High redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs) provide unique targets for the study of the formation and evolution of massive galaxies and galaxy clusters at very high redshifts. We discuss how efficient HzRG samples are selected, the evidence for strong morphological evolution at near-infrared wavelengths, and for jet-induced star formation in the z = 3.800 HzRG 4C41.17.

The high redshift radio galaxy 4C41.17 consists of a powerful radio source in which previous work has shown that there is strong evidence for jet-induced star formation along the radio axis. We argue that nuclear photoionization is not responsible for the excitation of the emission line clouds and we construct a jet-cloud interaction model to explain the major features revealed by the data. The interaction of a high-powered jet with a dense cloud in the halo of 4C41.17 produces shock-excited emission-line nebulosity through ~1000 km/s shocks and induces star formation. The CIII to CIV line ratio and the CIV luminosity emanating from the shock, imply that the pre-shock density in the line-emitting cloud is high enough (~1-10 cm^-3) that shock initiated star formation could proceed on a timescale of order a few x 10^6 yrs, well within the estimated dynamical age of the radio source. Broad (FWHM ~ 100 - 1400 km/s) emission lines are attributed to the disturbance of the gas cloud by a partial bow--shock and narrow emission lines (FWHM ~ 500 - 650 km/s) (in particular CIV) arise in precursor emission in relatively low metallicity gas. The implied baryonic mass ~ 8 \times 10^{10} solar masses of the cloud is high and implies that Milky Way size condensations existed in the environments of forming radio galaxies at a redshift of 3.8. Our interpretation of the data provides a physical basis for the alignment of the radio, emission-line and UV continuum images in some of the highest redshift radio galaxies and the analysis presented here may form a basis for the calculation of densities and cloud masses in other high redshift radio galaxies., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures; uses astrobib.sty and aaspp4.sty. Better versions of figures available via anonymous from ftp://mso.anu.edu.au:pub/pub/geoff/4C41.17

We have started a search for High Redshift Radio Galaxies (HZRGs) in an area covering 7 sr by selecting a sample of Ultra Steep Spectrum (USS) sources with a low flux density cut-off S(1400 MHz) > 10 mJy and a steep spectral index cut-off of alpha < -1.3 (S ~ nu**alpha) from the WENSS, NVSS and TEXAS surveys. Our first results for 27 sources show that we are almost twice as effective in finding HZRGs than than surveys of relatively bright radio sources with a spectral index cut-off of alpha < -1.0. The redshift distribution is consistent with an extension of the z - alpha relation to alpha < -1.3, but a large fraction of our sample (40%) consists of objects which are too faint to observe with 3-4m class telescopes. Our search is aimed at increasing the number of very high redshift radio galaxies for further detailed studies of the formation and evolution of massive galaxies and their environment.

This is the first in a series of papers discussing the properties of a complete set of radio sources selected near {ital S}{sub 408}=1 Jy. We present optical or infrared identifications for a sample of 452 radio galaxies. The sources were selected from the 408 MHz Molonglo Reference Catalog, restricted only by flux density and position on the sky, as follows: {ital S}{sub 408}{ge}0.95 Jy and {minus}30{degree}{lt}decl. (1950){lt}{minus}20{degree}, and 9{sup h}20{sup m}{lt}R.A.(1950){lt}14{sup h}4{sup m} or 20{sup h}20{sup m}{lt}R.A.(1950){lt}6{sup h}14{sup m}. This complete sample, the MRC/1 Jy survey, contains 558 radio galaxies or quasars, of which six are occulted by bright stars or galaxies and two are multiple confused sources. Of the remaining 550 sources, 527, or 96{percent}, are identified to an {ital r} magnitude of 25, and eight additional sources are identified to {ital K}=19. Of the 17 unocculted objects that remain unidentified, 15 are sources for which we have either poor radio maps or inadequate optical/IR images. This paper presents finding charts and astrometric positions for the 452 sources that are not identified as either quasars or BL Lacertae objects. Magnitudes in the {ital r} passband accurate to typically 0.1 mag are given for 353 of the radio galaxymore » identifications. Redshifts for 268 of the galaxies are also listed; these have been derived from 450 spectroscopic observations. The radio observations, quasar and BL Lac identifications, spectroscopy, and near-IR images will be presented in subsequent papers in this series. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Astronomical Society.}« less

We report the discovery of a blue, star-forming region in the eastern lobe of the nearby (z=0.0794), classical double-lobed radio galaxy 3C 285. This region is elongated along the radio source axis, and its optical line emission, and possibly its optical continuum emission, appear to be edge-brightened on the side facing the nucleus of 3C 285. We propose that the star formation in this region was triggered by the passage of the radio lobe through a region of dense gas in the intergalactic medium. Our observations add support to models in which powerful radio sources induce star formation through the compression of dense ambient material and are also in agreement with such an interpretation for the alignment effect observed in high-redshift radio galaxies

3C 364 has many of the credentials of a luminous radio galaxy at very high redshift: faint optical magnitude (m R =22), ultrasteep radio spectrum (α=1.29), and apparent multimodal galaxy morphology associated with (but nearly perpendicular to) a small (2″) double radio source. However, our spectroscopy shows it to be at a relatively modest redshift of z=0.917. Its spectrum is dominated by a red stellar continuum and strong [O II] emission. The infrared magnitude of 3C 364 is K=17.27, typical for 3CR and 1 Jy-class radio galaxies at z∼0.9.

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 1991bg, a very peculiar Type Ia supernova located in the outskirts of the E1 galaxy NGC 4374 (M84) in the Virgo cluster. At maximum brightness SN 1991bg was 1.6 mag subluminous in V and 2.5 mag subluminous in B, compared with normal SNe Ia. The colors were unusually red, but the object was not significantly reddened by dust. The decline from maximum was certainly quite steep; we measure an initial linear V fading of 0.10 mag/d rather than the typical value of 0.06 mag/d for SNe Ia, and a late-time decline of 0.034 mag/d rather than 0.026 mag/d

VLA radio observations and optical imaging and spectroscopy of the Einstein radio ring 0218+357 are presented. The ring is detected at 22.4 GHz and shows a basically similar structure at 5, 15, and 22.4 GHz. The B component has varied and was about 15 percent brighter in the 8.4 GHz data than in the data of Patnaik et al. (1992). The ring is highly polarized. A weak jetlike feature extending out roughly 2 arcsec to the southeast of component A is detected at 6 cm. The source has amorphous radio structure extending out to about 11 arcsec from the core. For an adopted redshift of 0.68, the extended radio emission is very powerful. The optical spectrum is rather red and shows no strong features. A redshift of about 0.68 is obtained. The identification is a faint compact m(r) about 20 galaxy which extends to about 4.5 arcsec (about 27 kpc). As much as 50 percent of the total light may be due to a central AGN. The observed double core and ring may be produced by an off-center radio core with extended radio structure.

The spatial distributions of thermal emission-line gas and nonthermal radio-emitting plasma in powerful radio galaxies are examined. At high redshifts and luminosities, the thermal gas is distributed very asymmetrically with respect to the galaxy nucleus. The one-sidedness of the emission line regions is clear evidence of an intrinsically asymmetric property of powerful radio sources. The radio sources are more asymmetric in their lobe spacings at high redshifts, but not at a highly significant level

U and B continuum and Ly-alpha images obtained with the UV-flooded TI2 CCD at the prime focus of the 4-m telescope at KPNO during May and November 1988 are reported for 19 radio-loud high-redshift QSOs. The data are presented in extensive contour maps, radial surface-brightness profiles, and tables and discussed in detail. Ly-alpha emission with typical luminosity about 10 to the 44th erg/sec and spatial extent about 100 kpc is spatially resolved in 15 QSOs, and these nebulae are attributed to the photoionization of the interstellar or intergalactic medium of young or proto galaxies by radiation escaping anisotropically along the radio axis of the QSO. The mechanisms possibly responsible for the Ly-alpha emission and for the UV fuzz seen around some of the QSOs are explored. 84 refs.

Using the Video Camera (e.g. Butcher et al. 1980) and the High Gain Video Spectrometer (e.g. Heckman et al. 1981) we are carrying out a program at Kitt Peak to search for optical line emission associated with the jets and lobes of radio galaxies. Several sources have been found in which extended optical line emission is clearly related to the nonthermal radio emission. Some general information on these and a few other sources is summarized in Table 1.

Quite naturally so, VLBI'ers tend to be somewhat far-sighted: because of the very high resolutions, and poor UV-coverages, obtained with current VLBI networks only distant objects can be suitably studied. Unfortunately one thus tends to oversee some basic properties of a very popular class of objects, namely the compact, steep-spectrum radio cores. I would like to put these objects in their proper perspective.

Powerful radio galaxies are unique at the present time in that they have optically resolvable structures that can observed over a range of look-back times comparable to the Hubble time. This allows us to examine how their morphologies evolve with cosmic time in their stellar continuum, thermal line-emitting gas, and non-thermal synchrotron emitting plasmas. The continuum shapes of high redshift radio galaxies become more elongated at high redshift and are closely aligned with their radio source axes. The extended emission line regions were larger and more luminous in the past and they too are well aligned with their radio source axes. Finally, the radio sources themselves were more asymmetric in the past both in terms of their structures and in the flux densities, spectral indices and polarization of the diffuse lobes.

Here I shall interpret ‘small-scale’ to mean a few kpc or less. Such jets occur over a wide range of emitted energies (e.g. 1039∈rg s-1 in M87, 1046 in 3C273) and we do not know if they are manifestations of the same basic phenomenon or whether Nature is fooling us in some way despite the morphological similarities. For the moment, it seems sensible to asume an underlying unity and to use the observations to explore the jet phenomenon in different guises.

Optical and radio observations of nearby and distant powerful radio galaxies with extended optical emission-line regions are discussed. Comparisons of optical emission-line images with radio continuum maps, supplemented with detailed optical spectroscopy, show that the interaction of radio jets and lobes with ambient gas can have dramatic consequences for both the radio source and its surrounding medium. We will discuss evidence for the occurence of large scale star formation and collimated ionizing radiation along the axes of radio galaxies. We also present preliminary results indicative of large rotation measures in two distant radio galaxies.