Search

The variability of quasar light curves can be used to study the structure of quasar accretion disks. For example, continuum reverberation mapping uses delays between variability in short and long wavelength bands (short lags) to measure the radial extent and temperature profile of the disk. Recently, a potential reverse lag, where variations in shorter wavelength bands lag the longer wavelength bands at the much longer viscous timescale, was detected for Fairall 9. Inspired by this detection, we derive a timescale for these long negative lags from fluctuation propagation models and recent simulations. We use this timescale to forecast our ability to detect long lags using the Vera Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). After exploring several methods, including the interpolated cross-correlation function, a Von-Neumann estimator, javelin, and a maximum-likelihood Fourier method, we find that our two main methods, javelin and the maximum-likelihood method, can together detect long lags of up to several hundred days in mock LSST light curves. Our methods work best on proposed LSST cadences with long season lengths, but can also work for the current baseline LSST cadence, especially if we add observations from other optical telescopes during seasonal gaps. We find that LSST has the potential to detect dozens to hundreds of additional long lags. Detecting these long lags can teach us about the vertical structure of quasar disks and how it scales with different quasar properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the connection between galaxies and their host dark matter halos has been key for testing cosmological models on various scales. Below M ⋆ ∼ 109 M ⊙, such studies have primarily relied on the satellite galaxy population orbiting the Milky Way (MW). Here we present new constraints on the connection between satellite galaxies and their host dark matter subhalos using the largest sample of satellite galaxies in the Local Volume (D ≲ 12 Mpc) to date. We use 250 confirmed and 71 candidate dwarf satellites around 27 MW-like hosts from the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) Survey and use the semianalytical SatGen model for predicting the population of dark matter subhalos expected in the same volume. Through a Bayesian model comparison of the observed and the forward-modeled satellite stellar mass functions (SSMFs), we infer the satellite stellar-to-halo mass relation. We find that the observed SSMF is best reproduced when subhalos at the low-mass end are populated by a relation of the form M ⋆ ∝ M peak α , with a moderate slope of α const = 2.10 ± 0.01 and a low scatter, constant as a function of the peak halo mass, of σ const = 0.06 − 0.05 + 0.07 . A model with a steeper slope (α grow = 2.39 ± 0.06) and a scatter that grows with decreasing M peak is also consistent with the observed SSMF but is not required. Our new model for the satellite–subhalo connection, based on hundreds of Local Volume satellite galaxies, is in line with what was previously derived using only MW satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent observations have reignited interest in a population of dwarf galaxies that are large and diffuse for their mass, often called ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). However, the origin and evolution of these mass–size outliers and the role of the environment are still unclear. Using the exquisitely deep and wide Hyper Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey images, we search for ultra-puffy galaxies (UPGs), defined as being 1.5 σ larger than the average size for their mass, around Milky Way–like galaxies. We present the sizes and radial distributions of mass–size outliers and derive their quenched fraction to explore the impact of the environment. Surprisingly, despite being outliers in size, the UPGs have a similar quenched fraction as normal-sized satellites of Milky Way analogs in both observations and simulations, suggesting that quenching is not tied to being a mass–size outlier. The quenched fraction is higher for the UPGs associated with redder hosts, as well as those that are closer to the host in projection. In contrast, the UDGs are overall redder and more quiescent compared with normal satellites. We show that the classic definition of UDGs is heavily weighted toward quenched galaxies and thus cannot be used for a study of quenching of mass–size outliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large diffuse galaxies are hard to find, but understanding the environments where they live, their numbers, and ultimately their origins, is of intense interest and importance for galaxy formation and evolution. Using Subaru's Hyper Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey Program, we perform a systematic search for low surface brightness galaxies and present novel and effective methods for detecting and modeling them. As a case study, we surveyed 922 Milky Way analogs in the nearby Universe (0.01 < z < 0.04) and built a large sample of satellite galaxies that are outliers in the mass–size relation. These "ultra-puffy" galaxies (UPGs), defined to be 1.5 σ above the average mass–size relation, represent the tail of the satellite size distribution. We find that each MW analog hosts N UPG = 0.31 ± 0.05 UPGs on average, which is consistent with but slightly lower than the observed abundance at this halo mass in the Local Volume. We also construct a sample of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in MW analogs and find an abundance of N UDG = 0.44 ± 0.05 per host. With literature results, we confirm that the UDG abundance scales with the host halo mass following a sublinear power law. We argue that our definition of UPGs, which is based on the mass–size relation, is more physically motivated than the common definition of UDGs, which depends on the surface brightness and size cuts and thus yields different surface mass density cuts for quenched and star-forming galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the final sample of the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) survey, a survey of the dwarf satellites of a nearly volume-limited sample of Milky Way (MW)âˆ'like hosts in the Local Volume. Hosts are selected simply via a cut in luminosity ( M K s < âˆ' 22.1 mag) and distance (D < 12 Mpc). We cataloged the satellites of 25 of the 31 such hosts, with another five taken from the literature. All hosts are surveyed out to at least 150 projected kpc (∼ R vir/2), with the majority surveyed to 300 kpc (∼ R vir). Satellites are detected using a consistent semiautomated algorithm specialized for low surface brightness dwarfs. As shown through extensive tests with injected galaxies, the catalogs are complete to M V ∼ âˆ'9 mag and ÎĽ 0, V ∼ 26.5 mag arcsecâˆ'2. Candidates are confirmed to be real satellites through distance measurements including redshift, tip of the red giant branch, and surface brightness fluctuations. Across all 30 surveyed hosts, there are 338 confirmed satellites with M V < âˆ'9 mag, with a further 106 candidates awaiting distance measurement. For the vast majority of these, we provide consistent multiband SĂ©rsic photometry. We show that satellite abundance correlates with host mass, with the MW being quite typical among comparable systems, and that satellite quenched fraction rises steeply with decreasing satellite mass, mirroring the quenched fraction for the MW and M31. The ELVES survey represents a massive increase in the statistics of surveyed systems with known completeness, and the provided catalogs are a unique data set to explore various aspects of small-scale structure and dwarf galaxy evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a fundamental property in the measurement of stellar masses and galaxy star formation histories. In this work, we focus on the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe log (M ⋆ / M ⊙) > 11.2. We obtain high-quality Magellan/LDSS-3 long-slit spectroscopy with a wide wavelength coverage of 0.4â€"1.01 ÎĽ m for 41 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the MASSIVE survey and derive high signal-to-noise spectra within an aperture of R e/8. Using detailed stellar synthesis models, we constrain the elemental abundances and stellar IMF of each galaxy through full spectral modeling. All the ETGs in our sample have an IMF that is steeper than a Milky Way (Kroupa) IMF. The best-fit IMF mismatch parameter, α IMF = (M / L)/(M / L)MW, ranges from 1.1 to 3.1, with an average of 〈 α IMF〉 = 1.84, suggesting that on average, the IMF is more bottom heavy than Salpeter. Comparing the estimated stellar masses with the dynamical masses, we find that most galaxies have stellar masses that are smaller than their dynamical masses within the 1 σ uncertainty. We complement our sample with lower-mass galaxies from the literature and confirm that log (α IMF) is positively correlated with log (σ) , log (M ⋆) , and log (M dyn). From the combined sample, we show that the IMF in the centers of more massive ETGs is more bottom heavy. In addition, we find that log (α IMF) is positively correlated with both [Mg/Fe] and the estimated total metallicity [Z/H]. We find suggestive evidence that the effective stellar surface density ÎŁKroupa might be responsible for the variation of α IMF. We conclude that σ, [Mg/Fe], and [Z/H] are the primary drivers of the global stellar IMF variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the properties of the globular clusters (GCs) and nuclear star clusters (NSCs) of low-mass (105.5 < M ⋆ < 108.5 M ⊙) early-type satellites of Milky Wayâ€"like and small group hosts in the Local Volume (LV) using deep, ground-based data from the ongoing Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites Survey. This sample of 177 dwarfs significantly increases the statistics for studying the star clusters of dwarfs in low-density environments, offering an important comparison to samples from nearby galaxy clusters. The LV dwarfs exhibit significantly lower nucleation fractions at fixed galaxy mass than dwarfs in nearby clusters. The masses of NSCs of LV dwarfs show a similar scaling of M ⋆ , NSC ∝ M ⋆ , gal 0.4 as that found in clusters but offset to lower NSC masses. To deal with foreground/background contamination in the GC analysis, we employ both a statistical subtraction and Bayesian approach to infer the average GC system properties from all dwarfs simultaneously. We find that the GC occupation fraction and average abundance are both increasing functions of galaxy stellar mass, and the LV dwarfs show significantly lower average GC abundance at fixed galaxy mass than a comparable sample of Virgo dwarfs analyzed in the same way, demonstrating that GC prevalence also shows an important secondary dependence on the dwarf’s environment. This result strengthens the connection between GCs and NSCs in low-mass galaxies. We discuss these observations in the context of modern theories of GC and NSC formation, finding that the environmental dependencies can be well explained by these models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a search for "hypercompact" star clusters in the Milky Way using a combination of Gaia and the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS). Such putative clusters, with sizes of ∼1 pc and containing 500–5000 stars, are expected to remain bound to intermediate-mass black holes (MBH ≈ 103–105M⊙) that may be accreted into the Milky Way halo within dwarf satellites. Using the semianalytic model SatGen , we find an expected ∼100 wandering intermediate-mass black holes if every infalling satellite hosts a black hole. We do not find any such clusters in our search. Our upper limits rule out 100% occupancy but do not put stringent constraints on the occupation fraction. Of course, we need stronger constraints on the properties of the putative star clusters, including their assumed sizes and the fraction of stars that would be compact remnants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-mass satellites around Milky Way (MW)-like galaxies are important probes of small-scale structure and galaxy formation. However, confirmation of satellite candidates with distance measurements remains a key barrier to fast progress in the Local Volume (LV). We measure the surface brightness fluctuation distances to recently cataloged candidate dwarf satellites around 10 massive hosts within D < 12 Mpc to confirm association. The satellite systems of these hosts are complete and mostly cleaned of contaminants down to Mg ∼ −9 to −10, within the area of the search footprints. Joining this sample with hosts surveyed to comparable or better completeness in the literature, we explore how well cosmological simulations combined with common stellar to halo mass relations (SHMR) match observed satellite luminosity functions in the classical satellite luminosity regime. Adopting an SHMR that matches hydrodynamic simulations, we find that the predicted overall satellite abundance agrees well with the observations. The MW is remarkably typical in its luminosity function among LV hosts. We find that the host-to-host scatter predicted by the model is in close agreement with the scatter between the observed systems, once the different masses of the observed systems are taken into account. However, we find significant evidence that the observed systems have more bright and fewer faint satellites than the SHMR model predicts, possibly necessitating a higher normalization of the SHMR around halo masses of 1011M⊙ or significantly greater scatter than present in common SHMRs. These results demonstrate the utility of nearby satellite systems in inferring the galaxy–subhalo connection in the low-mass regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radial spatial distribution of low-mass satellites around a Milky Way (MW)-like host is an important benchmark for simulations of small-scale structure. The distribution is sensitive to the disruption of subhalos by the central disk and can indicate whether the disruption observed in simulations of MW analogs is artificial (i.e., numerical) or physical in origin. We consider a sample of 12 well-surveyed satellite systems of MW-like hosts in the Local Volume (D < 12 Mpc) that are complete to MV < −9 and within 150 projected kpc. We investigate the radial distribution of satellites and compare with ΛCDM cosmological simulations, including big-box cosmological simulations and high-resolution zoom-in simulations of MW-sized halos. We find that the observed satellites are significantly more centrally concentrated than the simulated systems. Several of the observed hosts, including the MW, are ∼2σ outliers relative to the simulated hosts in being too concentrated, while none of the observed hosts are less centrally concentrated than the simulations. This result is robust to different ways of measuring the radial concentration. We find that this discrepancy is more significant for bright, MV < −12 satellites, suggestive that this is not the result of observational incompleteness. We argue that the discrepancy is possibly due to artificial disruption in the simulations, but, if so, this has important ramifications for what relation between stellar mass and halo mass is allowed in the low-mass regime by the observed abundance of satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We increase the sample of ultradiffuse galaxies (UDGs) in lower-density environments with characterized globular cluster (GC) populations using new Hubble Space Telescope observations of nine UDGs in group environments. While the bulk of our UDGs have GC abundances consistent with normal dwarf galaxies, two of these UDGs have excess GC populations. These two UDGs both have GC luminosity functions consistent with higher surface brightness galaxies and cluster UDGs. We then combine our nine objects with previous studies to create a catalog of UDGs with analyzed GC populations that spans a uniquely diverse range of environments. We use this catalog to examine broader trends in the GC populations of low stellar mass galaxies. The highest GC abundances are found in cluster UDGs, but whether cluster UDGs are actually more extreme requires the study of many more UDGs in groups. We find a possible positive correlation between GC abundance and stellar mass, and between GC abundance and galaxy size at fixed stellar mass. However, we see no significant relation between stellar mass and galaxy size, over our limited stellar mass range. We consider possible origins of the correlation between GC abundance and galaxy size, including the possibility that these two galaxy properties are both dependent on the galaxy dark matter halo, or that they are related through baryonic processes like internal feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though smooth, extended spheroidal stellar outskirts have long been observed around nearby dwarf galaxies, it is unclear whether dwarfs generically host an extended stellar halo. We use imaging from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) to measure the shapes of dwarf galaxies out to four effective radii for a sample of 6758 dwarfs at 0.005 < z < 0.2 and 107.0 < M⋆/M⊙ < 109.6. We find that dwarfs are slightly triaxial, with (where the ellipsoid is characterized by three principal semiaxes constrained by C ≤ B ≤ A). At M⋆ > 108.5M⊙, the galaxies grow from thick disk-like at one effective radius toward the spheroidal extreme at four effective radii. We also see that although blue dwarfs are, on average, characterized by thinner disks than red dwarfs, both blue and red dwarfs grow more spheroidal as a function of radius. This relation also holds true for a comparison between field and satellite dwarfs. This uniform trend toward relatively spheroidal shapes as a function of radius is consistent with an in situ formation mechanism for stellar outskirts around low-mass galaxies, in agreement with proposed models where star formation feedback produces round stellar outskirts around dwarfs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe ongoing searches for intermediate-mass black holes with MBH ≈ 10–105 M⊙. We review a range of search mechanisms, both dynamical and those that rely on accretion signatures. We find the following conclusions: Dynamical and accretion signatures alike point to a high fraction of 109–1010 M⊙ galaxies hosting black holes with MBH∼ 105 M⊙. In contrast, there are no solid detections of black holes in globular clusters. There are few observational constraints on black holes in any environment with MBH ≈ 100–104 M⊙. Considering low-mass galaxies with dynamical black hole masses and constraining limits, we find that the MBH–σ* relation continues unbroken to MBH ∼105 M⊙, albeit with large scatter. We believe the scatter is at least partially driven by a broad range in black hole masses, because the occupation fraction appears to be relatively high in these galaxies. We fold the observed scaling relations with our empirical limits on occupation fraction and the galaxy mass function to put observational bounds on the black hole mass function in galaxy nuclei. We are pessimistic that local demographic observations of galaxy nuclei alone could constrain seeding mechanisms, although either high-redshift luminosity functions or robust measurements of off-nuclear black holes could begin to discriminate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the molecular gas content of a representative sample of 67 of the most massive early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the local universe, drawn uniformly from the MASSIVE survey. We present new Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m telescope observations of 30 of these galaxies, allowing us to probe the molecular gas content of the entire sample to a fixed molecular-to-stellar mass fraction of 0.1 per cent. The total detection rate in this representative sample is 25 |$^{+5.9}_{-4.4}$|  per cent, and by combining the MASSIVE and atlas 3D molecular gas surveys, we find a joint detection rate of 22.4 |$^{+2.4}_{-2.1}$|  per cent. This detection rate seems to be independent of galaxy mass, size, position on the Fundamental Plane, and local environment. We show here for the first time that true slow rotators can host molecular gas reservoirs, but the rate at which they do so is significantly lower than for fast rotators. Objects with a higher velocity dispersion at fixed mass (a higher kinematic bulge fraction) are less likely to have detectable molecular gas, and where gas does exist, have lower molecular gas fractions. In addition, satellite galaxies in dense environments have ≈0.6 dex lower molecular gas-to-stellar mass ratios than isolated objects. In order to interpret these results, we created a toy model, which we use to constrain the origin of the gas in these systems. We are able to derive an independent estimate of the gas-rich merger rate in the low-redshift universe. These gas-rich mergers appear to dominate the supply of gas to ETGs, but stellar mass loss, hot halo cooling, and transformation of spiral galaxies also play a secondary role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrow-line regions excited by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are important for studying AGN photoionization and feedback. Their strong [O  iii ] lines can be detected with broad-band images, allowing morphological studies of these systems with large-area imaging surveys. We develop a new broad-band imaging technique to reconstruct the images of the [O  iii ] line, using the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Survey aided with spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The technique involves a careful subtraction of the galactic continuum to isolate emission from the [O  iii ]λ5007 and [O  iii ]λ4959 lines. Compared to traditional targeted observations, this technique is more efficient at covering larger samples without dedicated observational resources. We apply this technique to an SDSS spectroscopically selected sample of 300 obscured AGN at redshifts 0.1–0.7, uncovering extended emission-line region candidates with sizes up to tens of kpc. With the largest sample of uniformly derived narrow-line region sizes, we revisit the narrow-line region size–luminosity relation. The area and radii of the [O  iii ] emission-line regions are strongly correlated with the AGN luminosity inferred from the mid-infrared (15 $$\mu$$ m rest frame) with a power-law slope of $$0.62^{+0.05}_{-0.06}\pm 0.10$$ (statistical and systematic errors), consistent with previous spectroscopic findings. We discuss the implications for the physics of AGN emission-line regions and future applications of this technique, which should be useful for current and next-generation imaging surveys to study AGN photoionization and feedback with large statistical samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the morphologies and structures of 57 dwarf galaxies that are representative of the general population of dwarf galaxies and compare their demographics to a sample of dwarf galaxies hosting optically selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The two samples span the same galaxy stellar mass (109 ≲ M ⋆/ M ⊙ ≲ 109.5) and color range, and the observations are well-matched in physical resolution. The fractions of irregular galaxies (14%) and early types/ellipticals (∼18%) are nearly identical among the two samples. However, among galaxies with disks (the majority of each sample), the AGN hosts almost always have a detectable (pseudo)bulge, while a large fraction of the non-AGN hosts are pure disk galaxies with no detectable (pseudo)bulge. Central point sources of light consistent with nuclear star clusters are detected in many of the non-AGN hosts. In contrast, central point sources detected in the AGN hosts are, on average, more than 2 orders of magnitude more luminous, suggesting the point sources in these objects are dominated by AGN light. The preference for (pseudo)bulges in dwarf AGN hosts may inform searches for massive black holes in dwarf galaxies and attempts to constrain the black hole occupation fraction, which, in turn, has implications for our understanding of black hole seeding mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collisions and interactions between gas-rich galaxies are thought to be pivotal stages in their formation and evolution, causing the rapid production of new stars, and possibly serving as a mechanism for fueling supermassive black holes (BH). Harnessing the exquisite spatial resolution (~0.5 arcsec) afforded by the first ~170 deg2 of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Survey, we present our new constraints on the importance of galaxy-galaxy major mergers (1:4) in growing BHs throughout the last ~8 Gyrs. Utilizing mid-infrared observations in the WISE All-Sky survey, we robustly select active galactic nuclei (AGN) and mass-matched control galaxy samples, totaling ~140,000 spectroscopically confirmed systems at i<22 mag. We identify galaxy interaction signatures using a novel machine-learning random forest decision tree technique allowing us to select statistically significant samples of major-mergers, minor-mergers/irregular-systems, and non-interacting galaxies. We use these samples to show that galaxies undergoing mergers are a factor ~2-7 more likely to contain luminous obscured AGN than non-interacting galaxies, and this is independent of both stellar mass and redshift to z < 0.9. Furthermore, based on our comparison of AGN fractions in mass-matched samples, we determine that the most luminous AGN population (LAGN > 1045 erg/s) systematically reside in merging systems over non-interacting galaxies. Our findings show that galaxy-galaxy interactions do, on average, trigger luminous AGN activity substantially more often than in secularly evolving non-interacting galaxies, and we further suggest that the BH growth rate may be closely tied to the dynamical time of the merger system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of a diffuse stellar cloud with an angular extent ≳30'', which we term "Sumo Puff", in data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). While we do not have a redshift for this object, it is in close angular proximity to a post-merger galaxy at redshift z=0.0431 and is projected within a few virial radii (assuming similar redshifts) of two other ∼L⋆ galaxies, which we use to bracket a potential redshift range of 0.0055

We analyse Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra of 568 obscured luminous quasars. The [O iii] λ5007 Å emission line shows blueshifts and blue excess, indicating that some of the narrow-line gas is undergoing an organized outflow. The velocity width containing 90 per cent of line power ranges from 370 to 4780 km s−1, suggesting outflow velocities up to ∼2000 km s−1, and is strongly correlated with the radio luminosity among the radio-quiet quasars. We propose that radio emission in radio-quiet quasars is due to relativistic particles accelerated in the shocks within the quasar-driven outflows; star formation in quasar hosts is insufficient to explain the observed radio emission. The median radio luminosity of the sample of νLν[1.4 GHz] = 1040 erg s−1 suggests a median kinetic luminosity of the quasar-driven wind of Lwind = 3 × 1044 erg s−1, or about 4 per cent of the estimated median bolometric luminosity Lbol = 8 × 1045 erg s−1. Furthermore, the velocity width of [O iii] is positively correlated with mid-infrared luminosity, which suggests that outflows are ultimately driven by the radiative output of the quasar. Emission lines characteristic of shocks in quasi-neutral medium increase with the velocity of the outflow, which we take as evidence of quasar-driven winds propagating into the interstellar medium of the host galaxy. Quasar feedback appears to operate above the threshold luminosity of Lbol ∼ 3 × 1045 erg s−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a two-dimensional kinematic analysis out to ∼2-5 effective radii (Re) of 33 massive elliptical galaxies with stellar velocity dispersions σ > 150 km s–1. Our observations were taken using the Mitchell Spectrograph (formerly VIRUS-P), a spectrograph with a large 107 × 107 arcsec2 field of view that allows us to construct robust, spatially resolved kinematic maps of V and σ for each galaxy extending to at least 2 Re. Using these maps, we study the radial dependence of the stellar angular momentum and other kinematic properties. We see the familiar division between slow and fast rotators persisting out to a large radius in our sample. Centrally slow rotating galaxies, which are almost universally characterized by some form of kinematic decoupling or misalignment, remain slowly rotating in their halos. The majority of fast-rotating galaxies show either increases in specific angular momentum outward or no change beyond Re. The generally triaxial nature of the slow rotators suggests that they formed through mergers, consistent with a “two-phase” picture of elliptical galaxy formation. However, we do not observe the sharp transitions in kinematics proposed in the literature as a signpost of moving from central dissipationally formed components to outer accretion-dominated halos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black-hole-galaxy scaling relations provide information about the coevolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. We compare the black-hole mass-circular-velocity (MBH-Vc) relation with the black-hole-mass-bulge-stellar-velocity-dispersion (MBH-σ*) relation to see whether the scaling relations can passively emerge from a large number of mergers or require a physical mechanism, such as feedback from an active nucleus. We present Very Large Array H I observations of five galaxies, including three water megamaser galaxies, to measure the circular velocity. Using 22 galaxies with dynamical MBH measurements and Vc measurements extending to large radius, our best-fit MBH-Vc relation, , yields , , and an intrinsic scatter . The intrinsic scatter may well be higher than 0.51, as we take great care to ascribe conservatively large observational errors. We find comparable scatter in the MBH-σ* relations, , while pure merging scenarios would likely result in a tighter scaling with the dark halo (as traced by Vc) properties rather than the baryonic (σ*) properties. Instead, feedback from the active nucleus may act on bulge scales to tighten the MBH-σ* relation with respect to the MBH-Vc relation, as observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries are expected in a ΛCDM cosmology given that most (if not all) massive galaxies contain a massive black hole (BH) at their center. So far, however, direct evidence for such binaries has been elusive. We use cross-correlation to search for temporal velocity shifts in the Mg II broad emission lines of 0.36 < z < 2 quasars with multiple observations in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For ∼109M☼ BHs in SMBH binaries, we are sensitive to velocity drifts for binary separations of ∼0.1 pc with orbital periods of ∼100 yr. We find seven candidate sub-parsec-scale binaries with velocity shifts >3.4σ ∼ 280 km s–1, where σ is our systematic error. Comparing the detectability of SMBH binaries with the number of candidates (N ⩽ 7), we can rule out that most 109M☼ BHs exist in ∼0.03-0.2 pc scale binaries, in a scenario where binaries stall at sub-parsec scales for a Hubble time. We further constrain that ⩽16% (one-third) of quasars host SMBH binaries after considering gas-assisted sub-parsec evolution of SMBH binaries, although this result is very sensitive to the assumed size of the broad line region. We estimate the detectability of SMBH binaries with ongoing or next-generation surveys (e.g., Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph), taking into account the evolution of the sub-parsec binary in circumbinary gas disks. These future observations will provide longer time baselines for searches similar to ours and may in turn constrain the evolutionary scenarios of SMBH binaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the radial dependence in stellar populations of 33 nearby early-type galaxies with central stellar velocity dispersions σ* ≳ 150 km s–1. We measure stellar population properties in composite spectra, and use ratios of these composites to highlight the largest spectral changes as a function of radius. Based on stellar population modeling, the typical star at 2Re is old (∼10 Gyr), relatively metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≈ –0.5), and α-enhanced ([Mg/Fe] ≈ 0.3). The stars were made rapidly at z ≈ 1.5-2 in shallow potential wells. Declining radial gradients in [C/Fe], which follow [Fe/H], also arise from rapid star formation timescales due to declining carbon yields from low-metallicity massive stars. In contrast, [N/Fe] remains high at large radius. Stars at large radius have different abundance ratio patterns from stars in the center of any present-day galaxy, but are similar to average Milky Way thick disk stars. Our observations are thus consistent with a picture in which the stellar outskirts are built up through minor mergers with disky galaxies whose star formation is truncated early (z ≈ 1.5-2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a sample of 151 dwarf galaxies (108.5 ≲ M⋆ ≲ 109.5M☼) that exhibit optical spectroscopic signatures of accreting massive black holes (BHs), increasing the number of known active galaxies in this stellar-mass range by more than an order of magnitude. Utilizing data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 and stellar masses from the NASA-Sloan Atlas, we have systematically searched for active BHs in ∼25,000 emission-line galaxies with stellar masses comparable to the Magellanic Clouds and redshifts z < 0.055. Using the narrow-line [O III]/Hβ versus [N II]/Hα diagnostic diagram, we find photoionization signatures of BH accretion in 136 galaxies, a small fraction of which also exhibit broad Hα emission. For these broad-line active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates, we estimate BH masses using standard virial techniques and find a range of 105 ≲ MBH ≲ 106M☼ and a median of MBH ∼ 2 × 105M☼. We also detect broad Hα in 15 galaxies that have narrow-line ratios consistent with star-forming galaxies. Follow-up observations are required to determine if these are true type 1 AGN or if the broad Hα is from stellar processes. The median absolute magnitude of the host galaxies in our active sample is Mg = –18.1 mag, which is ∼1-2 mag fainter than previous samples of AGN hosts with low-mass BHs. This work constrains the smallest galaxies that can form a massive BH, with implications for BH feedback in low-mass galaxies and the origin of the first supermassive BH seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the alignment between H2O megamaser disks on subparsec scales with circumnuclear disks and bars on <500 pc scales observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFC3. The HST imaging reveals young stars, indicating the presence of gas. The megamaser disks are not well aligned with the circumnuclear bars or disks as traced by stars in the HST images. We speculate on the implications of the observed misalignments for fueling supermassive black holes in gas-rich spiral galaxies. In contrast, we find a strong preference for the rotation axes of the megamaser disks to align with radio continuum jets observed on ≳50 pc scales, in those galaxies for which radio continuum detections are available. Subarcsecond observations of molecular gas with ALMA will enable a more complete understanding of the interplay between circumnuclear structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the Mitchell Spectrograph (formerly VIRUS-P) on the McDonald Observatory 2.7 m Harlan J. Smith Telescope to search for the chemical signatures of massive elliptical galaxy assembly. The Mitchell Spectrograph is an integral-field spectrograph with a uniquely wide field of view (107"x107"), allowing us to achieve remarkably high signal-to-noise ratios of ~20-70 pixel-1 in radial bins of 2-2.5 times the effective radii of the eight galaxies in our sample. Focusing on a sample of massive elliptical galaxies with stellar velocity dispersions σ* >150 km s-1, we study the radial dependence in the equivalent widths (EW) of key metal absorption lines. By twice the effective radius, the Mgb EWs have dropped by ~50%, and only a weak correlation between σ* and Mgb EW remains. The Mgb EWs at large radii are comparable to those seen in the centers of elliptical galaxies that are ~ an order of magnitude less massive. We find that the well-known metallicity gradients often observed within an effective radius continue smoothly to 2.5 Re, while the abundance ratio gradients remain flat. Much like the halo of the Milky Way, the stellar halos of our galaxies have low metallicities and high α-abundance ratios, as expected for very old stars formed in small stellar systems. Our observations support a picture in which the outer parts of massive elliptical galaxies are built by the accretion of much smaller systems whose star formation history was truncated at early times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SDSS J1356 + 1026 is a pair of interacting galaxies at redshift z = 0.123 that hosts a luminous obscured quasar in its northern nucleus. Here we present two long-slit Magellan LDSS-3 spectra that reveal a pair of symmetric ~ 10 kpc size outflows emerging from this nucleus, with observed expansion velocities of ~250 km s-1 in projection. We present a kinematic model of these outflows and argue that the deprojected physical velocities of expansion are likely ~ 1000 km s-1 and that the kinetic energy of the expanding shells is likely 1044-45 erg s-1, with an absolute minimum of > 1042 erg s-1. Although a radio counterpart is detected at 1.4 GHz, it is faint enough that the quasar is considered to be radio quiet by all standard criteria, and there is no evidence of extended emission due to radio lobes, whether aged or continuously powered by an ongoing jet. We argue that the likely level of star formation is insufficient to power the observed energetic outflow and that SDSS J1356 + 1026 is a good case for radio-quiet quasar feedback. In further support of this hypothesis, polarimetric observations show that the direction of quasar illumination is coincident with the direction of the outflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Hubble Space Telescope observations of 147 host galaxies of low-mass black holes (BHs), we systematically study the structures and scaling relations of these active galaxies. Our sample is selected to have central BHs with virial masses of ~105-106 M⊙. The host galaxies have total I-band magnitudes of -23.2 < MI < -18.8 mag and bulge magnitudes of -22.9 < MI < -16.1 mag. Detailed bulge-disk-bar decompositions with GALFIT show that 93% of the galaxies have extended disks, 39% have bars, and 5% have no bulges at all at the limits of our observations. Based on the Sérsic index and bulge-to-total ratio, we conclude that the majority of the galaxies with disks are likely to contain pseudobulges and very few of these low-mass BHs live in classical bulges. The fundamental plane of our sample is offset from classical bulges and ellipticals in a way that is consistent with the scaling relations of pseudobulges. The sample has smaller velocity dispersion at fixed luminosity in the Faber-Jackson plane compared with classical bulges and elliptical galaxies. The galaxies without disks are structurally more similar to spheroidals than to classical bulges according to their positions in the fundamental plane, especially the Faber-Jackson projection. Overall, we suggest that BHs with mass ≲ 106 M⊙ live in galaxies that have evolved secularly over the majority of their history. A classical bulge is not a prerequisite to host a BH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We describe our efforts to study dwarf galaxies with active nuclei, whose black holes, with masses ⩽106 M ⊙, provide the best current observational constraints on the mass distribution of primordial seed black holes. Although these low-mass galaxies do not necessarily contain classical bulges, [Barth, A.J., Greene, J.E., Ho, L.C., 2005. ApJ 619, L151.] show that their stellar velocity dispersions and black hole masses obey the same relation as more massive systems. In order to characterize the properties of the dwarf hosts without the glare of the active nucleus, we have compiled a complementary sample of narrow-line active galaxies with low-mass hosts. The host galaxy properties, both their structures and stellar populations, are consistent with the general properties of low-mass, blue galaxies from Sloan. The black holes in these galaxies are probably radiating close to their Eddington limits, suggesting we may have found Type 2 analogues of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Supermassive black hole (SMBH) masses can be measured by observing their dynamical effects on tracers, such as molecular gas. We present high angular resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the 12CO(2–1) line emission of the early-type galaxies (ETGs) NGC 1684 and NGC 0997, obtained as part of the MASSIVE survey, a volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic study of the most massive local ETGs. NGC 1684 has a regularly rotating central molecular gas disc, with a spatial extent of ≈6 arcsec (≈1.8 kpc) in radius and a central hole slightly larger than the expected SMBH sphere of influence. We forward model the data cube in a Bayesian framework with the Kinematic Molecular Simulation (KinMS) code and infer a SMBH mass of |$1.40^{+0.44}_{-0.39}\times 10^9$| M⊙ (3σ confidence interval) and an F 110 W -filter stellar mass-to-light ratio of (2.50 ± 0.05) M⊙/L⊙, F 110 W . NGC 0997 has a regularly rotating central molecular gas disc, with a spatial extent of ≈5 arcsec (≈2.2 kpc) in radius and a partially filled central hole much larger than the expected SMBH sphere of influence, thus preventing a robust SMBH mass determination. With the same modelling method, we nevertheless constrain the SMBH mass to be in the range 4.0 × 107–1.8 × 109 M⊙ and the F 160 W -filter stellar mass-to-light ratio to be (1.52 ± 0.11) M⊙/L⊙, F 160 W . Both SMBH masses are consistent with the SMBH mass–stellar velocity dispersion (M BH–σe) relation, suggesting that the overmassive SMBHs present in other very massive ETGs are fairly uncommon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB) is believed to be dominated by GW emission from supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs). Observations of several dual-active galactic nuclei (AGN) strongly suggest a link between AGN and SMBHBs, given that these dual-AGN systems will eventually form bound binary pairs. Here we develop an exploratory SMBHB population model based on empirically constrained quasar populations, allowing us to decompose the GWB amplitude into an underlying distribution of SMBH masses, SMBHB number density, and volume enclosing the GWB. Our approach also allows us to self-consistently predict the number of local SMBHB systems from the GWB amplitude. Interestingly, we find the local number density of SMBHBs implied by the common-process signal in the NANOGrav 12.5-yr data set to be roughly five times larger than previously predicted by other models. We also find that at most ∼25% of SMBHBs can be associated with quasars. Furthermore, our quasar-based approach predicts ≳95% of the GWB signal comes from z ≲ 2.5, and that SMBHBs contributing to the GWB have masses ≳108M⊙. We also explore how different empirical galaxy–black hole scaling relations affect the local number density of GW sources, and find that relations predicting more massive black holes decrease the local number density of SMBHBs. Overall, our results point to the important role that a measurement of the GWB will play in directly constraining the cosmic population of SMBHBs, as well as their connections to quasars and galaxy mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) underpins our understanding of galaxy evolution, but different methods to measure SMBH masses have only infrequently been cross-checked. We attempt to identify targets to cross-check two of the most accurate methods, megamaser, and cold molecular gas dynamics. Three promising galaxies are selected from all those with existing megamaser SMBH mass measurements. We present Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) 12CO (2–1) and 230-GHz continuum observations with angular resolutions of ≈0 |${_{.}^{\prime\prime}}$| 5. Every galaxy has an extended rotating molecular gas disc and 230-GHz continuum source(s), but all also have irregularities and/or non-axisymmetric features: NGC 1194 is highly inclined and has disturbed and lopsided central 12CO (2–1) emission; NGC 3393 has a nuclear disc with fairly regular but patchy 12CO (2–1) emission with little gas near the kinematic major axis, faint emission in the very centre, and two brighter structures reminiscent of a nuclear ring and/or spiral; NGC 5765B has a strong bar and very bright 12CO (2–1) emission concentrated along two bisymmetric offset dust lanes and two bisymmetric nuclear spiral arms. 12CO (2–1) and 12CO (3–2) observations with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope are compared with the ALMA observations. Because of the disturbed gas kinematics and the impractically long integration times required for higher angular resolution observations, none of the three galaxies is suitable for a future SMBH mass measurement. None the less, increasing the number of molecular gas observations of megamaser galaxies is valuable, and the ubiquitous disturbances suggest a link between large-scale gas properties and the existence of megamasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At fixed galaxy stellar mass, there is a clear observational connection between structural asymmetry and offset from the star-forming main sequence, ΔSFMS. Herein, we use the TNG50 simulation to investigate the relative roles of major mergers (stellar mass ratios μ ≥ 0.25), minor (0.1 ≤ μ < 0.25), and mini mergers (0.01 ≤ μ < 0.1) in driving this connection amongst star-forming galaxies (SFGs). We use dust radiative transfer post-processing with SKIRT to make a large, public collection of synthetic Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) images of simulated IllustrisTNG (TNG) galaxies over 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.7 with log (M ⋆/M⊙) ≥ 9 (∼750 k images). Using their instantaneous star formation rates (SFRs), known merger histories/forecasts, and HSC-SSP asymmetries, we show (1) that TNG50 SFGs qualitatively reproduce the observed trend between ΔSFMS and asymmetry and (2) a strikingly similar trend emerges between ΔSFMS and the time-to-coalescence for mini mergers. Controlling for redshift, stellar mass, environment, and gas fraction, we show that individual mini merger events yield small enhancements in SFRs and asymmetries that are sustained on long time-scales (at least ∼3 Gyr after coalescence, on average) – in contrast to major/minor merger remnants which peak at much greater amplitudes but are consistent with controls only ∼1 Gyr after coalescence. Integrating the boosts in SFRs and asymmetries driven by μ ≥ 0.01 mergers since z  = 0.7 in TNG50 SFGs, we show that mini mergers are responsible for (i) 55 per cent of all merger-driven star formation and (ii) 70 per cent of merger-driven asymmetric structure. Due to their relative frequency and prolonged boost time-scales, mini mergers dominate over their minor and major counterparts in driving star formation and asymmetry in SFGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present wide-field, deep K -band photometry of 98 luminous early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the MASSIVE survey based on observations taken with the WIRCam instrument on the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. Using these images, we extract accurate total K -band luminosities (LK) and half-light radii (Re) for this sample of galaxies. We use these new values to explore the size–luminosity and Faber–Jackson relations for massive ETGs. Within this volume-limited sample, we find clear evidence for curvature in both relations, indicating that the most luminous galaxies tend to have larger sizes and smaller velocity dispersions than expected from a simple power-law fit to less luminous galaxies. Our measured relations are qualitatively consistent with the most massive elliptical galaxies forming largely through dissipationless mergers. When the sample is separated into fast and slow rotators, we find the slow rotators to exhibit similar changes in slope with increasing LK , suggesting that low-mass and high-mass slow rotators have different formation histories. The curvatures in the Re – LK and σ– LK relations cancel, leading to a relation between dynamical mass and luminosity that is well described by a single power law: Re σ2 ∝  LK b with b ≈ 1.2. This is consistent with the tilt of the fundamental plane observed in lower mass elliptical galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report optical integral-field spectroscopy in the field of one of the most luminous quasars in the z < 1 Universe, PKS 0454−22, with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer. These data enable the discovery of three large ionized nebulae emitting in [O  ii ], H  β , and [O  iii ] with projected areas of 1720, 1520, and 130 pkpc2, which we refer to as N1, N2, and N3, respectively. N1 spatially and kinematically surrounds the quasar host and five nearby galaxies. The morphology and kinematics of N1 are most consistent with stripped interstellar medium resulting from ongoing interactions. Its ionization properties can be explained by quasar photoionization. N2 spatially and kinematically surrounds two galaxies that are at projected distances of d ≈ 90 pkpc and line-of-sight velocities of Δ v ≈+1410 km s−1 from the quasar. The morphology and kinematics of N2 are also consistent with stripped interstellar medium. However, its ionization state requires additional ionization sources beyond the quasar, likely from fast shocks as it moves through the hot halo associated with a galaxy overdensity around the quasar. N3 is not coincident with any galaxies with secure redshifts, and may arise from a cool gas structure in the intragroup medium or a dwarf galaxy. These large ionized nebulae demonstrate that interactions can produce cool gas structures on halo scales, while also possibly facilitating quasar fueling. The growing availability of wide-area integral field spectroscopic data will continue to reveal the morphologies, kinematics, and conditions of the gas flows, which may fuel galaxy and black hole growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive black holes (BHs) in dwarf galaxies can provide strong constraints on BH seeds; however, reliably detecting them is notoriously difficult. High-resolution radio observations were recently used to identify accreting massive BHs in nearby dwarf galaxies, with a significant fraction found to be non-nuclear. Here we present the first results of our optical follow-up of these radio-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in dwarf galaxies using integral field unit (IFU) data from Gemini-North. We focus on the dwarf galaxy J1220+3020, which shows no clear optical AGN signatures in its nuclear Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectrum covering the radio source. With our new IFU data, we confirm the presence of an active BH via the AGN coronal line [Fe x ] and enhanced [O i ] emission coincident with the radio source. Furthermore, we detect broad Hα emission and estimate a BH mass of MBH = 104.9M⊙. We compare the narrow emission line ratios to standard BPT diagnostics and shock models. Spatially resolved BPT diagrams show some AGN signatures, particularly in [O i ]/Hα, but overall do not unambiguously identify the AGN. A comparison of our data to shock models clearly indicates shocked emission surrounding the AGN. The physical model most consistent with the data is an active BH with a radiatively inefficient accretion flow that both photoionizes and shock-excites the surrounding gas. We conclude that feedback is important in radio-selected BHs in dwarf galaxies and that radio surveys may probe a population of low accretion rate BHs in dwarf galaxies that cannot be detected through optical surveys alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive galaxies formed most actively at redshifts z = 1–3 during the period known as "cosmic noon." Here we present an emission-line study of the extremely red quasar SDSSJ165202.64+172852.3's host galaxy at z = 2.94, based on observations with the Near Infrared Spectrograph integral field unit on board JWST. We use standard emission-line diagnostic ratios to map the sources of gas ionization across the host and a swarm of companion galaxies. The quasar dominates the photoionization, but we also discover shock-excited regions orthogonal to the ionization cone and the quasar-driven outflow. These shocks could be merger-induced or—more likely, given the presence of a powerful galactic-scale quasar outflow—these are signatures of wide-angle outflows that can reach parts of the galaxy that are not directly illuminated by the quasar. Finally, the kinematically narrow emission associated with the host galaxy presents as a collection of 1 kpc–scale clumps forming stars at a rate of at least 200 M ⊙ yr−1. The interstellar medium within these clumps shows high electron densities, reaching up to 3000 cm−3, with metallicities ranging from half to a third solar with a positive metallicity gradient, and V -band extinctions up to 3 mag. The star formation conditions are far more extreme in these regions than in local star-forming galaxies but consistent with those of massive galaxies at cosmic noon. The JWST observations simultaneously reveal an archetypal rapidly forming massive galaxy undergoing a merger, a clumpy starburst, an episode of obscured near-Eddington quasar activity, and an extremely powerful quasar outflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which reported the discovery of ionized gas nebulae surrounding three luminous red quasars from Gemini integral field unit observations. Topics discussed include comparison of the morphology and kinematic properties of these ionized gas nebulae with those surrounding type 1 and type 2 quasars, luminosity, morphology, and kinematic properties of the [O III] outflow of the three red quasars, and IFU observation and data analysis.

The article presents the author's analysis of the research by Reines and collaborators concerning black holes found at the low-mass galaxy Henize 2-10 while undergoing little star formation. The author states that the researchers found a source of X-ray and radio emission far from the site of new star formation. The author argues that the putative black hole's location is intriguing since the proposed mechanisms for new black hole creation involve massive stars.

We present visual classifications of merger-induced tidal disturbances in 143 M * ∼ 1011 M ⊙ post-starburst galaxies at z ∼ 0.7 identified in the SQuIGG L ⃗ E Sample. This sample spectroscopically selects galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that have stopped their primary epoch of star formation within the past ∼500 Myr. Visual classifications are performed on Hyper Suprime-Cam imaging. We compare to a control sample of mass- and redshift-matched star-forming and quiescent galaxies from the Large Early Galaxy Census and find that post-starburst galaxies are more likely to be classified as disturbed than either category. This corresponds to a factor of 3.6 − 1.3 + 2.9 times the disturbance rate of older quiescent galaxies and 2.1 −.73 + 1.9 times the disturbance rate of star-forming galaxies. Assuming tidal features persist for ≲500 Myr, this suggests merging is coincident with quenching in a significant fraction of these post-starbursts. Galaxies with tidal disturbances are younger on average than undisturbed post-starburst galaxies in our sample, suggesting tidal features from a major merger may have faded over time. This may be exacerbated by the fact that, on average, the undisturbed subset is fainter, rendering low-surface-brightness tidal features harder to identify. However, the presence of 10 young (≲150 Myr since quenching) undisturbed galaxies suggests that major mergers are not the only fast physical mechanism that shut down the primary epoch of star formation in massive galaxies at intermediate redshift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive early-type galaxies represent the modern day remnants of the earliest major star formation episodes in the history of the universe. These galaxies are central to our understanding of the evolution of cosmic structure, stellar populations, and supermassive black holes, but the details of their complex formation histories remain uncertain. To address this situation, we have initiated the MASSIVE Survey, a volume-limited, multi-wavelength, integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) and photometric survey of the structure and dynamics of the ∼100 most massive early-type galaxies within a distance of 108 Mpc. This survey probes a stellar mass range M* ≳ 1011.5M☼ and diverse galaxy environments that have not been systematically studied to date. Our wide-field IFS data cover about two effective radii of individual galaxies, and for a subset of them, we are acquiring additional IFS observations on sub-arcsecond scales with adaptive optics. We are also acquiring deep K-band imaging to trace the extended halos of the galaxies and measure accurate total magnitudes. Dynamical orbit modeling of the combined data will allow us to simultaneously determine the stellar, black hole, and dark matter halo masses. The primary goals of the project are to constrain the black hole scaling relations at high masses, investigate systematically the stellar initial mass function and dark matter distribution in massive galaxies, and probe the late-time assembly of ellipticals through stellar population and kinematical gradients. In this paper, we describe the MASSIVE sample selection, discuss the distinct demographics and structural and environmental properties of the selected galaxies, and provide an overview of our basic observational program, science goals and early survey results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array CO (1-0) and CO (3-2) observations of SDSS J135646.10+102609.0, an obscured quasar and ultra-luminous infrared galaxy with two merging nuclei and a known 20 kpc scale ionized outflow. The total molecular gas mass is M☼, mostly distributed in a compact rotating disk at the primary nucleus (Mmol ≈ 3 × 108M☼) and an extended tidal arm (Mmol ≈ 5 × 108M☼). The tidal arm is one of the most massive molecular tidal features known; we suggest that it is due to the lower chance of shock dissociation in this elliptical/disk galaxy merger. In the spatially resolved CO (3-2) data, we find a compact (r ≈ 0.3 kpc) high-velocity (v ≈ 500 km s–1) redshifted feature in addition to the rotation at the N nucleus. We propose a molecular outflow as the most likely explanation for the high-velocity gas. The outflowing mass of Mmol ≈ 7 × 107M☼ and the short dynamical time of tdyn ≈ 0.6 Myr yield a very high outflow rate of M☼ yr–1 and can deplete the gas in a million years. We find a low star formation rate (<16 M☼ yr–1 from the molecular content and <21 M☼ yr–1 from the far-infrared spectral energy distribution decomposition) that is inadequate to supply the kinetic luminosity of the outflow ( erg s–1). Therefore, the active galactic nucleus (AGN), with a bolometric luminosity of 1046 erg s–1, likely powers the outflow. The momentum boost rate of the outflow () is lower than typical molecular outflows associated with AGNs, which may be related to its compactness. The molecular and ionized outflows are likely two distinct bursts induced by episodic AGN activity which varies on a timescale of 107 yr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offset active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are AGNs that are in ongoing galaxy mergers, which produce kinematic offsets in the AGNs relative to their host galaxies. Offset AGNs are also close relatives of dual AGNs. We conduct a systematic search for offset AGNs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by selecting AGN emission lines that exhibit statistically significant line-of-sight velocity offsets relative to systemic. From a parent sample of 18,314 Type 2 AGNs at z < 0.21, we identify 351 offset AGN candidates with velocity offsets of 50 km s–1 < |Δv| < 410 km s–1. When we account for projection effects in the observed velocities, we estimate that 4%-8% of AGNs are offset AGNs. We designed our selection criteria to bypass velocity offsets produced by rotating gas disks, AGN outflows, and gravitational recoil of supermassive black holes, but follow-up observations are still required to confirm our candidates as offset AGNs. We find that the fraction of AGNs that are offset candidates increases with AGN bolometric luminosity, from 0.7% to 6% over the luminosity range 43 < log (Lbol) [erg s–1] <46. If these candidates are shown to be bona fide offset AGNs, then this would be direct observational evidence that galaxy mergers preferentially trigger high-luminosity AGNs. Finally, we find that the fraction of AGNs that are offset AGN candidates increases from 1.9% at z = 0.1 to 32% at z = 0.7, in step with the growth in the galaxy merger fraction over the same redshift range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive galaxies display extended light profiles that can reach several hundreds of kiloparsecs. We use data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey that is simultaneously wide (~100 deg2) and deep (>28.5 mag arcsec-2 in i band) to study the stellar haloes of a sample of ~7000 massive galaxies at z ~ 0.4. The depth of the HSC data enables us to measure surface mass density profiles to 100 kpc for individual galaxies without stacking. As in previous work, we find that more massive galaxies exhibit more extended outer profiles than smaller galaxies. When this extended light is not properly accounted for (because of shallow imaging and/or inadequate profile modelling), the derived stellar mass function can be significantly underestimated at the high-mass end. Across our sample, the ellipticity of outer light profile increases substantially with radius. We show for the first time that these ellipticity gradients steepen dramatically as a function of galaxy mass, but we detect no mass dependence in outer colour gradients. Our results support the two-phase formation scenario for massive galaxies in which outer envelopes are built up at a later time from a series of merging events. We provide surface mass density profiles in a convenient tabulated format to facilitate comparisons with predictions from numerical simulations of galaxy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive galaxies display extended light profiles that can reach several hundreds of kiloparsecs. We use data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey that is simultaneously wide (∼100 deg2) and deep (>28.5 mag arcsec-2 in i band) to study the stellar haloes of a sample of ∼7000 massive galaxies at z ∼ 0.4. The depth of the HSC data enables us to measure surface mass density profiles to 100 kpc for individual galaxies without stacking. As in previous work, we find that more massive galaxies exhibit more extended outer profiles than smaller galaxies. When this extended light is not properly accounted for (because of shallow imaging and/or inadequate profile modelling), the derived stellar mass function can be significantly underestimated at the high-mass end. Across our sample, the ellipticity of outer light profile increases substantially with radius. We show for the first time that these ellipticity gradients steepen dramatically as a function of galaxy mass, but we detect no mass dependence in outer colour gradients. Our results support the two-phase formation scenario for massive galaxies in which outer envelopes are built up at a later time from a series of merging events. We provide surface mass density profiles in a convenient tabulated format to facilitate comparisons with predictions from numerical simulations of galaxy formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate 2727 galaxies observed by MaNGA as of 2016 June to develop spatially resolved techniques for identifying signatures of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We identify 303AGNcandidates. The additional spatial dimension imposes challenges in identifying AGNs due to contamination from diffuse ionized gas, extraplanar gas and photoionization by hot stars. We show that the combination of spatially resolved line diagnostic diagrams and additional cuts on Hα surface brightness and Hα equivalent width can distinguish between AGN-like signatures and high-metallicity galaxies with low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions-like spectra. Low-mass galaxies with high specific star formation rates are particularly difficult to diagnose and routinely show diagnostic line ratios outside of the standard star formation locus.We develop a new diagnostic -- the distance from the standard diagnostic line in the line-ratio space -- to evaluate the significance of the deviation from the star formation locus. We find 173 galaxies that would not have been selected as AGN candidates based on single-fibre spectral measurements but exhibit photoionization signatures suggestive of AGN activity in the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO resolved observations, underscoring the power of large integral field unit surveys. A complete census of these new AGN candidates is necessary to understand their nature and probe the complex co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the environmental properties of 370 local early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the MASSIVE and ATLAS3D surveys, two complementary volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) galaxy surveys spanning absolute K-band magnitude -21.5 ≲ MK ≲ -26.6, or stellar mass 8 × 109 ≲ M* ≲ 2 × 1012 M⊙. We find these galaxies to reside in a diverse range of environments measured by four methods: group membership (whether a galaxy is a brightest group/cluster galaxy, satellite or isolated), halo mass, large-scale mass density (measured over a few Mpc) and local mass density (measured within the Nth neighbour). The spatially resolved IFS stellar kinematics provide robust measurements of the spin parameter λe and enable us to examine the relationship among λe, M* and galaxy environment. We find a strong correlation between λe and M*, where the average λe decreases from ~0.4 to below 0.1 with increasing mass, and the fraction of slow rotators fslow increase from ~10 to 90 per cent. We show for the first time that at fixed M*, there are almost no trends between galaxy spin and environment; the apparent kinematic morphology-density relation for ETGs is therefore primarily driven by M* and is accounted for by the joint correlations between M⊙ and spin, and between M⊙ and environment. A possible exception is that the increased fslow at high local density is slightly more than expected based only on these joint correlations. Our results suggest that the physical processes responsible for building up the present-day stellar masses of massive galaxies are also very efficient at reducing their spin, in any environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the warm molecular and ionized gas in the centers of two megamaser disk galaxies using K-band spectroscopy. Our ultimate goal is to determine how gas is funneled onto the accretion disk, here traced by megamaser spots on sub-parsec scales. We present NIR IFU data with a resolution of ∼50 pc for two galaxies: NGC 4388 with VLT/SINFONI and NGC 1194 with Keck/OSIRIS+AO. The high spatial resolution and rich spectral diagnostics allow us to study both the stellar and gas kinematics as well as gas excitation on scales only an order of magnitude larger than the maser disk. We find a drop in the stellar velocity dispersion in the inner ∼100 pc of NGC 4388, a common signature of a dynamically cold central component seen in many active nuclei. We also see evidence for noncircular gas motions in the molecular hydrogen on similar scales, with the gas kinematics on 100 parsec scales aligned with the megamaser disk. In contrast, the high ionization lines and Brγ trace outflow along the 100 parsec-scale jet. In NGC 1194, the continuum from the accreting black hole is very strong, making it difficult to measure robust two-dimensional kinematics, but the spatial distribution and line ratios of the molecular hydrogen and Brγ have consistent properties between the two galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]