arXiv subjects

Chorng-Yuan Hwang

Publications and source records attributed to Chorng-Yuan Hwang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Compact Absorbers surrounding the M87 AGN Revealed by ALMA Band 3 Observations1

We report detection of two compact absorption features surrounding the M87 nucleus and some extended absorption features perpendicular to the M87 jet using the Atacama Large millimeter-submillimeter-Array (ALMA) Band 3 data. One compact absorption feature appears at the position of the M87 AGN and the other $0.5\arcsec$ away from the AGN. These two compact features appear as well-defined negative structures in the integrated intensity map from the velocity range of $-500$ to $+2000~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$. These two features are separated by a distance of $\sim$40~pc assuming the distance of M87. The origin of these features could be dense molecular fragments associated with super massive black holes (SMBHs), possibly associated with a rotating torus filament, or in-falling molecular fragments/objects feeding the nucleus. The extended absorption features perpendicular to the jet appear in all velocity ranges and can be caused by shock compressed regions associated with the jet knots A and C.

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arXiv2024

SCUBA-2 Ultra Deep Imaging EAO Survey (STUDIES). V. Confusion-limited Submillimeter Galaxy Number Counts at 450 $μ$m and Data Release for the COSMOS Field

We present confusion-limited SCUBA-2 450-$μ$m observations in the COSMOS-CANDELS region as part of the JCMT Large Program, SCUBA-2 Ultra Deep Imaging EAO Survey (STUDIES). Our maps at 450 and 850 $μ$m cover an area of 450 arcmin$^2$. We achieved instrumental noise levels of $σ_{\mathrm{450}}=$ 0.59 mJy beam$^{-1}$ and $σ_{\mathrm{850}}=$ 0.09 mJy beam$^{-1}$ in the deepest area of each map. The corresponding confusion noise levels are estimated to be 0.65 and 0.36 mJy beam$^{-1}$. Above the 4 (3.5) $σ$ threshold, we detected 360 (479) sources at 450 $μ$m and 237 (314) sources at 850 $μ$m. We derive the deepest blank-field number counts at 450 $μ$m, covering the flux-density range of 2 to 43 mJy. These are in agreement with other SCUBA-2 blank-field and lensing-cluster observations, but are lower than various model counts. We compare the counts with those in other fields and find that the field-to-field variance observed at 450 $μ$m at the $R=6^\prime$ scale is consistent with Poisson noise, so there is no evidence of strong 2-D clustering at this scale. Additionally, we derive the integrated surface brightness at 450 $μ$m down to 2.1 mJy to be $57.3^{+1.0}_{-6.2}$~Jy deg$^{-2}$, contributing to (41$\pm$4)\% of the 450-$μ$m extragalactic background light (EBL) measured by COBE and Planck. Our results suggest that the 450-$μ$m EBL may be fully resolved at $0.08^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$~mJy, which extremely deep lensing-cluster observations and next-generation submillimeter instruments with large aperture sizes may be able to achieve.

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arXiv2023

Discovery of compact disc Galaxies with High Surface Brightness in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Compact disc galaxies (CDGs) with high surface brightness were identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. We determined the surface profiles of the CDGs and compared them to those of normal-sized disk galaxies (NDGs). The CDGs have higher central brightness and older stellar age than the NDGs. Furthermore, the brightness profiles of the CDGs fit a S{é}rsic model with $n \approx 2.11$ and have a zero $g^{\prime}-r^{\prime}$ color gradient on average. By contrast, the NDGs fit an exponential profile and have a negative color gradient on average. These results indicate that the structure and stellar population of the CDGs and NDGs differ. We suggest that the CDGs are ancient galaxies in the quenching phase following the initial central starburst.

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arXiv2023

Milliarcsecond Core Size Dependence of the Radio Variability of Blazars

Studying the long-term radio variability (timescales of months to years) of blazars enables us to gain a better understanding of the physical structure of these objects on sub-parsec scales, and the physics of super massive black holes. In this study, we focus on the radio variability of 1157 blazars observed at 15 GHz through the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) Blazar Monitoring Program. We investigate the dependence of the variability amplitudes and timescales, characterized based on model fitting to the structure functions, on the milliarcsecond core sizes measured by Very Long Baseline Interferometry. We find that the most compact sources at milliarcsecond scales exhibit larger variability amplitudes and shorter variability timescales than more extended sources. Additionally, for sources with measured redshifts and Doppler boosting factors, the correlation between linear core sizes against variability amplitudes and intrinsic timescales are also significant. The observed relationship between variability timescales and core sizes is expected, based on light travel-time arguments. This variability vs core size relation extends beyond the core sizes measured at 15 GHz; we see significant correlation between the 15 GHz variability amplitudes (as well as timescales) and core sizes measured at other frequencies, which can be attributed to a frequency-source size relationship arising from the intrinsic jet structure. At low frequencies of 1 GHz where the core sizes are dominated by interstellar scattering, we find that the variability amplitudes have significant correlation with the 1 GHz intrinsic core angular sizes, once the scatter broadening effects are deconvoluted from the intrinsic core sizes.

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arXiv2023

Rapid Growth of Galactic Supermassive Black Holes through Accreting Giant Molecular Clouds during Major Mergers of their Host Galaxies

Understanding the formation of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) present in the centers of galaxies is a crucial topic in modern astrophysics. Observations have detected the SMBHs with mass $M$ of $10^{9}\, \rm M_\odot$ in the high-redshift galaxies with $\rm z\sim7$. However, how SMBHs grew to such huge masses within the first billion years after the big bang remains elusive. One possible explanation is that SMBHs grow quickly through the frequent mergers of galaxies, which provides sustainable gas to maintain rapid growth. This study presents the hydrodynamics simulations of the SMBHs' growth with their host galaxies using the GIZMO code. In contrast to previous simulations, we have developed a giant molecular cloud (GMC) model by separating molecular-gas particles from the atomic-gas particles and then evolving them independently. During major mergers, we show that the more massive molecular gas particles cloud bear stronger dynamical friction. Consequently, GMCs are substantially accreted onto the galactic centers that grow SMBHs from $\sim 10^{7}$ $\rm M_\odot$ to $\sim 10^{9}\, \rm M_\odot$ within $300$ Myr, explaining the rapid growth of SMBHs, and this accretion also triggers a violent starburst at the galactic center. Furthermore, we examine the impact of minor mergers on the bulge of a Milky-Way-like galaxy and find that the size and mass of the bulge can increase from $0.92$ kpc to $1.9$ kpc and from $4.7\times 10^{10}\, \rm M_\odot$ to $7\times 10^{10}\, \rm M_\odot$.

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arXiv2023

High-resolution Imaging of Two Radio Quasars at the End of the Reionization Epoch

There are approximately 250 quasars discovered at redshift $z\geq6$, of which only a handful were detected in radio bands, and even fewer were imaged with the highest resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) technique. Here we report the results of our dual-frequency observations with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) of two such recently discovered quasars, VIKING J231818.35$-$311346.3 at $z=6.44$ and FIRST J233153.20$+$112952.11 at $z=6.57$. Both extremely distant sources were imaged with VLBI for the first time. The radio properties of the former are consistent with those of quasars with young radio jets. The latter has an UV/optical spectrum characteristic of BL Lac objects, of which no others have been found beyond redshift 4 so far. Our VLBA observations revealed a flat-spectrum compact radio source.

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arXiv2022

Dense nitrogen-enriched circumnuclear region of the new high-redshift quasar ULAS J0816+2134 at z=7.46

We present the 0.85-2.5-micron discovery spectrum and multi-epoch photometry of the new high-redshift quasar ULAS J081621.47+213442.6 obtained using the GNIRS spectrograph of the Gemini North and near-infrared wide-field camera of the 4-m UKIRT telescopes. The redshift of ULAS J081621.47+213442.6 measured from the MgII 2799 emission line is z=7.461. The absolute magnitude of the quasar is M1450=-25.33. The black hole mass estimated using the MgII 2799 line and Eddington accretion rate are ~5x10^8Msun and ~0.7. The spectrum of ULAS J081621.47+213442.6 exhibits strong NIII] 1750 emission line of a rest-frame equivalent width of ~12.5 A. The high abundance of nitrogen suggests that ULAS J081621.47+213442.6 may be at the peak of the nitrogen enrichment of the circumnuclear region by the asymptotic giant branch stars, which is expected ~0.25 Gyr after the bulk of star formation. The age of the starburst of ULAS J081621.47+213442.6 implied by the high nitrogen abundance, indicates that the active phase of the black hole growth of the quasar may have lasted only ~0.25 Gyr, favoring a massive initial black hole seed. We also observed the flux variations of the UV continuum of ULAS J081621.47+213442.6 caused by the variation in the line-of-sight absorbing column density on a rest-frame timescale of ~47 d. The estimated hydrogen column density of the gas cloud responsible for this variation is N~10^{23.5} cm^{-2}, consistent with the typical column density of mostly neutral, gravitationally bound clouds of the broad line region of quasars.

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arXiv2020

Dynamics of Companion Galaxies of Early-Type Galaxies

We estimated the dynamical masses of 115 early-type galaxies (ETGs) by analyzing the dynamics of satellite and companion galaxies of these ETGs. We selected galaxies with absolute magnitudes between -22 and -25 in the $K_s$-band from the Extragalactic Distance Database (EDD). We also selected 216 spiral galaxies for comparison. We employed a simple model to simulate the observed dynamical mass from satellite galaxies at various distances. Our simulations showed that the dynamical masses derived from satellite galaxies with elliptical orbits would be smaller than those with circular orbits even they contain the same dark mass halos. Therefore, relationships between the observed $M_\mathrm{dyn}/M_\mathrm{b}$ distributions and distances would depend on orbital shapes. From the relationships between our observed $M_\mathrm{dyn}/M_\mathrm{b}$ distributions and distances, we suggest that the satellite galaxies of the ETGs have relatively more elliptical orbits than those of the spiral galaxies have and the $M_\mathrm{dyn}/M_\mathrm{b}$ of the ETGs are greater than that of the spiral galaxies.

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arXiv2019

Rapidly accreting black hole of the Lyα-luminous quasar PSO J006.1240+39.2219

We present near-infrared 1.1-1.3 and 1.3-1.6 $μ$m spectra of the Ly$α$-luminous quasar PSO J006.1240+39.2219 at $z=6.617$ obtained with the NIRSPEC spectrograph at the Keck-II telescope. The spectra cover the CIV $λ$1549, CIII] $λ$1909 emission lines and part of the UV continuum of the quasar. From the NIRSPEC observations of PSO J006.1240+39.2219, we constrain the spectral slope of its UV continuum to be $α_λ=-1.35\pm0.26$ and measure an absolute magnitude of $M_{1450}=-25.60$. Using the scaling relation between black hole mass, width of the CIV line and ultraviolet continuum luminosity, we derive a black hole mass of $(2.19\pm0.30)\times 10^8 M_{sun}$, which is consistent but somewhat smaller than the typical black hole masses of $z\gtrsim6$ quasars of similar luminosities. The inferred accretion rate of $L_{bol}/L_{edd}\gtrsim2$ indicates that PSO J006.1240+39.2219 is in the phase of the rapid growth of its supermassive black hole characterized by the high NV/CIV line ratio, NV/CIV$>1$, and lower level of ionization of its circumnuclear gas than in other high-redshift luminous quasars. The NV/CIV line ratio of PSO J006.1240+39.2219 implies relatively high abundance of nitrogen in its circumnuclear gas. This abundance might be produced by the post-starburst population of stars that provide the fuel for black hole accretion.

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arXiv2019

A luminous molecular gas pair beyond redshift 7

We report the first detection of molecular gas beyond redshift 7. The molecular gas is associated with the host galaxy of the quasar candidate PSO J145.5964+19.3565 and its companion PSO J145.5964+19.3565N separated by 20.7 kpc. The molecular gas of both companions is detected in two rotational transition lines of carbon monoxide, CO(6-5) and CO(7-6). We also detected the Lyman-alpha line of PSO J145.5964+19.3565 at z=7.08. The Lyman-alpha line emission is extended and might represent the blended emission of two different sources at a separation of <5 kpc. The detected CO and Lyman-alpha emission likely originate from a system of interacting star-forming galaxies that might host a quasar(s). We also report the detection of a new emission line from the system which is a possible 793.62-GHz water maser line.

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arXiv2019

Emission Line Luminosity Distributions of Seyfert 2 Galaxies

We probed the relation between line activities of Seyfert 2 galaxies and their host galaxies. We selected Seyfert 2 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10 with redshifts less 0.2. We used the luminosity of the emission lines as indicators of AGN power. We found that the Seyfert 2 galaxies seem to have two populations in the emission line luminosity distributions. We considered the L[OIII]/Lbulge ratio as an accretion rate indicator and found that the two Seyfert 2 distributions seem to have different accretion rates. We found that these two Seyfert 2 populations, although classified by their emission line distributions, turned out to have different morphology distributions. These results indicate that these different populations of the Seyfert 2 galaxies might be significantly different in their physical conditions.

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arXiv2018

Dark Matter in the Central Region of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4321

We present our results of 12 CO(1-0) transition in the central region of NGC 4321 using the Atacama Large Millimeter and Sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). We found an unaccounted mass of $2.3 \times 10^9 M_{\odot}$ within the central 0.7 kpc of this galaxy. The expected mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in this galaxy is much smaller than the unaccounted mass. The invisible mass is likely caused by dark matter in the central region of the galaxy, indicating a cuspy dark matter profile. We also investigated the Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) as an alternative mechanism to explain the invisible mass. We noted that at the radius of 0.7 kpc of the galaxy, the acceleration is about $1.04 \times 10^-7~cm~s^-2$, which is much larger than the critical acceleration $a_{0} \sim 1.2 \times 10^-8 ~cm~s^-2$ in the MOND theory, suggesting that theory might not be able explain the unseen mass problem in central region of this galaxy.

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arXiv2018

Dark Matter in the Central Region of NGC 3256

We investigated the central mass distribution of the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 3256 at a distance of 35 Mpc by using CO(1-0) observations of the Atacama Large Millimeter and sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) and near-IR data of the Two Micron Sky Survey (2MASS). We found that there is a huge amount of invisible dynamical mass ($4.84 \times 10^{10} M_{\odot}$) in the central region of the galaxy. The invisible mass is likely caused by some dark matter, which might have a cuspy dark matter profile. We note that this dark matter is difficult to explain with the conventional Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) model, which is only applicable at a low acceleration regime, whereas the acceleration at the central region of the galaxy is relatively strong. Therefore, this discovery might pose a challenge to the conventional MOND models.

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arXiv2017

Morphology of Seyfert Galaxies

We probed the relation between properties of Seyfert nuclei and morphology of their host galaxies. We selected Seyfert galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with redshifts less 0.2 identified by the Véron Catalog (13th). We used the "{\it{FracDev}}" parameter from SDSS galaxy fitting models to represent the bulge fractions of the Seyfert host galaxies. We found that the host galaxies of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 are dominated by large bulge fractions, and Seyfert 2 galaxies are more likely to be located in disk galaxies whereas most of the Seyfert 1 galaxies are located in bulge-dominant galaxies. These results indicate that the types of AGNs are related to their host galaxies and can not be explained by the traditional unification model of Seyfert galaxies.

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arXiv2017

Molecular Gas Feeding the Circumnuclear Disk of the Galactic Center

The interaction between a supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the surrounding material is of primary importance in modern astrophysics. The detection of the molecular 2-pc circumnuclear disk (CND) immediately around the Milky Way SMBH, SgrA*, provides an unique opportunity to study SMBH accretion at sub-parsec scales. Our new wide-field CS(2-1) map toward the Galactic center (GC) reveals multiple dense molecular streamers originated from the ambient clouds 20-pc further out, and connecting to the central 2 parsecs of the CND. These dense gas streamers appear to carry gas directly toward the nuclear region and might be captured by the central potential. Our phase-plot analysis indicates that these streamers show a signature of rotation and inward radial motion with progressively higher velocities as the gas approaches the CND and finally ends up co-rotating with the CND. Our results might suggest a possible mechanism of gas feeding the CND from 20 pc around 2 pc in the GC. In this paper, we discuss the morphology and the kinematics of these streamers. As the nearest observable Galactic nucleus, this feeding process may have implications for understanding the processes in extragalactic nuclei.

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arXiv2017

Discovery of a very Lyman-$α$-luminous quasar at z=6.62

Distant luminous quasars provide important information on the growth of the first supermassive black holes, their host galaxies and the epoch of reionization. The identification of quasars is usually performed through detection of their Lyman-$α$ line redshifted to $\sim$ 0.9 microns at z>6.5. Here, we report the discovery of a very Lyman-$α$ luminous quasar, PSO J006.1240+39.2219 at redshift z=6.618, selected based on its red colour and multi-epoch detection of the Lyman-$α$ emission in a single near-infrared band. The Lyman-$α$-line luminosity of PSO J006.1240+39.2219 is unusually high and estimated to be 0.8$\times$10$^{12}$ Solar luminosities (about 3% of the total quasar luminosity). The Lyman-$α$ emission of PSO J006.1240+39.2219 shows fast variability on timescales of days in the quasar rest frame, which has never been detected in any of the known high-redshift quasars. The high luminosity of the Lyman-$α$ line, its narrow width and fast variability resemble properties of local Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies which suggests that the quasar is likely at the active phase of the black hole growth accreting close or even beyond the Eddington limit.

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arXiv2017

Properties of spectrally-defined red QSOs at z = 0.3-1.2

We investigated the properties of a sample of red Quasi-stellar Objects (QSOs) using optical, radio, and infrared data. These QSOs were selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7) quasar catalog. We only selected sources with sky coverage of the Very Large Array Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters (VLA FIRST) survey, and searched for sources with Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) counterparts. We defined the spectral color of the QSOs based on the flux ratio of the rest frame 4000$Å$ to 3000$Å$ continuum emission to select red QSOs and typical QSOs. In accordance with this criterion, only QSOs with redshifts between 0.3 and 1.2 could be selected. We found that the red QSOs have stronger infrared emission than the typical QSOs do. We noted that the number ratios of the red QSOs to the typical QSOs decrease with increasing redshifts, although the number of the typical QSOs increase with redshifts. Furthermore, at high redshifts, the luminosity distributions of the typical QSOs and the red QSOs seem to have similar luminosity distribution peaks; however, at low redshifts, the luminosities of the red QSOs seem to be lower than those of the typical QSOs. These findings suggest that there might be at least two types of red QSOs in our QSO samples.

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arXiv2016

The Fossil Nuclear Outflow in the Central 30 pc of the Galactic Center

We report a new 1-pc (30") resolution CS($J=2-1$) line map of the central 30 pc of the Galactic Center (GC), made with the Nobeyama 45m telescope. We revisit our previous study of the extraplanar feature called polar arc (PA), which is a molecular cloud located above SgrA* with a velocity gradient perpendicular to the Galactic plane. We find that the PA can be traced back to the Galactic disk. This provides clues of the launching point of the PA , roughly $6\times10^{6}$ years ago. Implications of the dynamical time scale of the PA might be related to the Galactic Center Lobe (GCL) at parsec scale. Our results suggest that in the central 30 pc of the GC, the feedback from past explosions could alter the orbital path of the molecular gas down to the central tenth of parsec. In the follow-up work of our new CS($J=2-1$) map, we also find that near the systemic velocity, the molecular gas shows an extraplanar hourglass-shaped feature (HG-feature) with a size of $\sim$13 pc. The latitude-velocity diagrams show that the eastern edge of the HG-feature is associated with an expanding bubble B1, $\sim$7 pc away from SgrA*. The dynamical time scale of this bubble is $\sim3\times10^{5}$ years. This bubble is interacting with the 50 km s$^{-1}$ cloud. Part of the molecular gas from the 50 km s$^{-1}$ cloud was swept away by the bubble to $b=-0.2deg$. The western edge of the HG-feature seems to be the molecular gas entrained from the 20 km s$^{-1}$ cloud towards the north of the Galactic disk. Our results suggest a fossil explosion in the central 30 pc of the GC a few 10$^{5}$ years ago.

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