arXiv subjects

I-Ting Ho

Publications and source records attributed to I-Ting Ho.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Starburst-AGN mixing: II. Optically-selected active galaxies

We use 4 galaxies from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey with clear signs of accretion onto supermassive black holes to investigate the relative contribution of star-formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity to the line-emission of each galaxy as a function of radius. The combination of star-formation and AGN activity produces curved "mixing sequences" on standard optical diagnostic diagrams, and the fraction of emission due to AGN activity decreases smoothly with distance from the centre of the galaxy. We use the AGN activity profiles to calculate the size of the AGN narrow line regions, which have radii of ~ 6.3 kpc. We calculate the fractional contribution of the star-formation and the AGN activity to the global Halpha, [O II] $λλ$ 3727,3729 and [O III] $λ$ 5007 luminosities of each galaxy, and show that both ionization sources contribute significantly to the emission in all three lines. We use weighted combinations of stellar and AGN photoionization models to produce mixing models, which are consistent with observations for 85 percent of spaxels across the galaxies in our sample. We also present a new diagnostic for starburst-AGN mixing which requires only the [O II], [O III] and Hbeta emission lines, and can therefore be used to calculate AGN fractions up to z ~ 0.85 in the optical and z ~ 3.5 in the near-infrared. We anticipate that this diagnostic will facilitate studies of the properties of AGN ionizing radiation fields and the relative optical contribution of star-formation and AGN activity over cosmic time.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Spaxel Analysis: Probing the Physics of Star Formation in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

This paper presents a detailed spectral pixel (spaxel) analysis of the ten Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs) previously observed with the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS), an integral field spectrograph mounted on the ANU 2.3m telescope, and for which an abundance gradient analysis has already been presented by Rich et al. (2012). Here we use the strong emission line analysis techniques developed by Dopita et al. (2013) to measure the ionisation parameter and the oxygen abundance in each spaxel. In addition, we use the observed H$α$ flux to determine the surface rate of star formation ($M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$) and use the [\ion{S}{2}] $λ\lambda6717/6731$ ratio to estimate the local pressure in the ionised plasma. We discuss the correlations discovered between these physical quantities, and use them to infer aspects of the physics of star formation in these extreme star forming environments. In particular, we find a correlation between the star formation rate and the inferred ionisation parameter. We examine the possible reasons for this correlation, and determine that the most likely explanation is that the more active star forming regions have a different distribution of molecular gas which favour higher ionisation parameters in the ionised plasma.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

An X-ray/optical study of the geometry and dynamics of MACS J0140.0-0555, a massive post-collision cluster merger

We investigate the physical properties, geometry and dynamics of the massive cluster merger MACS J0140.0-0555 (z=0.451) using X-ray and optical diagnostics. Featuring two galaxy overdensities separated by about 250 kpc in projection on the sky, and a single peak in the X-ray surface brightness distribution located between them, MACS J0140.0-0555 shows the tell-tale X-ray/optical morphology of a binary, post-collision merger. Our spectral analysis of the X-ray emission, as measured by our Chandra ACIS-I observation of the system, finds the intra-cluster medium to be close to isothermal (~8.5 keV) with no clear signs of cool cores or shock fronts. Spectroscopic follow-up of galaxies in the field of MACS J0140.0-0555 yields a velocity dispersion of 875 (+70/-100) km/s (n_z=66) and no significant evidence of bimodality or substructure along the line of sight. In addition, the difference in radial velocity between the brightest cluster galaxies of the two sub-clusters of 144+/-25 km/s is small compared to typical collision velocities of several 1000 km/s. A strongly lensed background galaxy at z=0.873 (which features variable X-ray emission from an active nucleus) provides the main constraint on the mass distribution of the system. We measure M(<75 kpc) = (5.6+/- 0.5)*10^13 M_sun for the north-western cluster component and a much less certain estimate of (1.5-3)*10^13 M_sun for the south-eastern subcluster. These values are in good agreement with our X-ray mass estimates which yield a total mass of MACS J0140.0-0555 of M(<r_500) ~ (6.8-9.1)*10^14 M_sun. ......

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Dust Obscuration in Lyman Break Galaxies at z~4

Measuring star formation rates (SFRs) in high-z galaxies with their rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum can be uncertain because of dust obscuration. Prior studies had used the submillimeter emission at 850 um to determine the intrinsic SFRs of rest-frame UV selected galaxies, but the results suffered from the low sensitivity and poor resolution (~15''). Here, we use ultradeep Very Large Array 1.4 GHz images with ~1''-2'' resolutions to measure the intrinsic SFRs. We perform stacking analyses in the radio images centered on ~3500 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z~4 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North and South fields selected with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys data. The stacked radio flux is very low, 0.08+/-0.15 uJy, implying a mean SFR of 6+/-11 M/yr. This is comparable to the uncorrected mean UV SFRs of 5 M/yr, implying that the z~4 LBGs have little dust extinction. The low SFR and dust extinction support the previous results that z~4 LBGs are in general not submillimeter galaxies. We further show that there is no statistically significant excess of dust-hidden star-forming components within ~22 kpc from the LBGs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Multiple Radial Cool Molecular Filaments in NGC 1275

We have extended our previous observation (Lim et al. 2008) of NGC1275 covering a central radius of ~10kpc to the entire main body of cool molecular gas spanning ~14kpc east and west of center. We find no new features beyond the region previously mapped, and show that all six spatially-resolved features on both the eastern and western sides (three on each side) comprise radially aligned filaments. Such radial filaments can be most naturally explained by a model in which gas deposited "upstream" in localized regions experiencing an X-ray cooling flow subsequently free falls along the gravitational potential of PerA, as we previously showed can explain the observed kinematics of the two longest filaments. All the detected filaments coincide with locally bright Halpha features, and have a ratio in CO(2-1) to Halpha luminosity of ~1e-3; we show that these filaments have lower star formation efficiencies than the nearly constant value found for molecular gas in nearby normal spiral galaxies. On the other hand, some at least equally luminous Halpha features, including a previously identified giant HII region, show no detectable cool molecular gas with a corresponding ratio at least a factor of ~5 lower; in the giant HII region, essentially all the pre-existing molecular gas may have been converted to stars. We demonstrate that all the cool molecular filaments are gravitationally bound, and without any means of support beyond thermal pressure should collapse on timescales ~< 1e6yrs. By comparison, as we showed previously the two longest filaments have much longer dynamical ages of ~1e7yrs. Tidal shear may help delay their collapse, but more likely turbulent velocities of at least a few tens km/s or magnetic fields with strengths of at least several ~10uG are required to support these filaments.

astro-ph.CO↗