arXiv subjects

I. S. McLean

Publications and source records attributed to I. S. McLean.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv1999

Infrared Spectroscopy of the High Redshift Radio Galaxy MRC~2025-218 and a Neighboring Extremely Red Galaxy

This paper presents infrared spectra taken with the newly commissioned NIRSPEC spectrograph on the Keck Telescope of the High Redshift Radio Galaxy MRC 2025-218 (z=2.630) and an extremely red galaxy (R-K > 6 mag) 9'' away. These observations represent the deepest infrared spectra of a radio galaxy to date and have allowed for the detection of Hbeta, OIII (4959/5007), OI (6300), Halpha, NII (6548/6583) and SII (6716/6713). The Halpha emission is very broad (FWHM~6000 km/s) and strongly supports AGN unification models linking radio galaxies and quasars. The line ratios are most consistent with a partially obscured nuclear region and very high excitation. The OIII (5007) line is extended several arcseconds and shows high velocity clouds in the extended emission. The nucleus also appears spectrally double and we argue that the radio galaxy is undergoing a violent merger process. The red galaxy, by comparison, is very featureless even though we have a good continuum detection in the H and K bands. We suggest that this object is a foreground galaxy, probably at a redshift less than 1.5.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The afterglow, the redshift, and the extreme energetics of the gamma-ray burst 990123

Afterglow, or long-lived emission, has now been detected from about a dozen well-positioned gamma-ray bursts. Distance determinations made by measuring optical emission lines from the host galaxy, or absorption lines in the afterglow spectrum, place the burst sources at significant cosmological distances, with redshifts ranging from ~1--3. The energy required to produce the bright gamma-ray flashes is enormous: up to ~10^{53} erg or 10 percent of the rest mass energy of a neutron star, if the emission is isotropic. Here we present the discovery of the optical afterglow and the redshift of GRB 990123, the brightest well-localized GRB to date. With our measured redshift of >1.6, the inferred isotropic energy release exceeds the rest mass of a neutron star thereby challenging current theoretical models for the origin of GRBs. We argue that the optical and IR afterglow measurements reported here may provide the first observational evidence of beaming in a GRB, thereby reducing the required energetics to a level where stellar death models are still tenable.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1998

An Infrared Search for Star-Forming Galaxies at z > 2

We report the cumulative results of an on-going near-infrared search for redshifted H-alpha emission from normal galaxies at z>2. An infrared search reduces the bias due to reddening. Using narrow-band imaging with the Near Infrared Camera on the Keck I 10-m telescope, a survey area of almost 12 square arcminutes has been covered. Target regions were selected by matching the redshifts of QSO emission and metal-line absorptions to our available filters. The survey depth is 7E-17 ergs/cm^2/s (3sigma) in H-alpha and K-prime ~22. Eleven H-alpha-emitters, plus two Seyfert I objects, have been discovered. The high density of galaxy detections, corresponding to a co-moving volume density of 0.0135/Mpc^3, makes it unlikely that all of the H-alpha flux in these objects is the result of active nuclei. There is a strong suggestion of clustering in the environments of metal-line absorbers. Each candidate galaxy lies typically within a projected distance of 250kpc of the QSO line of sight and is resolved but compact. The average Star Formation Rate inferred for the galaxies from the H-alpha flux is 50 Msun/yr, significantly higher than current day star-forming galaxies, but consistent with other estimates for galaxies at high redshift.

astro-ph↗