arXiv subjects

Ivan Delvecchio

Publications and source records attributed to Ivan Delvecchio.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

MARTA: A "little" black hole hidden in a clumpy, metal-poor galaxy at z~3.8

JWST has extended the search for accreting black holes into the high-redshift, low-mass regime. We report a low-mass black hole candidate in MARTA 3887, a clumpy, metal-poor galaxy at $z=3.7694$, combining deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy, HST and JWST imaging, and archival VLT/MUSE data. We detect a broad H$α$ component with $L_{\rm Hα,b}=2.35\times10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and FWHM $=1270^{+260}_{-250}$ km s$^{-1}$, with no [O III] counterpart of comparable width. Under a broad-line-region interpretation, virial calibrations give $\log(M_{\rm BH}/M_\odot)=6.52^{+0.18}_{-0.23}$ and $λ_{\rm Edd}=0.07$, or up to 0.38 for alternative calibrations. The host comprises at least three compact clumps, with $\log(M_\star/M_\odot)=8.16^{+0.09}_{-0.10}$. If stellar photoionization dominates the narrow lines, the gas is highly ionized and metal poor, with $12+\log({\rm O/H})=7.68\pm0.04$ ($\simeq0.10\,Z_\odot$). The inferred $M_{\rm BH}/M_\star=2.3\%$ lies about 2 dex above the extrapolated local relation, suggesting that black-hole growth has outpaced the assembly of the observed host. If growth began only when the first 10% of the observed stellar mass had formed ($t_{10}=92$ Myr ago), a $10^2\,M_\odot$ seed would require a lifetime-mean Eddington ratio $\simeq5.7$; earlier growth or a more massive, e.g. direct-collapse, seed would allow sub-Eddington mean accretion. MUSE reveals extended Ly$α$ emission ($\simeq6.5$-6.9 proper kpc), offset by $+64^{+10}_{-8}$ km s$^{-1}$ from systemic, with a provisional escape fraction of $\simeq0.44$. Together with a Mg II doublet ratio close to the optically thin limit and a high [O III]/[O II] ratio, this makes MARTA 3887 a laboratory to study black-hole growth, stellar assembly, and ionizing-photon escape jointly.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Direct measures of black hole masses through cosmic time

Supermassive black holes (BHs) are thought to reside in all massive galaxies. They play a fundamental role in shaping galaxy evolution by suppressing star formation and halting the stellar growth of the most massive galaxies via feedback mechanisms. However, to date, measuring even their most basic property, their mass, is still challenging. The mass of BHs carries information on the growth history and the mutual interplay with the host galaxy. Uncertain BH masses leave many key questions on galaxy evolution wide open. Here we show that a transformational facility such as ALMA2040 would open a new window to measure BH mass by directly observing the kinematics of cold gas in galaxy cores from the local Universe up to very high redshift, irrespective of BH activity. This would revolutionise our understanding of BH formation, growth, and their role within galaxy evolution.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

GA-NIFS: sRMS, a new method for disentangling resolved and unresolved emission in integral field spectroscopy. Application to distant quasars

The interpretation of AGN emission-line profiles in type1 AGN is often complicated by the dominance of bright, spatially unresolved nuclear continuum and broad-line region (BLR) emission over narrower and blended components from the narrow-line region (NLR) and the host galaxy. This remains challenging even with integral-field spectroscopy (IFS), as the relevant spatial variations can occur on scales smaller than the angular resolution, particularly in the compact host of distant AGN. We introduce the spatial root-mean-square (sRMS) technique, a new approach to analyse single-epoch IFS that uses the spatial variance of spectra extracted from partially overlapping apertures to isolate off-nuclear emission of high-z BL-AGN, and investigate whether the resulting kinematic information can improve the decomposition of their integrated spectra. We construct sRMS spectra from ensembles of overlapping apertures centred on the unresolved nucleus. Emission that is spatially invariant on the scales probed by the apertures is consequently suppressed, whereas spatially varying emission is retained. We apply the procedure to JWST/NIRSpec data of two z~6.5 QSOs. We model the resulting sRMS spectra with multiple Gaussian components to determine the kinematics of the spatially varying emission, and use these kinematic constraints to model the integrated spectra. The sRMS technique identifies spatially varying narrow-line emission on scales up to ~5x smaller than the NIRSpec PSF and provides robust constraints on the kinematics of individual kinematic components. Imposing these kinematic constraints on the integrated-spectrum fit reduces significantly the degeneracy of multi-component decompositions. Simulations further demonstrate the potential of the method to detect spatially offset BLR emission from close dual BL-AGN, down to projected separations of ~200 pc at z~6.5 for a BLR flux ratio of ~10.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

CHAMPS: The COSMOS High-Redshift ALMA-MIRI Population Survey - A New Census of the Dusty Early Universe

Understanding how dust forms and evolves over cosmic time is a key open problem in extragalactic astrophysics. Galaxies in the early Universe were once thought to be mostly dust-poor, but recent discoveries of heavily dust-obscured galaxies near the Epoch of Reionization challenge models of early dust production and raise new questions about the true cosmic star formation rate density. In this paper, we present the COSMOS High-Redshift ALMA-MIRI Population Survey (CHAMPS), which sheds light on the dusty early universe at z>4. CHAMPS is a new 144h ALMA 1.2mm (band 6) large program mapping the combined JWST/NIRCam+MIRI footprint in the COSMOS field. It covers 0.2deg2 with a synthesized beam size of 1.1" and a sensitivity of 0.14mJy/beam. It is complemented, alongside JWST, by ancillary X-ray, UV, optical, sub-mm, and radio data. CHAMPS, optimized as a blind survey, detects above 5$σ$ approximately 385 individual dusty high-redshift sub-mm sources, 68 dusty AGN, and a dozen dusty galaxies at z>6. The galaxies are largely not detected in JWST/F150W, making them prototypical near-IR dark galaxies. We showcase three of the highest-redshift most dusty and massive candidate galaxies detected in CHAMPS with redshifts up to z=7.5. CHAMPS also enables stacks of thousands of galaxies grouped in bins of various physical parameters. Its sub-mm coverage of dust-attenuated JWST-identified galaxies provides robust constraints on dust masses and obscured star formation rates to study early dust formation and evolution. In addition, CHAMPS enables a blind search for luminous CO line emitters at z=0.4-2.7 and [CII]158$μ$m emitters at z=6.7.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

GREX-PLUS Science Book v2

GREX-PLUS (Galaxy Reionization EXplorer and PLanetary Universe Spectrometer) is a mission candidate for a JAXA strategic L-class mission to be launched in the 2030s. Its primary science goals are two-fold: galaxy formation and evolution, and planetary system formation and evolution. The GREX-PLUS spacecraft will carry a telescope with a 1 m primary mirror aperture cooled down to 50 K. The two science instruments will be onboard: a wide-field camera in the 2--8 $μ$m wavelength band and a high-resolution spectrometer with a wavelength resolution of 30,000 in the 10--18 $μ$m band. The GREX-PLUS wide-field camera aims to detect the first generation of galaxies at redshift $z>15$. The GREX-PLUS high-resolution spectrometer aims to identify the location of the water ``snowline'' in protoplanetary disks. Both instruments will provide unique datasets for a broad range of scientific topics, including galaxy mass assembly, the origin of supermassive blackholes, infrared background radiation, molecular spectroscopy in the interstellar medium, transit spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres, planetary atmospheres in the Solar System, and so on. This document is the second version of a collection of scientific themes that can be achieved with GREX-PLUS. Each section in Chapters~2 and 3 is based on presentations at several GREX-PLUS Science Workshops.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

The quasi-star model for Little Red Dots: potential and challenges

(Abridged) Little Red Dots (LRDs) are a class of sources discovered by JWST observationally defined by a "V-shaped" rest-frame UV-Optical SED, a compact or unresolved morphology, and for having, frequently, broad hydrogen emission lines. Among various models, those involving a quasi-star interpret LRDs as an intermediate stage in the evolution of a super-massive black hole (SMBH) seed into a classic AGN. In this paper, we employ the radiative-transfer code \texttt{Cloudy} to study whether this model is able to reproduce the spectral features commonly observed in LRDs. The model consists of an accreting SMBH ($M_{\rm BH}\sim10^{5-6} \ M_\odot$) surrounded by a convective layer where a black-body (BB) spectrum with $T\sim5000 \ {\rm K}$ and $L\sim10^{44.4} \ {\rm erg \ s}^{-1}$ is produced. This BB is then reprocessed by a concentric thick ($ΔR\sim1000 \ {\rm AU}$) shell of dense ($n_{\rm H}\sim10^{11} \ {\rm cm}^{-3}$) gas partially ionised by thermal collisions. The emerging radiation is further reprocessed by a diffuse clumpy medium surrounding the quasi-star. We fit this model to JWST/NIRSpec spectra of LRDs from the literature, deriving the main physical parameters and the SMBH masses. Once coupled with the UV emission from a host galaxy, this model is able to reproduce the shape of the UV-to-NIR continuum, including the presence of a Balmer break, as well as the luminosity of the hydrogen emission lines. However, this quasi-star model does not natively account for the presence of broad helium lines and for the possible presence of hot dust, needing additional components to match these observables. Our main result is to show how some LRDs can be modeled as quasi-stars, highlighting that a significant degeneracy exists among different LRD models. This has important consequences for our understanding of the mechanisms driving black hole growth in the early Universe.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Radio spectral properties and aging of two tailed radio galaxies in a galaxy group at z=0.35

We present a study of two tailed radio galaxies in the core of a massive, dynamically young galaxy group - an early group-group merger. Using VLA (3 GHz and 1.4 GHz), MeerKAT (1.35 GHz), and GMRT (610 and 325 MHz) observations, we investigate their radio spectral properties, spectral and dynamical ages. Radio morphologies show clear evidence of interaction with the intragroup medium (IGM). One galaxy is a wide-angle tail (WAT) source, while the other is most likely a head-tail (HT) galaxy. Both galaxies exhibit high radio luminosities, and we find spectral indices of $α=0.8\pm 0.1$ (WAT) and $α=0.6\pm 0.2$ (HT). Spectral index analysis reveals spectral steepening with distance from the core in both galaxies, with localized flattening in the WAT lobes and hotspots along the northern jet, and indications of such flattening in the middle of the HT tail. Spectral ages derived using Jaffe-Perola model are $33.80\substack{+7.63 \\ -7.23}$ Myr (WAT) and $20.86\substack{+10.07 \\ -17.17}$ Myr (HT), significantly lower than dynamical ages of $420\pm60$ to $700\pm100$ Myr (WAT) and $140\pm20$ Myr (and possibly up to $280\pm40$ Myr, for HT), yielding dynamical-to-spectral age ratios of $\sim12-20$ and $\sim7$ (and up to $\sim14$), respectively. The discrepancy may be reduced by using more complex dynamical age models, incorporating interactions with the IGM, which requires deeper X-ray observations of the group. Spectral age estimates may be affected by mixing of electron populations, and could be better constrained with future deep, high-resolution broad-band radio observations at both MHz and frequencies above 3 GHz. The combination of extended radio structures, spectral signatures of radiative aging with localized re-acceleration, and activity timescales up to hundreds of Myr indicates that galaxies are actively interacting with, and likely depositing energy into their environment.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

No evolution in the number density of little red dots from cosmic dawn to cosmic noon

We present our search for little red dots (LRDs) in the "J1030 field", a region of the sky around the $z\sim 6.3$ quasar SDSS J1030+0524, observed by the JWST EIGER program. Over 154 point-like sources selected in a JWST-based photometric catalog, we find five broad line emitters (with $FWHM \gtrsim 1000\ \rm km s^{-1}$) that are red ($F200W - F356W > 0$) and are undetected in the X-rays. We use these sources to derive the bolometric luminosity function (LF) of LRDs at $z = 2.4$ and $z = 4.5$. At $z = 2.4$, the space density of LRDs is only a factor of $\sim 2$ lower than that of all pre-JWST active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with bolometric luminosity $L_{\rm bol} \gtrsim 3 \times 10^{44}\ \rm erg\ s^{-1}$. At $z = 4.5$, our estimate is consistent with those derived for LRDs based on larger areas of the sky. A similar behaviour is observed in the black hole mass function. More importantly, we study the number density of LRDs from cosmic dawn to cosmic noon. We find that there is no significant evolution in the abundance of LRDs with $L_{\rm bol} \gtrsim 3 \times 10^{44}\ \rm erg\ s^{-1}$ at $z > 2$. We speculate that the drop at $z < 4$ seen by other studies is due to their sampling of only the bright-end of the LRDs LF. At cosmic noon, the abundance of LRDs is $n = 3.4^{+5.6}_{-2.4} \times 10^{-5}\ \rm Mpc^{-3}$, which is a factor of $\sim 350$ larger than recent model predictions and is comparable with that of X-ray selected AGNs with similar bolometric luminosity. Our result may imply that, if LRDs are the early, rapid stages of supermassive black hole growth, as suggested by some models, then the formation of black hole seeds can be efficient down to epochs as recent as cosmic noon. Alternatively, LRDs may simply be a high-accretion phase in already mature black holes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Unveil the nature of JWST-AGN and Little Red Dots with SKAO continuum surveys

The advent of JWST has revealed a large population of AGN at $z>4$, which are $\sim1$ dex more abundant than previously expected, including also the enigmatic population of Little Red Dots (LRDs). Remarkably, the vast majority of JWST-discovered AGN and LRDs are not detected in X-rays, and most of them also show faint rest-frame UV continua and faint high-ionization emission lines, as well as unusually faint emission in the Mid and Far infrared. Recent studies investigating their radio properties have reported no significant detections, even in deep stacking analyses, reaching sensitivities of 0.5-0.1 $μ$Jy at $z\sim 5-6$, corresponding to $L_{R}\lesssim 10^{39}\rm \ erg\ s^{-1}$. While these non-detections may be consistent with a standard radio-quiet nature, some results suggest that the radio emission might instead be significantly suppressed by other physical phenomena. Three main scenarios have been proposed in the literature to explain the physical properties of these objects across the electromagnetic spectrum: Compton-thick absorption by a broad-line region with high covering-factor, intrinsically weak emission driven by high accretion rates, or the presence of a cocoon of dense ionized gas that produces strong scattering effects. The unprecedented sensitivity of SKAO will enable the detection of the radio emission of these AGN in all three cases. Because each scenario is expected to produce distinct radio signatures, future SKAO continuum surveys will be able to distinguish between them, uncovering the physical processes responsible for their peculiar properties. Observations spanning a wide range of integration times (1-1000 hours) and frequencies with SKA-Mid and SKA-Low (0.2-11 GHz) will allow us to characterize these objects from the local Universe to high redshift, investigate possible radio variability, and test alternative scenarios to black hole accretion.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Radio selection of heavily obscured AGN in the J1030 field: unraveling a missing Compton-thick population

We tested the effectiveness of radio selection to discover heavily obscured AGNs, particularly at high-z, and we measured their abundance for the first time from a radio perspective. We consider the radio sources detected in the J1030 field, which is one of the fields with the deepest combination of 1.4 GHz radio and X-ray observations. We defined a radio excess parameter as the ratio between the star formation rate (SFR) that would correspond to the observed radio luminosity and the one directly derived from the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, $\rm REX=SFR_{1.4GHz}/SFR^{corr}_{SED}$. We then select as radio excess AGN those sources with $\rm REX>8.5$, corresponding to a $3σ$ excess above the median value. In this way, we find 145 radio-excess sources falling into the \textit{Chandra} X-ray image footprint but without X-ray detection. From the deep X-ray upper limits, we estimated a lower limit to the obscuration of each radio-excess AGN, finding on average $\log (N_H/\rm{cm^{-2}})>23.7$. A CTK AGN scenario is also supported by the results of the X-ray stacking analysis performed on sources at $z>1.5$, which revealed X-ray luminosities and hardness ratios compatible with very highly obscured AGN. Finally, we computed the number density of these radio-selected CTK AGN. While at $z\sim 2$ the radio number density agrees well with the CTK AGN predictions of different population synthesis models, at $z\sim3$ the radio selection returns a CTK AGN number density $\sim 2-3$ times larger than what is predicted by the X-ray models and observations. This result supports the effectiveness of radio emission in selecting the most obscured sources, unraveling a population of AGN potentially missed by X-rays surveys at $z>3$, paving the way to a synergistic use of the future radio and X-ray facilities such as the \textit{SKAO} and \textit{NewAthena}.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

A multiwavelength study of an early galaxy group merger in COSMOS revealed by two tailed radio galaxies at z = 0.35

We report the discovery of two tailed radio galaxies in the COSMOS field, associated with a massive, dynamically unrelaxed galaxy group detected in X-rays at z = 0.349. One of them is a wide-angle tail (WAT) galaxy, supporting the role of WATs as tracers of dynamically young groups and clusters. Our multiwavelength analysis combines VLA radio data, HST-ACS imaging, COSMOS2020 photometric redshifts, COSMOS2015 photometry, the newest compilation of spectroscopic redshifts in COSMOS, and X-ray observations from Chandra and XMM-Newton. We used these data to study the tailed radio galaxies, their host galaxies, and the group environment. Both radio galaxies are hosted by massive ($\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})=11.88\pm0.03$ and $\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})=11.49\pm0.06$), red, elliptical galaxies with extended stellar halos, as revealed by a color, magnitude, and stellar mass analysis combined with GALFIT modeling and surface-brightness profiles. One corresponds to the brightest group galaxy (BGG), while the other is the second-brightest. A diffuse intragroup medium (IGM) is characterized by its irregular shape and the analysis of the X-ray spectra of the group core reveals high temperature ($T_X=2.4\pm0.6\hspace{0.1cm}\mathrm{keV}$) and an electron density of $(8.2\pm0.3)\times 10^{-4}\hspace{0.1cm}\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$. A galaxy overdensity associated with the group was detected via Voronoi tessellation, using COSMOS2020 CLASSIC photometric redshifts, displaying an irregular morphology, along with evidence of substructure. Assuming the jet bending results from interaction with the IGM, we find a high relative velocity between the BGG and the IGM ($v_{\mathrm{BGG/IGM}} \gtrsim 540$ km/s), primarily due to bulk gas motion. Our findings indicate a dynamically young system in the early stages of assembly via group-group merging.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Ly-alpha emission reveals two satellite halos around massive groups at z ~ 3: the puzzling case of a quiescent central galaxy

We present the discovery and characterisation of two Ly$α$ nebulae (LANs), RO-1001-Sat and RO-0959-Sat, as satellite structures of two giant LANs at $z=2.920$ and 3.092. They are found neighbouring two out of four known giant LANs at $z\sim3$ in our MUSE follow-up observations, reinforcing the idea that Ly$α$ emission can be used to trace massive dark matter halos at high-$z$. This high occurrence of massive satellite halos agrees with simulations. With sizes of $\simeq80\times160$ and $80\times100~\mathrm{pkpc}^2$, the two nebulae are both $\sim$300pkpc from the main LANs. The Ly$α$ emission is only shifted by $\simeq100-300$ km s$^{-1}$ between each of the two pairs, suggesting connections via large-scale structure. RO-1001-Sat and RO-0959-Sat are estimated to have log$(M_\mathrm{h}/M_\odot)\simeq13.2\pm0.3$ and $12.8\pm0.3$, putting them potentially close to the regime of cold-mode accretion. The central brightest galaxies in the two halos are morphologically distinct despite having similar stellar mass $\sim10^{11}M_\odot$, one being an elliptical quiescent galaxy in RO-1001-Sat and the other being a dusty star-forming spiral in RO-0959-Sat. Intriguingly, the quiescent galaxy aligns well with the peak of the LAN as well as the potential well of the host halo, making it the first clear-cut case where the cold gas ought to be accreting onto the galaxy but with no observable star formation, either due to morphological quenching or, more likely, radio-mode feedback from an active galactic nucleus. Finally, we show a tentative detection of a Ly$α$ filament connecting RO-1001 and RO-1001-Sat. This work shows how panoramic MUSE (and in the future, BlueMUSE) observations of massive halo seeds can be used to efficiently search for additional halos, unveiling their large-scale structure and enabling the study of Ly$α$-selected galaxy groups.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Investigating the influence of radio-faint AGN activity on the infrared-radio correlation of massive galaxies

It is well-known that star-forming galaxies (SFGs) exhibit a tight correlation between their radio and infrared emissions, commonly referred to as the infrared-radio correlation (IRRC). Recent empirical studies have reported a dependence of the IRRC on the galaxy stellar mass, in which more massive galaxies tend to show lower infrared-to-radio ratios (qIR) with respect to less massive galaxies. One possible, yet unexplored, explanation is a residual contamination of the radio emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN), not captured through "radio-excess" diagnostics. To investigate this hypothesis, we aim to statistically quantify the contribution of AGN emission to the radio luminosities of SFGs located within the scatter of the IRRC. Our VLBA program "AGN-sCAN" has targeted 500 galaxies that follow the qIR distribution of the IRRC, i.e., with no prior evidence for radio-excess AGN emission based on low-resolution (~ arcsec) VLA radio imaging. Our VLBA 1.4 GHz observations reach a 5-sigma sensitivity limit of 25 microJy/beam, corresponding to a radio brightness temperature of Tb ~ 10^5 K. This classification serves as a robust AGN diagnostic, regardless of the host galaxy's star formation rate. We detect four VLBA sources in the deepest regions, which are also the faintest VLBI-detected AGN in SFGs to date. The effective AGN detection rate is 9%, when considering a control sample matched in mass and sensitivity, which is in good agreement with the extrapolation of previous radio AGN number counts. Despite the non-negligible AGN flux contamination (~ 30%) in our individual VLBA detections, we find that the peak of the qIR distribution is completely unaffected by this correction. We conclude that residual AGN contamination from non-radio-excess AGN is unlikely to be the primary driver of the M* - dependent IRRC.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Need for PRIMA to understand the nature and ISM physical conditions of HST-dark galaxies

One of the main open issues in galaxy formation and evolution is the early assembly of the most massive galaxies and their contribution to the stellar mass and star formation rate densities at early epochs. Massive red sources already in place at z > 2 to 3 have been found in deep Spitzer-IRAC and ALMA surveys. They are often called optically and near-IR dark, or HST-dark, being undetected even in the deepest HST frames. The submillimeter (i.e., ALMA) detection of these sources confirms their high-z dusty nature: they are massive (e.g., log(M*/Msun) > 10) and dusty star-forming galaxies with estimated redshifts in the 2.5 to 7 range. They seem to lie mostly below the main sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies and show gas depletion times <1 Gyr. Imaging with the PRIMA/PRIMAger instrument over the full 25 to 265 micron range will allow us to characterize their still uncovered spectral energy distributions between JWST and ALMA spectral windows, probing their dust content and properties (e.g., temperature, mass), whereas spectroscopic observations with FIRESS will be the key to investigate the nature of their powering source (e.g., AGN or star formation) and to study the physics of their ISM, by detecting and measuring fine structure lines in the mid- and far-IR domain.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Noema formIng Cluster survEy (NICE): A Census of Star Formation and Cold Gas Properties in Massive protoclusters at 1.5<z<4

Massive protoclusters at z~1.5-4, the peak of the cosmic star formation history, are key to understanding the formation mechanisms of massive galaxies in today's clusters. However, studies of protoclusters at these high redshifts remain limited, primarily due to small sample sizes and heterogeneous selection criteria. In this work, we conduct a systematic investigation of the star formation and cold gas properties of member galaxies of eight massive protoclusters in the COSMOS field, using the statistical and homogeneously selected sample from the Noema formIng Cluster survEy (NICE). Our analysis reveals a steep increase in the star formation rates per halo mass ($Σ_{\rm SFR} /M_{\rm halo}$) with redshifts in these intensively star-forming protoclusters, reaching values one to two orders of magnitude higher than those observed in the field at z>2. We further show that, instead of an enhancement of starbursts, this increase is largely driven by the concentration of massive and gas-rich star-forming galaxies in the protocluster cores. The member galaxies still generally follow the same star formation main sequence as in the field, with a moderate enhancement at the low mass end. Notably, the most massive protocluster galaxies ($M_\star$>8$\times$10$^{10}$M$_\odot$) exhibit higher $f_{\rm gas}$ and $τ_{\rm gas}$ than their field counterparts, while remaining on the star forming main sequence. These gas-rich, massive, and star-forming galaxies are predominantly concentrated in the protocluster cores and are likely progenitors of massive ellipticals in the center of today's clusters. These results suggest that the formation of massive galaxies in such environments is sustained by substantial gas reservoirs, which support persistent star formation and drive early mass assembly in forming cluster cores.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

MIGHTEE: A first look at MIGHTEE quasars

In this work we study a robust, $K_s$-band complete, spectroscopically-confirmed sample of 104 unobscured (Type-1) quasars within the COSMOS and XMM-LSS fields of the MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) Survey, at 0.60 < $z$ < 3.41. The quasars are selected via $gJK_s$ colour-space and, with 1.3-GHz flux-densities reaching rms ~ 3.0$μ$Jy beam$^{-1}$, we find a radio-loudness fraction of 5 per cent. Thanks to the deep, multiwavelength datasets that are available over these fields, the properties of radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars can be studied in a statistically-robust way, with the emphasis of this work being on the active-galactic-nuclei (AGN)-related and star-formation-related contributions to the total radio emission. We employ multiple star-formation-rate estimates for the analysis so that our results can be compared more-easily with others in the literature, and find that the fraction of sources that have their radio emission dominated by the AGN crucially depends on the SFR estimate that is derived from the radio luminosity. When redshift dependence is not taken into account, a larger fraction of sources is classed as having their radio emission dominated by the AGN. When redshift dependence $is$ considered, a larger fraction of our sample is tentatively classed as 'starbursts'. We also find that the fraction of (possible) starbursts increases with redshift, and provide multiple suggestions for this trend.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The interplay between Active Galactic Nuclei and Ram-pressure stripping: spatially resolved gas-phase abundances of stripped and undisturbed galaxies

The gas-phase oxygen abundance of the circumnuclear regions around supermassive black holes (SMBH) has been claimed to be affected by the presence of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). However, there is currently no consensus on the mechanism driving this effect. In this work, we explore whether the interplay between AGN activity and the Ram Pressure Stripping (RPS) can influence the metallicity distributions of nearby (z < 0.07) galaxies. To this aim, we measure the spatially resolved gas-phase oxygen abundances of 10 stripped AGN hosts from the GASP survey, as well as 52 AGN hosts found in the field, which are undisturbed by the effects of ram pressure, drawn from the MaNGA DR15. We find that the metal distributions in these two samples do not differ significantly. Only 2 out of the 10 RP-stripped AGNs present lower oxygen abundances at any given radius than the rest of the AGN sample. Overall, this result highlights that the AGN-RPS interplay does not play a significant role in shaping the metallicity distributions of stripped galaxies within 1.5 times the galaxy's effective radius (r < 1.5 Re). However, larger samples are required to draw more definitive conclusions. By including a control sample of SF galaxies, we observe that the AGN hosts are more metal-enriched than SF galaxies at any given radius. More than that, the steepness of the gradients in the nuclear regions (r < 0.5 Re) is greater in AGN hosts than in SF galaxies. These results favor the hypothesis that the AGN activity is causing metal pollution in the galaxy's nuclear regions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

NOEMA formIng Cluster survEy (NICE): Characterizing eight massive galaxy groups at $1.5 < z < 4$ in the COSMOS field

The NOEMA formIng Cluster survEy (NICE) is a large program targeting 69 massive galaxy group candidates at $z>2$ in six deep fields. We report spectroscopic confirmation of eight groups at $1.65\leq z\leq3.61$ in COSMOS. Homogeneously selected as significant overdensities of red IRAC sources with red Herschel colors, four groups are confirmed by CO and [CI] with NOEMA 3mm observations, three are confirmed with ALMA, and one is confirmed by H$α$ from Subaru/FMOS. We constructed the integrated FIR SEDs for the eight groups, obtaining total IR SFR $=260-1300~{\rm M_\odot}$~yr$^{-1}$. We adopted six methods to estimate the dark matter masses, including stellar mass to halo mass relations, overdensity with galaxy bias, and NFW profile fitting to radial stellar mass density. We found the radial stellar mass density are consistent with a NFW profile, supporting that they are collapsed structures hosted by a single dark matter halo. The best halo mass estimates are $\log(M_{\rm h}/{\rm M_\odot})=12.8-13.7$ with uncertainty of 0.3 dex. From halo mass estimates, we derive baryonic accretion rate ${\rm BAR}=(1-8)\times10^{3}\,{\rm M_{\odot}/yr}$ for this sample. We find a quasi-linear correlation between the integrated SFR/BAR and the theoretical halo mass limit for cold streams, $M_{\rm stream}/M_{\rm h}$, with ${\rm SFR/BAR}=10^{-0.46\pm0.22}\left({M_{\rm stream}/M_{\rm h}}\right)^{0.71\pm0.16}$ with a scatter of $0.40\,{\rm dex}$. Further, we compare halo masses and stellar masses with simulations, and find all structures are consistent with being progenitors of $M_{\rm h}(z=0)>10^{14}\,{\rm M_{\odot}}$ galaxy clusters, and the most massive central galaxies have stellar masses consistent with brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) progenitors in the TNG300 simulation. The results strongly suggest these structures are forming massive galaxy clusters via baryonic and dark matter accretion.

astro-ph.GA↗