arXiv subjects

Richard A. Perley

Publications and source records attributed to Richard A. Perley.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Discovery of a Luminous Radio Transient 460 pc from the Central Supermassive Black Hole in Cygnus A

We report the appearance of a new radio source at a projected offset of 460 pc from the nucleus of Cygnus A. The flux density of the source (which we designate Cygnus A-2) rose from an upper limit of <0.5 mJy in 1989 to 4 mJy in 2016 (nu=8.5 GHz), but is currently not varying by more than a few percent per year. The radio luminosity of the source is comparable to the most luminous known supernovae, it is compact in VLBA observations down to a scale of 4 pc, and it is coincident with a near-infrared point source seen in pre-existing adaptive optics and HST observations. The most likely interpretation of this source is that it represents a secondary supermassive black hole in a close orbit around the Cygnus A primary, although an exotic supernova model cannot be ruled out. The gravitational influence of a secondary SMBH at this location may have played an important role in triggering the rapid accretion that has powered the Cygnus A radio jet over the past 10^7 years.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Late-Time VLA Reobservations Rule Out ULIRG-Like Host Galaxies For Most Pre-Swift Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts

We present new Jansky Very Large Array observations of five pre-Swift gamma-ray bursts for which an ultraluminous (SFR > 100 M_sun/yr) dusty host galaxy had previously been inferred from radio or submillimetre observations taken within a few years after the burst. In four of the five cases we no longer detect any source at the host location to limits much fainter than the original observations, ruling out the existence of an ultraluminous galaxy hosting any of these GRBs. We continue to detect a source at the position of GRB 980703, but it is much fainter than it was a decade ago and the inferred radio star-formation rate (~80 M_sun) is relatively modest. The radio flattening at 200-1000 days observed in the light curve of this GRB may have been caused by a decelerating counterjet oriented 180 degrees away from the viewer, although an unjetted wind model can also explain the data. Our results eliminate all well-established pre-Swift ULIRG hosts, and all cases for which an unobscured GRB was found in a galaxy dominated by heavily-obscured star-formation. When GRBs do occur in ULIRGs the afterglow is almost always observed to be heavily obscured, consistent with the large dust opacities and high dust covering fractions characteristic of these systems.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Tracing Electron Beams in the Sun's Corona with Radio Dynamic Imaging Spectroscopy

We report observations of type III radio bursts at decimeter wavelengths (type IIIdm bursts) -- signatures of suprathermal electron beams propagating in the low corona -- using the new technique of radio dynamic imaging spectroscopy provided by the recently upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). For the first time, type IIIdm bursts were imaged with high time and frequency resolution over a broad frequency band, allowing electron beam trajectories in the corona to be deduced. Together with simultaneous hard X-ray (HXR) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations, we show these beams emanate from an energy release site located in the low corona at a height below ~15 Mm, and propagate along a bundle of discrete magnetic loops upward into the corona. Our observations enable direct measurements of the plasma density along the magnetic loops, and allow us to constrain the diameter of these loops to be less than 100 km. These over-dense and ultra-thin loops reveal the fundamentally fibrous structure of the Sun's corona. The impulsive nature of the electron beams, their accessibility to different magnetic field lines, and the detailed structure of the magnetic release site revealed by the radio observations indicate that the localized energy release is highly fragmentary in time and space, supporting a bursty reconnection model that involves secondary magnetic structures for magnetic energy release and particle acceleration.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

The Two-Component Radio Luminosity Function of QSOs: Star Formation and AGN

Despite decades of study, it remains unclear whether there are distinct radio-loud and radio-quiet populations of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). Early studies were limited by inhomogeneous QSO samples, inadequate sensitivity to probe the radio-quiet population, and degeneracy between redshift and luminosity for flux-density-limited samples. Our new 6 GHz EVLA observations allow us for the first time to obtain nearly complete (97%) radio detections in a volume-limited color-selected sample of 179 QSOs more luminous than M_i = -23 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release Seven in the narrow redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.3. The dramatic improvement in radio continuum sensitivity made possible with the new EVLA allows us, in 35 minutes of integration, to detect sources as faint as 20 microJy, or log[L_6 (W/Hz)] ~ 21.5 at z = 0.25, well below the radio luminosity, log[L_6 (W/Hz)] ~ 22.5, that separates star-forming galaxies from radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) driven by accretion onto a super-massive black hole. We calculate the radio luminosity function (RLF) for these QSOs using three constraints: (a) EVLA 6 GHz observations for log[L_6 (W/Hz)] < 23.5, (b) NRAO-VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) observations for log[L_6 (W/Hz)] > 23.5, and (c) the total number of SDSS QSOs in our volume-limited sample. We show that the RLF can be explained as a superposition of two populations, dominated by AGNs at the bright end and star formation in the QSO host galaxies at the faint end.

astro-ph.CO↗