arXiv subjects

Tom Oosterloo

Publications and source records attributed to Tom Oosterloo.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Robust HI kinematics of gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies: hints of a weak-feedback formation scenario

We study the gas kinematics of a sample of six isolated gas-rich low surface brightness galaxies, of the class called ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). These galaxies have recently been shown to be outliers from the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR), as they rotate much slower than expected given their baryonic mass, and to have baryon fractions similar to the cosmological mean. By means of a 3D kinematic modelling fitting technique, we show that the HI in our UDGs is distributed in "thin" regularly rotating discs and we determine their rotation velocity and gas velocity dispersion. We revisit the BTFR adding galaxies from other studies. We find a previously unknown trend between the deviation from the BTFR and the disc scale length valid for dwarf galaxies with circular speeds < 45 km/s, with our UDGs being at the extreme end. Based on our findings, we suggest that the high baryon fractions of our UDGs may originate due to the fact that they have experienced weak stellar feedback, likely due to their low star formation rate surface densities, and as a result they did not eject significant amounts of gas out of their discs. At the same time, we find indications that our UDGs may have higher-than-average stellar specific angular momentum, which can explain their large optical scale lengths.

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arXiv2020

The cosmic atomic hydrogen mass density as a function of mass and galaxy hierarchy from spectral stacking

We use spectral stacking to measure the contribution of galaxies of different masses and in different hierarchies to the cosmic atomic hydrogen (HI) mass density in the local Universe. Our sample includes 1793 galaxies at $z < 0.11$ observed with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, for which Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy and hierarchy information are also available. We find a cosmic HI mass density of $Ω_{\rm HI} = (3.99 \pm 0.54)\times 10^{-4} h_{70}^{-1}$ at $\langle z\rangle = 0.065$. For the central and satellite galaxies, we obtain $Ω_{\rm HI}$ of $(3.51 \pm 0.49)\times 10^{-4} h_{70}^{-1}$ and $(0.90 \pm 0.16)\times 10^{-4} h_{70}^{-1}$, respectively. We show that galaxies above and below stellar masses of $\sim$10$^{9.3}$ M$_{\odot}$ contribute in roughly equal measure to the global value of $Ω_{\rm HI}$. While consistent with estimates based on targeted HI surveys, our results are in tension with previous theoretical work. We show that these differences are, at least partly, due to the empirical recipe used to set the partition between atomic and molecular hydrogen in semi-analytical models. Moreover, comparing our measurements with the cosmological semi-analytic models of galaxy formation {\sc Shark} and GALFORM reveals gradual stripping of gas via ram pressure works better to fully reproduce the properties of satellite galaxies in our sample, than strangulation. Our findings highlight the power of this approach in constraining theoretical models, and confirm the non-negligible contribution of massive galaxies to the HI mass budget of the local Universe.

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arXiv2019

The LOFAR view of NGC 3998, a sputtering AGN

Low-power radio sources dominate the radio sky. They tend to be small in size and core-dominated, but the origin of their properties and the evolution of their radio plasma are not well constrained. Interestingly, there is mounting evidence that low-power radio sources can significantly impact their surrounding gaseous medium and, therefore, may be more relevant for galaxy evolution than previously thought. In this paper, we present low radio frequency observations obtained with LOFAR at 147 MHz of the radio source hosted by NGC 3998. This is a rare example of a low-power source which is extremely core-dominated, but which has two large-scale lobes of low surface brightness. We combine the new 147 MHz image with available 1400 MHz data to derive the spectral index over the source. Despite the low surface brightness, reminiscent of remnant structures, the lobes show an optically thin synchrotron spectral index (~ 0.6). We interpret this as being due to rapid decollimation of the jets close to the core, to high turbulence of the plasma flow, and entrainment of thermal gas. This could be the result of intermittent activity of the central AGN, or, more likely, temporary disruption of the jet due to the interaction of the jet with the rich circumnuclear ISM. Both would result in sputtering energy injection from the core which would keep the lobes fed, albeit at a low rate. We discuss these results in connection with the properties of low-power radio sources in general. Our findings show that amorphous, low surface brightness lobes should not be interpreted, by default, as remnant structures. Large, deep surveys (in particular the LOFAR 150 MHz LoTSS and the recently started 1400 MHz Apertif survey) will identify a growing number of objects similar to NGC 3998 where these ideas can be further tested.

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arXiv2019

Mapping the dark matter halo of early-type galaxy NGC 2974 through orbit-based models with combined stellar and cold gas kinematics

We present an orbit-based method of combining stellar and cold gas kinematics to constrain the dark matter profile of early-type galaxies. We apply this method to early-type galaxy NGC 2974, using Pan-STARRS imaging and SAURON stellar kinematics to model the stellar orbits, and introducing HI kinematics from VLA observation as a tracer of the gravitational potential. The introduction of the cold gas kinematics shows a significant effect on the confidence limits of especially the dark halo properties: we exclude more than $95\%$ of models within the $1-σ$ confidence level of Schwarzschild modelling with only stellar kinematics, and reduce the relative uncertainty of the dark matter fraction significantly to $10\%$ within $5 R_\mathrm{e}$. Adopting a generalized-NFW dark matter profile, we measure a shallow cuspy inner slope of $0.6^{+0.2}_{-0.3}$ when including the cold gas kinematics in our model. We cannot constrain the inner slope with the stellar kinematics alone.

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arXiv2019

ALMA observations of PKS 1549-79: a case of feeding and feedback in a young radio quasar

We present CO(1-0) and CO(3-2) ALMA observations of the molecular gas in PKS 1549-79, as well as mm and VLBI 2.3-GHz continuum observations of its radio jet. PKS 1549-79 is one of the closest young, radio-loud quasars caught in an on-going merger in which the AGN is in the first phases of its evolution. We detect three structures tracing the accretion and the outflow of molecular gas: kpc-scale tails of gas accreting onto PKS 1549-79, a circumnuclear disc (CND) in the inner few hundred parsec, and a very broad (>2300 \kms) component detected in CO(1-0) at the position of the AGN. Thus, in PKS 1549-79 we see the co-existence of accretion and the ejection of gas. The line ratio CO(1-0)/CO(3-2) suggests that the gas in the CND has both high densities and high kinetic temperatures. We estimate a mass outflow rate of at least 650 msun/yr. This massive outflow is confined to r < 120 pc, which suggests that the AGN drives the outflow. Considering the amount of molecular gas available in CND and the observed outflow rate, we estimate a time scale of ~10^5 yr over which the AGN would be able to destroy the CND, although gas from the merger may come in from larger radii, rebuilding this disc at the same time. The AGN appears to self-regulate gas accretion onto the super-massive black hole. From a comparison with HST data, we find that the ionised gas outflow is more extended. Nevertheless, the warm outflow is about two orders of magnitude less massive than the molecular outflow. PKS 1549-79 does not seem to follow the scaling relation between bolometric luminosity and the relative importance of warm ionised and molecular outflows claimed to exist for other AGN. We argue that, although PKS 1549-79 hosts a powerful quasar nucleus and an ultra-fast outflow, the radio jet plays a significant role in producing the outflow.

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arXiv2019

Baryon dominated ultra-diffuse galaxies

By means of interferometic 21-cm observations and a 3D kinematic modeling technique, we study the gas kinematics of six HI-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). We derive robust circular velocities and baryonic masses, that allow us to study the position of our UDGs with respect to the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR). Somewhat surprisingly, we find that these galaxies are strong outliers from the BTFR, rotating too slowly for their baryonic mass. Moreover, their position in the circular velocity--baryonic mass plane implies that they have a baryon fraction inside their virial radii compatible with the cosmological mean, meaning that they have no "missing baryons". Unexpectedly, the dynamics of our galaxies are dominated by the baryons, leaving small room for dark matter inside their discs.

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arXiv2019

Off the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation: a population of baryon-dominated ultra-diffuse galaxies

We study the gas kinematics traced by the 21-cm emission of a sample of six HI$-$rich low surface brightness galaxies classified as ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). Using the 3D kinematic modelling code $\mathrm{^{3D}}$Barolo we derive robust circular velocities, revealing a startling feature: HI$-$rich UDGs are clear outliers from the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, with circular velocities much lower than galaxies with similar baryonic mass. Notably, the baryon fraction of our UDG sample is consistent with the cosmological value: these UDGs are compatible with having no "missing baryons" within their virial radii. Moreover, the gravitational potential provided by the baryons is sufficient to account for the amplitude of the rotation curve out to the outermost measured point, contrary to other galaxies with similar circular velocities. We speculate that any formation scenario for these objects will require very inefficient feedback and a broad diversity in their inner dark matter content.

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arXiv2019

Feedback from low-luminosity radio galaxies: B2 0258+35

Low-luminosity radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) are of importance in studies concerning feedback from radio AGN since a dominant fraction of AGN belong to this class. We report high-resolution Very Large Array (VLA) and European VLBI Network (EVN) observations of HI-21cm absorption from a young, compact steep-spectrum radio source, B2 0258+35, nested in the early-type galaxy NGC 1167, which contains a 160 kpc HI disc. Our VLA and EVN HI absorption observations, modelling, and comparison with molecular gas data suggest that the cold gas in the centre of NGC 1167 is very turbulent (with a velocity dispersion of ~ 90 km/s) and that this turbulence is induced by the interaction of the jets with the interstellar medium (ISM). Furthermore, the ionised gas in the galaxy shows evidence of shock heating at a few kpc from the radio source. These findings support the results from numerical simulations of radio jets expanding into a clumpy gas disc, which predict that the radio jets in this case percolate through the gas disc and drive shocks into the ISM at distances much larger than their physical extent. These results expand the number of low-luminosity radio sources found to impact the surrounding medium, thereby highlighting the possible relevance of these AGN for feedback.

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arXiv2019

An accurate low-redshift measurement of the cosmic neutral hydrogen density

Using a spectral stacking technique, we measure the neutral hydrogen (HI) properties of a sample of galaxies at $z < 0.11$ across 35 pointings of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). The radio data contains 1,895 galaxies with redshifts and positions known from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We carefully quantified the effects of sample bias, aperture used to extract spectra, sidelobes and weighting technique and use our data to provide a new estimate for the cosmic HI mass density. We find a cosmic HI mass density of $Ω_{\rm HI} = (4.02 \pm 0.26)\times 10^{-4} h_{70}^{-1}$ at $\langle z\rangle = 0.066$, consistent with measurements from blind HI surveys and other HI stacking experiments at low redshifts. The combination of the small interferometer beam size and the large survey volume makes our result highly robust against systematic effects due to confusion at small scales and cosmic variance at large scales. Splitting into three sub-samples with $\langle z\rangle$ = 0.038, 0.067 and 0.093 shows no significant evolution of the HI gas content at low redshift.

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arXiv2019

The parsec-scale structure of jet-driven HI outflows in radio galaxies

Radio jets can play multiple roles in the feedback loop by regulating the accretion of the gas, by enhancing gas turbulence, and by driving gas outflows. Numerical simulations are beginning to make detailed predictions about these processes. Using high resolution VLBI observations we test these predictions by studying how radio jets of different power and in different phases of evolution affect the properties and kinematics of the surrounding HI gas. Consistent with predictions, we find that young (or recently restarted) radio jets have stronger impact as shown by the presence of HI outflows. The outflowing medium is clumpy {with clouds of with sizes up to a few tens of pc and mass ~10^4 m_sun) already in the region close to the nucleus ($< 100$ pc), making the jet interact strongly and shock the surrounding gas. We present a case of a low-power jet where, as suggested by the simulations, the injection of energy may produce an increase in the turbulence of the medium instead of an outflow.

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arXiv2018

BST1047+1156: An extremely diffuse and gas-rich object in the Leo I Group

We report the detection of diffuse starlight in an extragalactic HI cloud in the nearby Leo~I galaxy group. We detect the source, dubbed BST1047+1156, in both broadband optical and GALEX ultraviolet light. Spanning ~ 2 kpc in radius, it has a peak surface brightness of $μ_B$=28.8 mag/arcsec$^2$, making it the lowest surface brightness object ever detected via integrated light. Although the object is extremely gas-rich, with a gas fraction of $f_g$=0.99, its peak HI column density is well below levels where star formation is typically observed in galaxies. Nonetheless, BST1047+1156 shows evidence for young stellar populations: along with the detected UV emission, the object is extremely blue, with B-V=0.14$\pm$0.09. The object sports two tidal tails and is found embedded within diffuse gas connecting the spiral galaxy M96 to the group's extended HI Leo Ring. The nature of BST1047+1156 is unclear. It could be a disrupting tidal dwarf, recently spawned from star formation triggered in the Leo I Group's tidal debris. Alternatively, the object may have been a pre-existing galaxy --- the most extreme example of a gas-rich field LSB known to date --- which had a recent burst of star formation triggered by encounters in the group environment.

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arXiv2018

Young radio jets breaking free: molecular and HI outflows in their centers

Our view of the central regions of AGN has been enriched by the discovery of fast and massive outflows of HI and molecular gas. Here we present a brief summary of results obtained for young (and restarted) radio AGN. We find that HI outflows tend to be particularly common in this group of objects. This supports the idea that the jet, expanding in a clumpy medium, plays a major role in driving these outflows. The clumpiness of the medium is confirmed by VLBI and ALMA observations. The HI observations reveal that, at least part of the gas, is distributed in clouds with sizes up to a few tens of pc and mass ~10^4 Msun. A change of the conditions in the outflow, with an increasing fraction of diffuse components, as the radio jets grow, is suggested by the high resolution HI observations. The molecular gas completes the picture, showing that the radio plasma jet can couple well with the ISM, strongly affecting the kinematics, but also the physical conditions of the molecular gas. This is confirmed by numerical simulations reproducing, to first order, the kinematics of the gas.

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arXiv2018

The interstellar and circumnuclear medium of active nuclei traced by HI 21-cm absorption

This review summarises what we have learnt in the last two decades based on HI 21-cm absorption observations about the cold interstellar medium (ISM) in the central regions of active galaxies and the interplay between this gas and the active nucleus (AGN). HI absorption is a powerful tracer on all scales, from the pc scales to many tens of kpc. Given the strong radio continuum often associated with the central activity, HI absorption can be used to study the HI near an AGN out to much higher redshifts than is possible using HI emission. HI absorption has been used to characterise the general ISM in active galaxies, to trace the fuelling of radio-loud AGN, to study the feedback between the energy released by the AGN and the ISM, and the impact of such interactions on the evolution of galaxies and their AGN. In the last two decades, significant progress has been made in all these areas. It is now well established that many radio loud AGN are surrounded by small, regularly rotating gas disks that contain a significant fraction of HI. The structure of these disks has been traced down to parsec scales by VLBI observations. Young and recently restarted radio galaxies appear to have a high detection rate of HI. This is interesting in connection with the evolution of these AGN. This is confirmed by the discovery of fast, AGN-driven outflows of cold gas which give a direct view of the impact of the energy released by AGN. In addition, evidence has been collected that clouds of cold gas can play a role in fuelling the nuclear activity. This review ends by briefly describing the upcoming large, blind HI absorption surveys planned for the new radio telescopes which will soon become operational. These surveys will allow to significantly expand existing work, but will also allow to explore new topics, in particular the evolution of the cold ISM in AGN.

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arXiv2018

The jet-ISM interactions in IC 5063

The interstellar medium of the radio galaxy IC 5063 is highly perturbed by an AGN jet expanding in the gaseous disc of the galaxy. We model this interaction with relativistic hydrodynamic simulations and multiphase initial conditions for the interstellar medium and compare the results with recent observations. As the jets flood through the inter-cloud channels of the disc, they ablate, accelerate, and disperse clouds to velocities exceeding $400 \mbox{km s}^{-1}$. Clouds are also destroyed or displaced in bulk from the central regions of the galaxy. Our models with jet powers of $10^{44} \mbox{erg s}^{-1}$ and $10^{45} \mbox{erg s}^{-1}$ are capable of reproducing many of the features seen in the position-velocity diagram published in Morganti et al. (2015) and confirm the notion that the jet is responsible for the strongly perturbed gas dynamics seen in the ionized, neutral, and molecular gas phases. In our simulations, we also see strong venting of the jet plasma perpendicular to the disc, which entrains clumps and diffuse filaments into the halo of the galaxy. Our simulations are the first 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the jet and ISM of IC 5063.

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arXiv2017

Properties of the molecular gas in the fast outflow in the Seyfert galaxy IC 5063

We present a detailed study of the molecular gas in the fast AGN-driven outflow in the nearby radio-loud Seyfert galaxy IC 5063. Using ALMA observations of a number of tracers (12CO(1-0), 12CO(2-1), 12CO(3-2), 13CO(2-1) and HCO+(4-3)), we map the differences in excitation, density and temperature of the gas. The results show that in the immediate vicinity of the radio jet, a fast outflow, with velocities up to 800 km/s, is occurring of which the gas has high excitation temperatures in the range 30-55 K, demonstrating the direct impact of the jet on the ISM. The relative brightness of the CO lines show that the outflow is optically thin. We estimate the mass of the molecular outflow to be 1.2 x 10^6 Msol and likely to be a factor 2-3 larger. This is similar to that of the outflow of atomic gas, but much larger than that of the ionised outflow, showing that the outflow is dominated by cold gas. The total mass outflow rate we estimate to be ~12 Msol/yr. The mass of the outflow is much smaller than the total gas mass of the ISM of IC 5063. Therefore, although the influence of the radio jet is very significant in the inner regions, globally speaking the impact will be very modest. We use RADEX modelling to explore the physical conditions of the molecular gas in the outflow. Models with the outflowing gas being quite clumpy give the most consistent results and our preferred solutions have kinetic temperatures in the range 20-100 K and densities between 10^5 and 10^6 cm^-3. The resulting pressures are 10^6-10^7.5 K cm^-3, about two orders of magnitude higher than in the outer quiescent disk. The results strongly suggest that the outflow is driven by the radio jet expanding into a clumpy medium, creating a cocoon of gas which is pushed away from the jet axis resulting in a lateral outflow, very similar to what is predicted by numerical simulations.

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arXiv2016

From galaxy-scale fueling to nuclear-scale feedback: the merger-state of radio galaxies 3C293, 3C305 & 4C12.50

Powerful radio galaxies are often associated with gas-rich galaxy mergers. These mergers may provide the fuel to trigger starburst and active galactic nuclear (AGN) activity. In this Research Note, we study the host galaxies of three seemingly young or re-started radio sources that drive fast outflows of cool neutral hydrogen (HI) gas, namely 3C 293, 3C 305 and 4C 12.50 (PKS 1345+12). Our aim is to link the feedback processes in the central kpc-scale region with new information on the distribution of stars and gas at scales of the galaxy. For this, we use deep optical V-band imaging of the host galaxies, complemented with HI emission-line observations to study their gaseous environments. We find prominent optical tidal features in all three radio galaxies, which confirm previous claims that 3C 293, 3C 305 and 4C 12.50 have been involved in a recent galaxy merger or interaction. Our data show the complex morphology of the host galaxies, and identify the companion galaxies that are likely involved in the merger or interaction. The radio sources appear to be (re-)triggered at a different stage of the merger; 4C 12.50 is a pre-coalescent and possibly multiple merger, 3C 293 is a post-coalescent merger that is undergoing a minor interaction with a close satellite galaxy, while 3C 305 appears to be shaped by an interaction with a gas-rich companion. For 3C 293 and 3C 305, we do not detect HI beyond the inner ~30-45 kpc region, which shows that the bulk of the cold gas is concentrated within the host-galaxy, rather than along the widespread tidal features.

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arXiv2016

Star Formation in Nearby Early-Type Galaxies: The Radio Continuum Perspective

We present a 1.4 GHz Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) study of a sample of early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the volume- and magnitude-limited ATLAS-3D survey. The radio morphologies of these ETGs at a resolution of 5" are diverse and include sources that are compact on sub-kpc scales, resolved structures similar to those seen in star-forming spiral galaxies, and kpc-scale radio jets/lobes associated with active nuclei. We compare the 1.4 GHz, molecular gas, and infrared (IR) properties of these ETGs. The most CO-rich ATLAS-3D ETGs have radio luminosities consistent with extrapolations from H_2-mass-derived star formation rates from studies of late-type galaxies. These ETGs also follow the radio-IR correlation. However, ETGs with lower molecular gas masses tend to have less radio emission relative to their CO and IR emission compared to spirals. The fraction of galaxies in our sample with high IR-radio ratios is much higher than in previous studies, and cannot be explained by a systematic underestimation of the radio luminosity due to the presence extended, low-surface-brightness emission that was resolved-out in our VLA observations. In addition, we find that the high IR-radio ratios tend to occur at low IR luminosities, but are not associated with low dynamical mass or metallicity. Thus, we have identified a population of ETGs that have a genuine shortfall of radio emission relative to both their IR and molecular gas emission. A number of mechanisms may conspire to cause this radio deficiency, including a bottom-heavy stellar initial mass function, weak magnetic fields, a higher prevalence of environmental effects compared to spirals and enhanced cosmic ray losses.

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arXiv2016

The missing link: tracing molecular gas in the outer filament of Centaurus A

We report the detection, using observations of the CO(2-1) line performed with the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX), of molecular gas in the region of the outer filament of Centaurus A, a complex region known to show various signatures of an interaction between the radio jet, an HI cloud, and ionised gas filaments. We detect CO(2-1) at all observed locations, which were selected to represent regions with very different physical conditions. The H_2 masses of the detections range between 0.2 x 10^6 and 1.1 x 10^6 \msun, for conservative choices of the CO to H_2 conversion factor. Surprisingly, the stronger detections are not coincident with the HI cloud, but instead are in the region of the ionised filaments. We also find variations in the widths of the CO(2-1) lines throughout the region, with broader lines in the region of the ionised gas, i.e. where the jet--cloud interaction is strongest, and with narrow profiles in the HI cloud. This may indicate that the molecular gas in the region of the ionised gas has the momentum of the jet-cloud interaction encoded in it, in the same way as the ionised gas does. These molecular clouds may therefore be the result of very efficient cooling of the down-stream gas photo- or shock-ionised by the interaction. On the other hand, the molecular clouds with narrower profiles, which are closer to or inside the HI cloud, could be pre-existing cold H_2 cores which manage to survive the effects of the passing jet.

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