Strong Star Formation Activity Research Articles

A Closer Look at Dwarf Galaxies Exhibiting Mid-infrared Variability: Active Galactic Nuclei Confirmation and Comparison With Nonvariable Dwarf Galaxies

Detecting active black holes in dwarf galaxies has proven to be a challenge due to their small size and weak electromagnetic signatures. Mid-infrared variability has emerged as a promising tool that can be used to detect active low-mass black holes in dwarf galaxies. We analyzed 10.4 yr of photometry from the AllWISE/NEOWISE multiepoch catalogs, identifying 25 objects with active galactic nuclei (AGN)-like variability. Independent confirmation of AGN activity was found in 68% of these objects using optical and near-infrared diagnostics. Notably, we discover a near-infrared coronal line [S ix] λ 1.252 μm in J1205, the galaxy with the lowest stellar mass (log M * = 7.5 M ⊙) and low metallicity (12 + log(O/H) = 7.46) in our sample. Additionally, we find broad Paα potentially from the broad-line region in two targets, and their implied black hole masses are consistent with black hole-stellar mass relations. Comparing nonvariable galaxies with similar stellar masses and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer W1 − W2 colors, we find no clear trends between variability and large-scale galaxy properties. However, we find that AGN activity likely causes redder W1 − W2 colors in variable targets, while for the nonvariable galaxies, the contribution stems from strong star formation activity. A high incidence of optical broad lines was also observed in variable targets. Our results suggest that mid-infrared variability is an effective method for detecting AGN activity in low-mass galaxies and can help uncover a larger sample of active low-mass (<106 M ⊙) black holes in the Universe.

Discovery of a Low-redshift Hot Dust-obscured Galaxy

We report the discovery of the hyperluminous, highly obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) WISE J190445.04+485308.9 (W1904+4853, hereafter, L bol ∼ 1.1 × 1013 L ⊙) at z = 0.415. Its well-sampled spectral energy distribution (SED) is dominated by infrared dust emission, though broad emission lines are detected in the optical spectra. These features suggest that W1904+4853 contains an actively accreting supermassive black hole hidden in its dusty cocoon, resembling the observed properties of hot dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs), a population previously only identified at z > 1.0. Using the broad component of the Mg ii 2798 Å emission line, we estimate a black hole mass of . The corresponding Eddington ratio (η) of implies that the central black hole accretion is at the theoretical limit of isotropic accretion. The rest-frame UV-optical SED also indicates that the host galaxy of W1904+4853 harbors strong star formation activity at the rate of 6–84 M ⊙ yr−1 with an independent estimate of star formation rate up to ∼45 M ⊙ yr−1 using the [O ii] emission line. With an estimated stellar mass of 3 × 1010 M ⊙, the host galaxy appears to be a starburst system with respect to the main sequence of the star-forming galaxies at the same redshift. Although blueshifted and asymmetric [O iii] emission provides evidence of an outflow, we estimate it to be an order of magnitude smaller than the star formation rate, indicating that the current obscured AGN activity at the center has not yet produced significant feedback on the host galaxy star formation activity. W1904+4853 supports the interpretation that Hot DOGs are a rare transitional phase of AGN accretion in galaxy evolution, a phase that can persist into the present-day Universe.

Quasars and the Intergalactic Medium at Cosmic Dawn

Quasars at cosmic dawn provide powerful probes of the formation and growth of the earliest supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the Universe, their connections to galaxy and structure formation, and the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at the epoch of reionization (EoR). Hundreds of quasars have been discovered in the first billion years of cosmic history, with the quasar redshift frontier extended to z ∼ 7.6. Observations of quasars at cosmic dawn show the following: ▪The number density of luminous quasars declines exponentially at z &gt; 5, suggesting that the earliest quasars emerge at z ∼ 10; the lack of strong evolution in their average spectral energy distribution indicates a rapid buildup of the active galactic nucleus environment.▪Billion-solar-mass black holes (BHs) already exist at z &gt; 7.5; they must form and grow in less than 700 Myr, by a combination of massive early BH seeds with highly efficient and sustained accretion.▪The rapid quasar growth is accompanied by strong star formation and feedback activity in their host galaxies, which show diverse morphological and kinetic properties, with typical dynamical mass lower than that implied by the local BH/galaxy scaling relations.▪Hi absorption in quasar spectra probes the tail end of cosmic reionization at z ∼ 5.3–6 and indicates the EoR midpoint at 6.9 &lt; z &lt; 7.6, with large spatial fluctuations in IGM ionization. Observations of heavy element absorption lines suggest that the circumgalactic medium also experiences evolution in its ionization structure and metal enrichment during the EoR.

Cold molecular gas and PAH emission in the nuclear and circumnuclear regions of Seyfert galaxies

We investigate the relation between the detection of the 11.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature in the nuclear (∼24−230 pc) regions of 22 nearby Seyfert galaxies and the properties of the cold molecular gas. For the former we use ground-based (0.3−0.6″ resolution) mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy. The cold molecular gas is traced by ALMA and NOEMA high (0.2−1.1″) angular resolution observations of the CO(2–1) transition. Galaxies with a nuclear detection of the 11.3 μm PAH feature contain more cold molecular gas (median 1.6 × 107 M⊙) and have higher column densities (N(H2) = 2 × 1023 cm−2) over the regions sampled by the mid-IR slits than those without a detection. This suggests that molecular gas plays a role in shielding the PAH molecules in the harsh environments of Seyfert nuclei. Choosing the PAH molecule naphthalene as an illustration, we compute its half-life in the nuclear regions of our sample when exposed to 2.5 keV hard X-ray photons. We estimate shorter half-lives for naphthalene in nuclei without a 11.3 μm PAH detection than in those with a detection. TheSpitzer/IRS PAH ratios on circumnuclear scales (∼4″ ∼ 0.25−1.3 kpc) are in between model predictions for neutral and partly ionized PAHs. However, Seyfert galaxies in our sample with the highest nuclear H2column densities are not generally closer to the neutral PAH tracks. This is because in the majority of our sample galaxies, the CO(2–1) emission in the inner ∼4″ is not centrally peaked and in some galaxies traces circumnuclear sites of strong star formation activity. Spatially resolved observations with the MIRI medium-resolution spectrograph on theJames WebbSpace Telescope will be able to distinguish the effects of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and star formation on the PAH emission in nearby AGN.

ALMA Observations of the Molecular Clouds in NGC 625

Abstract We present the highest-resolution (1″) 12CO observations of molecular gas in the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 625 to date, obtained with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The molecular gas, which is distributed in discrete clouds within an area of 0.4 kpc2, does not have well-ordered large-scale motions. We measure a molecular mass in NGC 625 of 5.3 × 106 , assuming a Milky Way CO-to- conversion factor. We use the CPROPS package to identify molecular clouds and measure their properties. The 19 resolved CO clouds have a median radius of 20 pc, a median linewidth 2.5 , and a median surface density of 169 . Larson scaling relations suggest that molecular clouds in NGC 625 are mostly in virial equilibrium. Comparison of our high-resolution CO observations with a star formation rate map, inferred from ancillary optical observations, suggests that about 40% of the molecular clouds coincide with the brightest H ii regions. These bright H ii regions have a range of molecular gas depletion timescales, all within a factor of ∼3 of the global depletion time in NGC 625 of 106–134 Myr. The highest surface density molecular clouds toward the southwest of the galaxy, in a region we call the Butterfly, do not show strong star formation activity and suggest a depletion timescale longer than 5 Gyr.

The Nature of the Double Nuclei in the Barred S0 Galaxy IC 676

Abstract The lenticular galaxy IC 676 is a barred galaxy with double nuclei and active star formation in the central region. In this work we present the long-slit spectroscopy and archival multiwavelength images to investigate the nature and origin of the double nuclei in IC 676. Through photometric 1D brightness profiles and 2D image decomposition, we show that this galaxy consists of a stellar bar with the length of ∼2.5 kpc and two Sérsic disks both of which with Sérsic index n ∼ 1.3. There is probably little or no bulge component assembled in IC 676. The luminosities of the double nuclei are primarily dominated by young stellar populations within the ages of 1–10 Myr. The northern nucleus has stronger star formation activity than the southern one. The surface densities of the star formation rate in the double nuclei are similar to those in starburst galaxies or the circumnuclear star-forming regions in spiral galaxies. Each of the double nuclei in IC 676 likely consists of young massive star clusters, which can be resolved as bright knots in the Hubble Space Telescope high-resolution image. Our results suggest that IC 676 likely has a complex formation and evolutionary history. The secular processes driven by the stellar bar and external accretion may dominate the formation and evolution of its double nuclei. This indicates that the secular evolution involving the internal and external drivers may have an important contribution for the evolution of lenticular galaxies.

Red and dead CANDELS: massive passive galaxies at the dawn of the Universe

ABSTRACT We search the five CANDELS fields (COSMOS, EGS, GOODS-North, GOODS-South, and UDS) for passively evolving a.k.a. ‘red and dead’ massive galaxies in the first 2 Gyr after the big bang, integrating and updating the work on GOODS-South presented in a previous paper. We perform SED-fitting on photometric data, with top-hat star-formation histories to model an early and abrupt quenching, and using a probabilistic approach to select only robust candidates. Using libraries without (with) spectral lines emission, starting from a total of more than 20 000 z &gt; 3 sources we end up with 102 (40) candidates, including one at z = 6.7. This implies a minimal number density of 1.73 ± 0.17 × 10−5 (6.69 ± 1.08 × 10−6) Mpc−3 for 3 &lt; z &lt; 5; applying a correction factor to account for incompleteness yields 2.30 ± 0.20 × 10−5. We compare these values with those from five recent hydrodynamical cosmological simulations, finding a reasonable agreement at z &lt; 4; tensions arise at earlier epochs. Finally, we use the star-formation histories from the best-fitting models to estimate the contribution of the high-redshift passive galaxies to the global star formation rate density during their phase of activity, finding that they account for ∼5–10 per cent of the total star formation at 3 &lt; z &lt; 8, despite being only $\sim 0.5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the total in number. The resulting picture is that early and strong star formation activity, building massive galaxies on short time-scales and followed by a quick and abrupt quenching, is a rare but crucial phenomenon in the early Universe: the evolution of the cosmos must be heavily influenced by the short but powerful activity of these pristine monsters.

Further evidence for a quasar-driven jet impacting its neighbour galaxy: The saga of HE0450-2958 continues

HE0450-2958, an interacting quasar-starburst galaxy pair at $z$ = 0.285, is one of the best known examples of strong star formation activity in the presence of a quasar-driven jet. We present new multi-band JVLA-imaging covering 1 to 6 GHz and reaching an angular resolution of up to $0{}_{{}^.}^{"}6$ (a 6-fold improvement over existing radio data). We confirm the previous detection of a spatially extended radio component around the quasar indicating that there is on-going star formation activity in the quasar host galaxy. For the first time, we directly detect a jet-like bipolar outflow from the quasar aligned with its companion star-forming galaxy (SFG) and several blobs of ionized gas in its vicinity identified in previous studies. Within the companion SFG we find evidence for a flattening of the synchrotron spectral index towards the point of intersection with the jet axis, further suggesting that the outflow may actually be impacting its interstellar medium (ISM). We discuss two possible mechanisms that could have triggered the starburst in the companion SFG: a wet-dry merger with the quasar and jet-induced star formation. While triggering through interaction-driven gas dynamics cannot be excluded with current data, our new observations make HE0450-2958 a strong candidate for jet-induced star formation, and one of the rare links between local systems (like Minkowski's Object or Centaurus A) and the high-z regime where radio-optical alignments suggest that this phenomenon could be more common.

THE GALACTIC-SCALE MOLECULAR OUTFLOWS IN STARBURST GALAXIES NGC 2146 AND NGC 3628

Starburst galaxies have strong star formation activity and generate large scale outflows which eject a huge amount of gas mass. This process affects galaxy activity, and therefore, the detailed study of nearby starburst galaxies could provide valuable information for the study of distant ones. So far there have been only a few studies of galactic-scale molecular out ows due to the sensitivity limitation of telescopes. Our study provides two nearby examples, NGC 2146 and NGC 3628. We used Nobeyama Millimeter Array (NMA) CO(1-0) data, Chandra soft X-ray data, and NMA 3 mm data to study the kinematics of molecular outflows, their interaction with ionized outflows, and the star forming activity in the starburst region. We found that the gas ejected through molecular out ows is much more significant than that used to form stars.

Are quiescent galaxies truly devoid of star formation? The mid-, far-infrared and radio properties of quiescent galaxies at z = 0.1 - 3

AbstractQuiescent galaxy candidates are typically identified by their low unobscured star formation rates from deep field photometric surveys. However, their selection technique relies on the assumption of a universal dust attenuation curve. It is important to verify the selection through independent SFR indicators at longer wavelengths. Current mid-, far-infrared and radio surveys are limited to detecting only galaxies with very strong star formation or AGN activity. Here, I present the first comprehensive stacking results across mid-, far-infrared and radio wavelengths using Spitzer, Herschel and VLA data in the COSMOS field (Man et al. 2014). We find that the rest-frame NUV-r and r-J color criteria, combined with low 24 μm emission, provides a robust selection of truly quiescent galaxies out to z = 3. Additionally, we find evidence of radio emission in excess of the expected total star formation in quiescent galaxies at z ~ 0-1.5, indicative of a ubiquitous presence of low-luminosity radio AGN among them.

3D Studies of Galaxies in Compact Groups

AbstractFabry-Perot data of compact group galaxies have been used to show that the Tully-Fisher relation in any photometric band, for galaxies with vmax &gt; 100 km/s, is very similar to that for galaxies in other less dense environments. In the low-luminosity end, however, a few compact group galaxies fall above the relation apparently because they are too bright for their mass. Here we show that if the mass is properly computed from spectral energy distribution fitting or mass modelling, for the low-luminosity galaxies, their positions in the stellar-mass or baryonic Tully-Fisher relation are what is expected for a normal Tully-Fisher relation and the outlying positions observed in the B and K Tully-Fisher relation could be explained by brightening of the low-luminosity interacting galaxies due to strong star formation or AGN activity.

Observational data analysis of Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph low-resolution spectra of ultraluminous infrared galaxies with Seyfert spectral types from the 1-Jy sample

In this paper, we present the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) low-resolution spectra of ultraluminous infrared galaxies with Seyfert spectral types from the 1-Jy sample. Among these sources, nine type 1 Seyfert galaxies and 17 type 2 Seyfert galaxies have Spitzer IRS low-resolution observations. For Seyfert 1 sources, we find that all sources have [Ne V] and/or [S IV] features, indicating an active galactic nucleus (AGN) nature, while many sources show polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features, indicative of starburst activity. It is also found that most Seyfert 2 sources have mid-infrared spectra similar to that for Seyfert 1 sources, also indicating an AGN nature, and thus these could be classified as Seyfert 1-like sources. However, only a few sources have a normal Seyfert 2 nature and can be considered to be 'pure' Seyfert 2 sources. In addition, it is found that more prominent PAH features are found for Seyfert 2 sources, indicating strong star formation activity.

Strongly star-forming rotating disks in a complex merging system atz= 4.7 as revealed by ALMA

We performed a kinematical analysis of the [CII] line emission of the BR 1202-0725 system at z~4,7 using ALMA observations. The most prominent sources of this system are a quasar and a submillimeter galaxy, separated by a projected distance of about 24 kpc and characterized by very high SFR, higher than 1000 Msun/yr. However, the ALMA observations reveal that these galaxies apparently have undisturbed rotating disks, which is at variance with the commonly accepted scenario in which strong star formation activity is induced by a major merger. We also detected faint components which, after spectral deblending, were spatially resolved from the main QSO and SMG emissions. The relative velocities and positions of these components are compatible with orbital motions within the gravitational potentials generated by the QSO host galaxy and the SMG, suggesting that they are smaller galaxies in interaction or gas clouds in accretion flows of tidal streams. We did not find any clear spectral evidence for outflows caused by AGN or stellar feedback. This suggests that the high star formation rates might be induced by interactions or minor mergers with these companions, which do not affect the large-scale kinematics of the disks, however. Our kinematical analysis also indicates that the QSO and the SMG have similar Mdyn, mostly in the form of molecular gas, and that the QSO host galaxy and the SMG are seen close to face-on with slightly different disk inclinations: the QSO host galaxy is seen almost face-on (i~15), while the SMG is seen at higher inclinations (i~25). Finally, the ratio between the black hole mass of the QSO, obtained from XShooter spectroscopy, and the Mdyn of the host galaxy is similar to value found in very massive local galaxies, suggesting that the evolution of black hole galaxy relations is probably better studied with dynamical than with stellar host galaxy masses.

The Tully–Fisher relations for Hickson compact group galaxies★

We used K-band photometry, maximum rotational velocities derived from Fabry-Perot data and HI observed and predicted masses to study, for the first time, the K-band, stellar and baryonic Tully-Fisher relations for galaxies in Hickson compact groups. We compared these relations with the ones defined for galaxies in less dense environments from the GHASP survey and from a sample of gas-rich galaxies. We find that most of the Hickson compact group galaxies lie on the K-band Tully-Fisher relation defined by field galaxies with a few low-mass outliers, namely HCG 49b and HCG 96c, which appear to have had strong recent burst of star formation. The stellar Tully-Fisher relation for compact group galaxies presents a similar dispersion to that of the K-band relation, and it has no significant outliers when a proper computation of the stellar mass is done for the strongly star-forming galaxies. The scatter in these relations can be reduced if the gaseous component is taken into account, i.e., if a baryonic Tully-Fisher relation is considered. In order to explain the positions of the galaxies off the K-band Tully-Fisher relation we favour a scenario in which their luminosities are brightened due to strong star formation or AGN activity. We argue that strong bursts of star formation can affect the B and K-band luminosities of HCG 49b and HCG 96c and in the case of the latter also AGN activity may affect the K-band magnitude considerably, without affecting their total masses.

A Comparison of Star Formation Rate Indicators for Galaxies

With the multi-wavelength data from UV to sub-millimeter in the region of H-ATLAS (Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey) Science Demonstration Phase (SDP), in combination with the population synthesis model and dust model, the total infrared luminosities of the galaxies were calculated. On this basis, for respectively the strong and weak star-forming galaxies, we studied the differences in the star formation rates calculated by the UV luminosity, infrared luminosity and Hα line, as well as the intrinsic physical origin of such differences. It was found that for the galaxies of strong star-formation activity, the 3 kinds of star formation rate indicators give the basically consistent results with a small dispersion. But at the end of high star formation rate, the star formation rate calculated by the UV luminosity is slightly smaller than that calculated by the Hα-line flux; at the end of low star formation rate, the UV indicator tends to be greater than the Hα indicator; and at both ends, the infrared indicator and Hα indicator have no significant difference. For the weak star-forming galaxies, significant differences exist among the 3 kinds of indicators, and there is a rather large dispersion. The dispersions and systematic difference of the star formation rates calculated by the UV luminosity and Hα line increase with the galactic age and mass. The main cause for the increased systematic difference is that when the extinction of an weak star-forming galaxy is calibrated by its UV continuum spectral slope β, the UV extinction of the galaxy is overestimated, it makes the UV luminosity tends to be large after the extinction correction. In addition, the star formation rates (Hα) of weak starforming galaxies in the MPA/JHU (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics/Johns Hopkins University) database are generally less than the real values.

Low and high surface brightness galaxies at void walls

Abstract We study the relative fraction of low and high surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs and HSBGs) at void walls in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. We focus on galaxies in equal local density environments. We assume that the host dark matter halo mass (for which we use SDSS group masses) is a good indicator of local density. This analysis allows us to examine the behaviour of the abundance of LSBGs and HSBGs at a fixed local density and distinguish the large-scale environment defined by the void geometry. We compare galaxies in the field and in the void walls; the latter are defined as the volume of void shells of radius equal to that of the void. We find a significant decrement, a factor of ∼4, of the relative fraction of blue, active star-forming LSBGs in equal-mass groups at the void walls and the field. This decrement is consistent with an increase of the fraction of blue, active star-forming HSBGs. In contrast, red LSBGs and HSBGs show negligible changes. We argue that these results are consistent with a scenario where LSBGs with blue colours and strong star formation activity at the void walls are fuelled by gas from the expanding void regions. This process could lead to LSBG to HSBG transformations.

Probing the nuclear and circumnuclear activity of NGC 1365 in the infrared

We present new far-infrared (70-500micron) Herschel PACS and SPIRE imaging observations as well as new mid-IR Gemini/T-ReCS imaging (8.7 and 18.3micron) and spectroscopy of the inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) region (R<2.5kpc) of the spiral galaxy NGC1365. We complemented these observations with archival Spitzer imaging and spectral mapping observations. The ILR region of NGC1365 contains a Seyfert 1.5 nucleus and a ring of star formation with an approximate diameter of 2kpc. The strong star formation activity in the ring is resolved by the Herschel/PACS imaging data, as well as by the Spitzer 24micron continuum emission, [NeII]12.81micron line emission, and 6.2 and 11.3micron PAH emission. The AGN is the brightest source in the central regions up to lambda~24micron, but it becomes increasingly fainter in the far-infrared when compared to the emission originating in the infrared clusters (or groups of them) located in the ring. We modeled the AGN unresolved infrared emission with the CLUMPY torus models and estimated that the AGN contributes only to a small fraction (~5%) of the infrared emission produced in the inner ~5kpc. We fitted the non-AGN 24-500micron spectral energy distribution of the ILR region and found that the dust temperatures and mass are similar to those of other nuclear and circumnuclear starburst regions. Finally we showed that within the ILR region of NGC1365 most of the on-going star formation activity is taking place in dusty regions as probed by the 24micron emission.

The x-ray luminous galaxy cluster population at 0.9 < z ≲ 1.6 as revealed by the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project**Based on observations under program IDs 079.A-0634 and 085.A-0647 collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Chile, and observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck Institut

We present the largest sample to date of spectroscopically confirmed x-ray luminous high-redshift galaxy clusters comprising 22 systems in the range as part of the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project (XDCP). All systems were initially selected as extended x-ray sources over 76.1 deg2 of non-contiguous deep archival XMM-Newton coverage, of which 49.4 deg2 are part of the core survey with a quantifiable selection function and 17.7 deg2 are classified as ‘gold’ coverage as the starting point for upcoming cosmological applications. Distant cluster candidates were followed up with moderately deep optical and near-infrared imaging in at least two bands to photometrically identify the cluster galaxy populations and obtain redshift estimates based on the colors of simple stellar population models. We test and calibrate the most promising redshift estimation techniques based on the R–z and z–H colors for efficient distant cluster identifications and find a good redshift accuracy performance of the z–H color out to at least z ∼ 1.5, while the redshift evolution of the R–z color leads to increasingly large uncertainties at z ≳ 0.9. Photometrically identified high-z systems are spectroscopically confirmed with VLT/FORS 2 with a minimum of three concordant cluster member redshifts. We present first details of two newly identified clusters, XDCP J0338.5+0029 at z = 0.916 and XDCP J0027.2+1714 at z = 0.959, and investigate the x-ray properties of SpARCS J003550-431224 at z = 1.335, which shows evidence for ongoing major merger activity along the line-of-sight. We provide x-ray properties and luminosity-based total mass estimates for the full sample of 22 high-z clusters, of which 17 are at z ⩾ 1.0 and seven populate the highest redshift bin at z > 1.3. The median system mass of the sample is M200 ≃ 2 × 1014 M⊙, while the probed mass range for the distant clusters spans approximately (0.7–7) × 1014 M⊙. The majority (>70%) of the x-ray selected clusters show rather regular x-ray morphologies, albeit in most cases with a discernible elongation along one axis. In contrast to local clusters, the z > 0.9 systems mostly do not harbor central dominant galaxies coincident with the x-ray centroid position, but rather exhibit significant brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) offsets from the x-ray center with a median value of about 50 kpc in projection and a smaller median luminosity gap to the second-ranked galaxy of Δm12 ≃ 0.3 mag. We estimate a fraction of cluster-associated NVSS 1.4 GHz radio sources of about 30%, preferentially located within 1′ from the x-ray center. This value suggests an increase of the fraction of very luminous cluster-associated radio sources by about a factor of 2.5–5 relative to low-z systems. The galaxy populations in z ≳ 1.5 cluster environments show first evidence for drastic changes on the high-mass end of galaxies and signs of a gradual disappearance of a well-defined cluster red-sequence as strong star formation activity is observed in an increasing fraction of massive galaxies down to the densest core regions. The presented XDCP high-z sample will allow first detailed studies of the cluster population during the critical cosmic epoch at lookback times of 7.3–9.5 Gyr on the aggregation and evolution of baryons in the cold and hot phases as a function of redshift and system mass.

Discovery of the X-ray selected galaxy cluster XMMU J0338.8+0021 atz= 1.49

We report on the discovery of a galaxy cluster at z = 1.490 originally selected as an extended X-ray source in the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project. Further observations carried out with the VLT-FORS2 spectrograph allowed the spectroscopic confirmation of seven secure cluster members, providing a median system redshift of z = 1.490 +/- 0.009. The color magnitude diagram of XMMU J0338.8+0021 reveals the presence of a well populated red sequence with z-H ~ 3, albeit with an apparent significant scatter in color. Since we do not detect indications for strong star formation activity in any of the objects, the color spread could indicate different stellar ages of the member galaxies. In addition, we found the brightest cluster galaxy in a very active dynamical state, with an interacting, merging companion located at a physical projected distance of d ~ 20kpc. From the X-ray luminosity we estimate a cluster mass of M200 ~ 1.2 x 10^(14) Msun. The data seem to suggest a scenario in which XMMU J0338.8+0021 is a young system, possibly caught in a moment of active ongoing mass assembly.

LOW SURFACE BRIGHTNESS GALAXIES IN THE SDSS: THE LINK BETWEEN ENVIRONMENT, STAR-FORMING PROPERTIES, AND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 4 (DR 4), we investigate the spatial distribution of low and high surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs and HSBGs, respectively). In particular, we focus our attention on the influence of interactions between galaxies on the star formation strength in the redshift range $0.01 < z < 0.1$. With cylinder counts and projected distance to the first and fifth-nearest neighbor as environment tracers, we find that LSBGs tend to have a lack of companions compared to HSBGs at small scales ($<2$ Mpc). Regarding the interactions, we have evidence that the fraction of LSBGs with strong star formation activity increases when the distance between pairs of galaxies ($r_{p}$) is smaller than about four times the Petrosian radius ($r_{90}$) of one of the components. Our results suggest that, rather than being a condition for their formation, the isolation of LSBGs is more connected with their survival and evolution. The effect of the interaction on the star formation strength, measured by the average value of the birthrate parameter $b$, seems to be stronger for HSBGs than for LSBGs. The analysis of our population of LSBGs and HSBGs hosting an AGN show that, regardless of the mass range, the fraction of LSBGs having an AGN is lower than the corresponding fraction of HSBGs with an AGN. Also, we observe that the fraction of HSBGs and LSBGs having an AGN increases with the bulge luminosity. These results, and those concerning the star-forming properties of LSBGs as a function of the environment, fit with the scenario proposed by some authors where, below a given threshold of surface mass density, low surface brightness disks are unable to propagate instabilities, preventing the formation and evolution of massive black holes in the centers of LSBGs.