THE PRESENCE OF WEAK ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI IN HIGH REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
We present [O III 5007 A] observations of the star-forming galaxy (SFG) HDF-BMZ1299 (z = 1.598) using Keck Observatory's adaptive optics system with the near-infrared {integral} field spectrograph OSIRIS. Using previous Halpha and [N II] measurements of the same source, we are able for the first time to use spatially resolved observations to place a high-redshift galaxy's substructure on a traditional H II diagnostic diagram. We find that HDF-BMZ1299's spatially concentrated nebular ratios in the central {approx}1.5 kpc (0.''2) are best explained by the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN): log ([N II]/Halpha) = -0.22 +- 0.05 and 2sigma limit of log ([O III]/Hbeta) {approx}>0.26. The dominant energy source of this galaxy is star formation, and integrating a single aperture across the galaxy yields nebular ratios that are composite spectra from both AGN and H II regions. The presence of an embedded AGN in HDF-BMZ1299 may suggest a potential contamination in a fraction of other high-redshift SFGs, and we suggest that this may be a source of the 'elevated' nebular ratios previously seen in seeing-limited metallicity studies. HDF-BMZ1299's estimated AGN luminosity is L{sub Halpha} = (3.7 +- 0.5) x 10{sup 41} erg s{sup -1} and L{sub [O{sub III}]} = (5.8 +- 1.9) x 10{sup 41} erg s{sup -1}, making it one of the lowest luminosity AGNs discovered at this early epoch.
- OSTI ID:
- 21394301
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 711, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/711/2/1291; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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