Star-Formation in Low Radio Luminosity AGN from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We investigate faint radio emission from low- to high-luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Their radio properties are inferred by coadding large ensembles of radio image cut-outs from the FIRST survey, as almost all of the sources are individually undetected. We correlate the median radio flux densities against a range of other sample properties, including median values for redshift, [O III] luminosity, emission line ratios, and the strength of the 4000{angstrom} break. We detect a strong trend for sources that are actively undergoing star-formation to have excess radio emission beyond the {approx} 10{sup 28} ergs s{sup -1} Hz{sup -1} level found for sources without any discernible star-formation. Furthermore, this additional radio emission correlates well with the strength of the 4000{angstrom} break in the optical spectrum, and may be used to assess the age of the star-forming component. We examine two subsamples, one containing the systems with emission line ratios most like star-forming systems, and one with the sources that have characteristic AGN ratios. This division also separates the mechanism responsible for the radio emission (star-formation vs. AGN). For both cases we find a strong, almost identical, correlation between [O III] and radio luminosity, with the AGN sample extending toward lower, and the star-formation sample toward higher luminosities. A clearer separation between the two subsamples is seen as function of the central velocity dispersion {sigma} of the host galaxy. For systems at similar redshifts and values of {sigma}, the star-formation subsample is brighter than the AGN in the radio by an order of magnitude. This underlines the notion that the radio emission in star-forming systems can dominate the emission associated with the AGN.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 940897
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JRNL-230492; ANJOAA; TRN: US200824%%393
- Journal Information:
- The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 134; ISSN 0004-6256
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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