skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A Glimpse at Quasar Host Galaxy Far-UV Emission, Using Damped Lyα's as Natural Coronagraphs

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [3];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [3];  [11]
  1. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Steward Observatory; Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Steward Observatory
  2. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Steward Observatory
  3. Pierre and Marie Curie Univ., Paris (France). National Scientific Research Center (CNRS), Inst. of Astrophysics
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  5. Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia). Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
  6. Catalan Inst. for Research and Advanced Studies. Barcelona (Spain); Univ. of Barcelona (Spain). Inst. of Cosmos Sciences
  7. Univ. of Chile, Santiago (Chile). Dept. of Astronomy
  8. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics; Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Inst. for Gravitation and the Cosmos
  9. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
  10. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Astronomy
  11. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

In merger-driven models of massive galaxy evolution, the luminous quasar phase is expected to be accompanied by vigorous star formation in quasar host galaxies. In this paper, we use high column density damped Lyα (DLA) systems along quasar sight lines as natural coronagraphs to directly study the far-UV (FUV) radiation from the host galaxies of luminous background quasars. Here, we have stacked the spectra of ~2000 DLA systems (NHI > 1020.6cm–2) with a median absorption redshift $$\langle$$z$$\rangle$$ = 2.6 selected from quasars observed in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. We detect residual flux in the dark troughs of the composite DLA spectra. The level of this residual flux significantly exceeds systematic errors in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey fiber sky subtraction; furthermore, the residual flux is strongly correlated with the continuum luminosity of the background quasar, while uncorrelated with DLA column density or metallicity. We conclude that the flux could be associated with the average FUV radiation from the background quasar host galaxies (with medium redshift $$\langle$$z$$\rangle$$ = 3.1) that is not blocked by the intervening DLA. Finally, assuming that all of the detected flux originates from quasar hosts, for the highest quasar luminosity bin ($$\langle$$L$$\rangle$$ = 2.5 × 1013 L⊙), the host galaxy has an FUV intensity of 1.5 ± 0.2 × 1040 erg s–1 Å–1; this corresponds to an unobscured UV star formation rate of 9 M⊙ yr–1.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704; AST 08-06861; AST 11-07682
OSTI ID:
1335433
Report Number(s):
BNL-112092-2016-JA; KA2301020
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 793, Issue 2; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 16 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (99)

The Tenth data Release of the Sloan Digital sky Survey: First Spectroscopic data from the Sdss-Iii Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment journal March 2014
Black Hole-Galaxy Correlations Without Self-Regulation journal May 2013
Multicolour imaging of z = 2 QSO hosts journal May 1998
Chandra Survey of Radio‐quiet, High‐Redshift Quasars journal May 2003
AN ULTRAVIOLET ULTRA-LUMINOUS LYMAN BREAK GALAXY AT Z = 2.78 IN NDWFS BOÖTES FIELD , , journal September 2012
Spectral Classification and Redshift Measurement for the Sdss-Iii Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey journal October 2012
Evidence of a type 1/type 2 dichotomy in the correlation between quasar optical polarization and host-galaxy/extended emission position angles
 journal December 2007
A GREEN BANK TELESCOPE SURVEY FOR H I 21 cm ABSORPTION IN THE DISKS AND HALOS OF LOW-REDSHIFT GALAXIES journal January 2011
THINK OUTSIDE THE COLOR BOX: PROBABILISTIC TARGET SELECTION AND THE SDSS - XDQSO QUASAR TARGETING CATALOG journal February 2011
Physical properties of neutral gas in M31 and the Galaxy journal February 1992
A SPECTROSCOPIC SEARCH FOR LEAKING LYMAN CONTINUUM AT z ∼ 0.7 journal August 2010
Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003 journal October 2003
Radio Observations of Infrared-Luminous High-Redshift Quasi-Stellar Objects journal October 2001
Erratum: "CO Line Width Differences in Early Universe Molecular Emission-Line Galaxies: Submillimeter Galaxies versus QSO Hosts" ([URL ADDRESS="/cgi-bin/resolve?2006AJ....131.2763C" STATUS="OKAY"]AJ, 131, 2763 [2006][/URL]) journal October 2006
The VIMOS VLT Deep Survey: star formation rate density of Ly α emitters from a sample of 217 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts 2  ≤  z  ≤  6.6 journal December 2010
THE EVOLUTION OF Lyα-EMITTING GALAXIES BETWEEN z = 2.1 AND z = 3.1 journal December 2011
The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of Sdss-Iii journal December 2012
Star formation indicators and line equivalent width in Lyα galaxies journal February 2010
Identification of a galaxy responsible for a high-redshift Lyman-α absorption system journal July 1996
Sdss-Iii: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky way, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems journal August 2011
A Fundamental Relation between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies journal August 2000
A glance at the host galaxy of high-redshift quasars using strong damped Lyman- α systems as coronagraphs journal October 2013
The large-scale cross-correlation of Damped Lyman alpha systems with the Lyman alpha forest: first measurements from BOSS journal November 2012
Reconciling the Metallicity Distributions of Gamma‐Ray Burst, Damped Lyα, and Lyman Break Galaxies at z ≈ 3 journal August 2008
Extended Lyα emission from a damped Ly α absorber at z=1.93, and the relation between damped Ly α absorbers and Lyman-break galaxies journal May 1999
A Relationship between Nuclear Black Hole Mass and Galaxy Velocity Dispersion journal August 2000
Near‐Infrared Adaptive Optics Imaging of QSO Host Galaxies journal September 2006
Damped Lyα Absorber and the Faint End of the Galaxy Luminosity Function at High Redshift journal May 2000
On the Black Hole Mass-Bulge Mass Relation journal March 2004
A z = 3 Lyα BLOB ASSOCIATED WITH A DAMPED Lyα SYSTEM PROXIMATE TO ITS BACKGROUND QUASAR journal February 2009
An analytic model of angular momentum transport by gravitational torques: from galaxies to massive black holes: Angular momentum transport and AGN fuelling journal July 2011
The Relation between Quasar and Merging Galaxy Luminosity Functions and the Merger‐driven Star Formation History of the Universe journal December 2006
Imaging of [CLC][ITAL]z[/ITAL][/CLC] ∼ 2 QSO Host Galaxies with the [ITAL]Hubble Space Telescope[/ITAL] journal June 2002
Ultraviolet Light from Young Stars in GEMS Quasar Host Galaxies at 1.8 <  z  < 2.75 journal October 2004
The covering factor of high-redshift damped Lyman-α systems journal March 2009
EXTENDED Lyα EMISSION FROM A DAMPED Lyα ABSORBER AT z = 3.115 journal December 2013
The Global Schmidt Law in Star‐forming Galaxies journal May 1998
FIVE-YEAR WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE OBSERVATIONS: COSMOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION journal February 2009
On the sizes of z≳2 damped Ly absorbing galaxies★: On the sizes of z ≳ 2 DLAs journal May 2012
A NICMOS imaging study of high- z quasar host galaxies journal October 2001
A SUPER-DAMPED Lyα QUASI-STELLAR OBJECT ABSORBER AT z = 2.2 journal April 2012
MEAN-FLUX-REGULATED PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS CONTINUUM FITTING OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY Lyα FOREST SPECTRA journal January 2012
Emission within a damped Lyman a absorption trough: the complex sightline towards Q2059-360 journal March 1999
Amuse-Virgo. iii. Mid-Infrared Photometry of Early-Type Galaxies and Limits on Obscured Nuclear Emission journal December 2011
SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS OF QSOs AT z > 5: COMMON ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS-HEATED DUST AND OCCASIONALLY STRONG STAR-FORMATION journal April 2014
On-axis spectroscopy of the host galaxies of 20 optically luminous quasars at z   0.3 journal June 2007
Star Formation in the Hosts of High‐ z QSOs: Evidence from Spitzer PAH Detections journal September 2008
The Star Formation History of Field Galaxies journal May 1998
The Demography of Massive Dark Objects in Galaxy Centers journal June 1998
A Hubble Space Telescope Search for Lyman Continuum Emission from Galaxies at 1.1 < z < 1.4 journal December 2003
The Relation between Black Hole Mass, Bulge Mass, and Near-Infrared Luminosity journal April 2003
Coronagraphic Imaging of 3C 273 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys journal June 2003
A comparative HST imaging study of the host galaxies of radio-quiet quasars, radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies -- I journal September 1999
NEAR-INFRARED IMAGING OF A z = 6.42 QUASAR HOST GALAXY WITH THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 journal August 2012
Keck Spectroscopy of Four Quasi-stellar Object Host Galaxies journal April 2003
The structure and clustering of Lyman-break galaxies journal March 1999
Detection of Lyman- α emission from a DLA galaxy: Possible implications for a luminosity-metallicity relation at z = 2–3 journal July 2004
Mass–metallicity relation from z = 5 to the present: evidence for a transition in the mode of galaxy growth at z = 2.6 due to the end of sustained primordial gas infall journal February 2013
Unfunded Research? I Am Shocked, Shocked! journal July 1993
Are High‐Redshift Damped Lyα Galaxies Lyman Break Galaxies? journal July 2002
Star formation rate and metallicity of damped Lyman α absorbers in cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations journal February 2004
Column density distribution and cosmological mass density of neutral gas: Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Data Release 9 journal October 2012
Evolution of the cosmological mass density of neutral gas from Sloan Digital Sky Survey II – Data Release 7 journal August 2009
A connection between extremely strong damped Lyman- α systems and Lyman- α emitting galaxies at small impact parameters journal June 2014
A 1.2 mm MAMBO/IRAM–30 m study of dust emission from optically luminous $z \approx$ 2 quasars journal January 2003
A 1.2 mm MAMBO/IRAM-30 m survey of dust emission from the highest redshift PSS quasars journal August 2001
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar catalog: ninth data release journal November 2012
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar catalog: tenth data release journal March 2014
Probing the Coevolution of Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxies Using Gravitationally Lensed Quasar Hosts journal October 2006
Damped Lyman α systems in galaxy formation simulations journal October 2008
The SCUBA Bright Quasar Survey (SBQS) — II. Unveiling the quasar epoch at submillimetre wavelengths journal March 2003
The Lyman α emission of high-z damped Lyman α systems: Lyα emission from DLA galaxies journal October 2010
A Population of Faint Extended Line Emitters and the Host Galaxies of Optically Thick QSO Absorption Systems journal July 2008
Multiwavelength Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History from Spectroscopy: The Rest‐Frame Ultraviolet, Hα, and Infrared Luminosity Functions at Redshifts 1.9 ≲ z ≲ 3.4 journal March 2008
Spectral Energy Distributions and Multiwavelength Selection of Type 1 Quasars
  • Richards, Gordon T.; Lacy, Mark; Storrie‐Lombardi, Lisa J.
  • The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 166, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1086/506525
journal October 2006
NICMOS Imaging of the Host Galaxies of z ∼ 2–3 Radio‐quiet Quasars journal March 2001
The Sdss-Iii Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Quasar Target Selection for data Release nine journal February 2012
Detection of abundant molecular gas in the UV-excess quasar Markarian 1014 journal December 1988
Metallicity of the Intergalactic Medium Using Pixel Statistics. II. The Distribution of Metals as Traced by C iv journal October 2003
Host galaxies of bright high redshift quasars: luminosities and colours journal November 2007
The evolution of star formation in quasar host galaxies journal July 2009
Ultraviolet to Mid‐Infrared Observations of Star‐forming Galaxies at z  ∼ 2: Stellar Masses and Stellar Populations journal June 2005
Rest‐Frame Ultraviolet Spectra of \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $z\sim 3$ \end{document} Lyman Break Galaxies journal May 2003
New Constraints on the Lyman Continuum Escape Fraction at z  ∼ 1.3 journal October 2007
Seyferts on the edge: polar scattering and orientation-dependent polarization in Seyfert 1 nuclei journal May 2004
Parsec-scale structures and diffuse bands in a translucent interstellar medium at z≃ 0.079★ journal November 2012
DIFFUSE Lyα EMITTING HALOS: A GENERIC PROPERTY OF HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES journal July 2011
THE STRUCTURE AND KINEMATICS OF THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM FROM FAR-ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA OF z ≃ 2-3 GALAXIES journal June 2010
The properties of (sub-)millimetre-selected galaxies as revealed by CANDELS HST WFC3/IR imaging in GOODS-South journal May 2013
Quasar host galaxies in the FORS deep field journal July 2008
Thermal Emission from Warm Dust in the Most Distant Quasars journal November 2008
FAR-INFRARED AND MOLECULAR CO EMISSION FROM THE HOST GALAXIES OF FAINT QUASARS AT z ∼ 6 journal August 2011
STAR FORMATION AND GAS KINEMATICS OF QUASAR HOST GALAXIES AT z ∼ 6: NEW INSIGHTS FROM ALMA journal July 2013
Locating star-forming regions in quasar host galaxies★ journal December 2013
The Contribution from Scattered Light to Quasar Galaxy Hosts journal June 2009
Sensitive Radio Observations of High‐Redshift Dusty QSOs journal January 2000
A Ly α blob and z abs  ≈  z em damped Ly α absorber in the dark matter halo of the binary quasar Q 0151+048 journal July 2011
Candidate Type II Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. III. Spectropolarimetry Reveals Hidden Type I Nuclei journal March 2005
Reconciling the local galaxy population with damped Lyman α cross-sections and metal abundances journal December 2005

Cited By (7)

The third release of the Large Quasar Astrometric Catalog (LQAC-3): a compilation of 321 957 objects journal October 2015
Directly imaging damped Ly α galaxies at z > 2 – III. The star formation rates of neutral gas reservoirs at z ∼ 2.7 journal December 2014
QUASARS PROBING QUASARS. VIII. THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE COOL CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM SURROUNDING z ∼ 2–3 MASSIVE GALAXIES HOSTING QUASARS journal October 2016
An Intercomparison Study of Two Proximate Damped Ly α Systems with Residual Flux upon the Ly α Absorption Trough toward Quasars journal May 2018
A Strange EUV Emission: Scattered Continuum in the Lyman Limit Absorption Edge toward the Quasar SDSS J125903.26+621211.5? journal August 2018
Deep Hubble Space Telescope Imaging on the Extended Ly α Emission of a QSO at z = 2.19 with a Damped Lyman Alpha System as a Natural Coronagraph journal January 2020
Quasars Probing Quasars VIII. The Physical Properties of the Cool Circumgalactic Medium Surrounding z ~ 2-3 Massive Galaxies Hosting Quasars text January 2015

Similar Records

A glimpse at quasar host galaxy far-UV emission using damped Lyα's as natural coronagraphs
Journal Article · Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:1335433
+12 more
Exploring damped Lyα system host galaxies using gamma-ray bursts
Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:1335433
+6 more
DISCOVERY OF A DAMPED Lyα ABSORBER AT z = 3.3 ALONG A GALAXY SIGHT-LINE IN THE SSA22 FIELD
Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:1335433
+4 more

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
cosmology observations
galaxies high-redshift
quasars absorption lines
quasars