arXiv subjects

N. A. Hatch

Publications and source records attributed to N. A. Hatch.

63 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

[OIII] emitters in the field of the MRC 0316-257 protocluster

Venemans et al. (2005) found evidence for an overdensity of Ly-alpha emission line galaxies associated with the radio galaxy MRC 0316-257 at z=3.13 indicating the presence of a massive protocluster. Here, we present the results of a search for additional star-forming galaxies and AGN within the protocluster. Narrow-band infrared imaging was used to select candidate [O III] emitters in a 1.1 x 1.1 Mpc^2 region around the radio galaxy. Thirteen candidates have been detected. Four of these are among the previously confirmed sample of Ly-alpha galaxies, and an additional three have been confirmed through follow-up infrared spectroscopy. The three newly confirmed objects lie within a few hundred km/s of each other, but are blueshifted with respect to the radio galaxy and Ly-alpha emitters by ~2100 km/s. Although the sample is currently small, our results indicate that the radio-selected protocluster is forming at the centre of a larger, ~60 co-moving Mpc super-structure. On the basis of an HST/ACS imaging study we calculate dust-corrected star-formation rates and investigate morphologies and sizes of the [O III] candidate emitters. From a comparison of the star formation rate derived from UV-continuum and [O III] emission, we conclude that at least two of the [O III] galaxies harbour an AGN which ionized the O+ gas.

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arXiv2008

Cold gas in the Perseus cluster core: Excitation of molecular gas in filaments

We have recently detected CO lines in the well-known filaments around NGC 1275, the galaxy at the centre of the Perseus cluster of galaxies. These previous observations, with the HERA multi-beam array at the IRAM 30m telescope enabled us to make a large map of the CO(2-1) line and to see hints of molecular gas far away from the cluster centre. To confirm the presence of CO emission lines in the outer filaments and to study the CO(2-1)/CO(1-0) line ratio, we observed seven regions of interest again with the 30m telescope in both CO(1-0) and CO(2-1). The regions we observed were: the eastern filament, the horseshoe, the northern filament and a southern extension, all selected from Halpha emission line mapping. Molecular gas is detected in all the observed regions. This result confirms the large extent of the cold molecular gas filaments. We discuss the CO(2-1)/CO(1-0) ratios in the filaments. The eastern filament has optically thick gas, whereas further away, the line ratio increases close to values expected for a warmer optically thin medium. We also show CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) lines in 9 regions closer to the centre. The kinematics of the CO is studied here in more detail and confirms that it follows the motions of the warm H_2 gas found in the near-infrared. Finally, we searched for dense gas tracers around 3C84 and claim here the first detection of HCN(3-2).

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arXiv2008

The origin of molecular hydrogen emission in cooling-flow filaments

The optical filaments found in many cooling flows in galaxy clusters consist of low density ($\sim 10^3 \pcc$) cool ($\sim 10^3$ K) gas surrounded by significant amounts of cosmic-ray and magnetic-field energy. Their spectra show anomalously strong low-ionization and molecular emission lines when compared with galactic molecular clouds exposed to ionizing radiation such as the Orion complex. Previous studies have shown that the spectra cannot be produced by O-star photoionization. Here we calculate the physical conditions in dusty gas that is well shielded from external sources of ionizing photons and is energized either by cosmic rays or dissipative MHD waves. Strong molecular hydrogen lines, with relative intensities similar to those observed, are produced. Selection effects introduced by the microphysics produce a correlation between the \htwo line upper level energy and the population temperature. These selection effects allow a purely collisional gas to produce \htwo emission that masquerades as starlight-pumped \htwo but with intensities that are far stronger. This physics may find application to any environment where a broad range of gas densities or heating rates occur.

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arXiv2007

Diffuse UV light associated with the Spiderweb Galaxy: evidence for in-situ star formation outside galaxies

We present detailed images of diffuse UV intergalactic light (IGL), situated in a 60kpc halo that surrounds the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262 at z=2. We discuss the nature of the IGL and rule out faint cluster galaxies, nebular continuum emission, synchrotron, inverse Compton emission and scattering of galactic stellar light as possible sources of the IGL. Dust scattered quasar light is an unlikely possibility that cannot be ruled out entirely. We conclude that the source of the IGL is most likely to be a young stellar population distributed in a halo encompassing the radio and satellite galaxies, undergoing star formation at a rate greater than 57 Msun/yr. Within 70kpc of the radio core, approximately 44% of the star formation that is traced by UV light occurs in this diffuse mode. The average UV colour of the IGL is bluer than the average galaxy colour, and there is a trend for the IGL to become bluer with increasing radius from the radio galaxy. Both the galaxies and the IGL show a UV colour--surface brightness relation which can be obtained by variations in either stellar population age or extinction. These observations show a different, but potentially important mode of star formation, that is diffuse in nature. Star formation, as traced by UV light, occurs in two modes in the high redshift universe: one in the usual Lyman break galaxy clump-like mode on kpc scales, and the other in a diffuse mode over a large region surrounding massive growing galaxies. Such a mode of star formation can easily be missed by high angular resolution observations that are well suited for detecting high surface brightness compact galaxies. Extrapolating from these results, it is possible that a significant amount of star formation occurs in large extended regions within the halos of the most massive galaxies forming at high redshift.

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arXiv2007

Ionized nebulae surrounding brightest cluster galaxies

We present IFU observations of six emission-line nebulae that surround the central galaxy of cool core clusters. Qualitatively similar nebulae are observed in cool core clusters even when the dynamics and possibly formation and excitation source are different. Evidence for a nearby secondary galaxy disturbing a nebula, as well as AGN and starburst driven outflows are presented as possible formation mechanisms. One nebula has a rotation velocity of the same amplitude as the underlying molecular reservoir, which implies that the excitation or formation of a nebula does not require any disturbance of the molecular reservoir within the central galaxy. Bulk flows and velocity shears of a few hundred km/s are seen across all nebulae. The majority lack any ordered rotation, their configurations are not stable so the nebulae must be constantly reshaping, dispersing and reforming. The dimmer nebulae are co-spatial with dust features whilst the more luminous are not. Significant variation in the ionization state of the gas is seen in all nebulae through the non-uniform [NII]/H_alpha ratio. There is no correlation between the line ratio and H_alpha surface brightness, but regions with excess blue or UV light have lower line ratios. This implies that UV from massive, young stars act in combination with an underlying heating source that produces the observed low-ionization spectra.

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arXiv2006

Cold molecular gas in the Perseus cluster core - Association with X-ray cavity, Halpha filaments and cooling flow -

Cold molecular gas has been recently detected in several cooling flow clusters of galaxies where huge optical nebulosities often stand. These optical filaments are tightly linked to the cooling flow and to the related phenomena, like the rising bubbles of relativistic plasma, fed by the radio jets. We present here a map in the CO(2-1) rotational line of the cold molecular gas associated with some Halpha filaments surrounding the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster: NGC 1275. The map, extending to about 50 kpc (135 arcsec) from the center of the galaxy, has been made with the 18-receiver array HERA, at the focus of the IRAM 30m telescope. Although most of the cold gas is concentrated to the center of the galaxy, the CO emission is also clearly associated to the extended filaments conspicuous in ionised gas and could trace a possible reservoir fueling the star formation there. Some of the CO emission is also found where the X-ray gas could cool down more efficiently: at the rims of the central X-ray cavity (where the hot gas is thought to have been pushed out and compressed by the central AGN expanding radio lobes). The CO global kinematics does not show any rotation in NGC 1275. The cold gas is probably a mixture of gas falling down on the central galaxy and of uplifted gas dragged out by a rising bubble in the intracluster medium. As recenlty suggested in other cluster cores, the cold gas peculiar morphology and kinematics argue for the picture of an intermittent cooling flow scenario where the central AGN plays an important role.

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arXiv2005

On the origin and excitation of the extended nebula surrounding NGC 1275

We use line-of-sight velocity information on the filamentary emission-line nebula of NGC 1275 to infer a dynamical model of the nebula's flow through the surrounding intracluster gas. We detect outflowing gas and flow patterns that match simulations of buoyantly rising bubbles from which we deduce that some of the nebula filaments have been drawn out of NGC 1275. We find a radial gradient of the ratio [NII]6584/H-alpha which may be due to a variation in metallicity, interactions with the surrounding intracluster medium or a hardening of the excitation mechanism. We find no preferred spatial correlation of stellar clusters within the filaments and there is a notable lack of [OIII]5007 emission, therefore it is unlikely that the filaments are ionized by stellar UV.

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arXiv2005

The extended H-alpha emitting filaments surrounding NGC4696, the central galaxy of the Centaurus cluster

We present images of NGC4696, the central galaxy in the Centaurus cluster, showing the large extent of cool filaments which are bright in H-alpha line emission. These filaments share the detailed structure of both the central dust lane and the inner regions of the arc-like plumes seen in soft X-ray emission. The X-ray gas is at its coolest, and most absorbed in this same region. The smoothness of the features implies that the local environment is not strongly turbulent. We suggest that these filaments are either shaped by confinement due to a strong magnetic field, or by bulk flows within the intracluster medium. We propose that like similar filamentary systems in the core of clusters, these cooler components have been drawn out of the central galaxy behind buoyant gas bubbles from previous episodes of radio activity. We find a spur of low-frequency radio emission leading to a region of low X-ray pressure within the intracluster medium supporting this interpretation.

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arXiv2004

Detections of Molecular Hydrogen in the Outer Filaments of NGC 1275

We present clear spectroscopic detections of molecular hydrogen in the outer filaments of the H-alpha nebula surrounding the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster, NGC 1275. This implies the presence of warm molecular gas clouds at projected distances up to 24 kpc from the nucleus of the host galaxy, embedded in the hot intracluster medium. The emission-line intensity ratios reveal that the molecular hydrogen is predominately thermally excited with excitation temperatures of 1600-2200K, suggesting a lack of pressure balance between the molecular component and its surrounding medium. Excitation by stellar UV or by the central AGN is shown to be unlikely, whilst thermal excitation by X-rays or conduction from the ICM or shocks are all possibilities. Evidence for a non-thermal component is found in the spectra of some regions based on a low ortho-to-para ratio.

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