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COLA. II. Radio and Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Nuclear Activity in Galaxies
We present optical spectroscopic observations of 93 galaxies taken fromthe infrared-selected COLA (compact objects in low-power AGNs) sample.These are all galaxies for which we have previously obtainedlow-resolution radio observations and high-resolution (<0.05")Australian Long Baseline Array snapshots. The sample spans the range offar-IR luminosities from normal galaxies to luminous infrared galaxiesand contains a significant number of galaxies involved in galaxy-galaxyinteractions. Of the galaxies observed, 78 (84%) exhibit emission linesindicating that they are either AGNs or actively forming stars(starburst galaxies). Using a newly developed, theoretically based,optical emission line scheme to classify the spectra, we find that 15%of the emission-line galaxies are Seyfert galaxies, 77% are starbursts,and the rest are either borderline AGN/starburst or show ambiguouscharacteristics. We find little evidence for an increase in the fractionof AGNs in the sample as a function of far-IR (FIR) luminosity, incontrast to previous studies, but our sample covers only a small rangein infrared luminosity(1010.5Lsolar<=LFIR<=1011.7 Lsolar), and thus a weak trend may be masked. Instead,as the infrared luminosity increases, so does the fraction of metal-richstarbursts, objects that on more traditional diagnostic diagrams wouldhave been classified as weak, low-ionization, narrow emission lineregions. As a whole the Seyfert galaxies exhibit a small, butstatistically significant, radio excess on the radio-FIR correlationcompared to the galaxies classified as starbursts. Compact (<0.05")radio cores are detected in 55% of the Seyfert galaxies, and thesegalaxies exhibit a significantly larger radio excess than the Seyfertgalaxies in which compact cores were not detected. Our results indicatethat there may be two distinct populations of Seyfert galaxies,``radio-excess'' Seyfert galaxies, which exhibit extended radiostructures and compact radio cores, and ``radio-quiet'' Seyfertgalaxies, in which the majority of the radio emission can be attributedto star formation in the host galaxy. No significant difference is seenbetween the IR and optical spectroscopic properties of Seyfert galaxieswith and without radio cores.
| The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample
IRAS flux densities, redshifts, and infrared luminosities are reportedfor all sources identified in the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample(RBGS), a complete flux-limited survey of all extragalactic objects withtotal 60 μm flux density greater than 5.24 Jy, covering the entiresky surveyed by IRAS at Galactic latitudes |b|>5°. The RBGS includes629 objects, with median and mean sample redshifts of 0.0082 and 0.0126,respectively, and a maximum redshift of 0.0876. The RBGS supersedes theprevious two-part IRAS Bright Galaxy Samples(BGS1+BGS2), which were compiled before the final(Pass 3) calibration of the IRAS Level 1 Archive in 1990 May. The RBGSalso makes use of more accurate and consistent automated methods tomeasure the flux of objects with extended emission. The RBGS contains 39objects that were not present in the BGS1+BGS2,and 28 objects from the BGS1+BGS2 have beendropped from RBGS because their revised 60 μm flux densities are notgreater than 5.24 Jy. Comparison of revised flux measurements forsources in both surveys shows that most flux differences are in therange ~5%-25%, although some faint sources at 12 and 25 μm differ byas much as a factor of 2. Basic properties of the RBGS sources aresummarized, including estimated total infrared luminosities, as well asupdates to cross identifications with sources from optical galaxycatalogs established using the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Inaddition, an atlas of images from the Digitized Sky Survey with overlaysof the IRAS position uncertainty ellipse and annotated scale bars isprovided for ease in visualizing the optical morphology in context withthe angular and metric size of each object. The revised bolometricinfrared luminosity function, φ(Lir), forinfrared-bright galaxies in the local universe remains best fit by adouble power law, φ(L)~Lα, withα=-0.6(+/-0.1) and α=-2.2(+/-0.1) below and above the``characteristic'' infrared luminosityL*ir~1010.5Lsolar,respectively. A companion paper provides IRAS High Resolution (HIRES)processing of over 100 RBGS sources where improved spatial resolutionoften provides better IRAS source positions or allows for deconvolutionof close galaxy pairs.
| First Results from the COLA Project: The Radio-Far-Infrared Correlation and Compact Radio Cores in Southern COLA Galaxies
We present the first results from the COLA (compact objects in low-powerAGNs) project, which aims to determine the relationship between onefacet of AGN activity, the compact radio core, and star formation in thecircumnuclear region of the host galaxy. This will be accomplished bythe comparison of the multiwavelength properties of a sample of AGNswith compact radio cores to those of a sample of AGNs without compactcores and a matched sample of galaxies without AGNs. In this paper wediscuss the selection criteria for our galaxy samples and present theinitial radio observations of the 107 southern(δ<0deg) galaxies in our sample. Low-resolution ATCAobservations at 4.8, 2.5, and 1.4 GHz and high-resolution,single-baseline snapshots at 2.3 GHz with the Australian Long BaselineArray (LBA) are presented. We find that for the majority of the galaxiesin our sample, the radio luminosity is correlated with the far-infrared(FIR) luminosity. However, a small number of galaxies exhibit a radioexcess causing them to depart from the FIR-radio correlation. Compactradio cores are detected at fluxes greater than 1.5 mJy in nine of the105 galaxies observed with the LBA. The majority (8/9) of these galaxiesexhibit a radio excess, and 50% (7/14) of the galaxies that lie abovethe radio-FIR correlation by more than 1 σ have compact radiocores. The emission from the compact cores is too weak to account forthis radio excess, implying that there are radio structures associatedwith the compact cores that extend farther than the 0.05" resolution(corresponding to a linear scale 11-22 pc) of the LBA. There is noevidence that the radio luminosity of the compact cores is correlatedwith the FIR galaxy luminosity, indicating that the core contributeslittle to the overall FIR emission of the galaxy. The galaxies withcompact cores tend to be classified optically as AGNs, with two-thirds(6/9) exhibiting Seyfert-like optical emission line ratios, and theremaining galaxies classified either as composite objects (2/9) orstarburst (1/9). The galaxies classified optically as AGNs also exhibitthe largest radio excesses, and we therefore conclude that a large radioexcess on the radio-FIR correlation is a strong indication of an AGNwith a compact radio core.
| Starburst or Seyfert? Adding a Radio and Far-Infrared Perspective to the Investigation of Activity in Composite Galaxies
It was once common to regard Seyfert and starburst galaxies ascompletely different types of object, but there is growing recognitionthat these classifications refer to the extremes of a continuousspectrum of galaxy types. In a previous study we investigated a sampleof galaxies with ambiguous optical emission-line ratios and concludedfrom near-infrared spectroscopic observations that the sample consistedof composite galaxies, containing both a starburst and an activegalactic nucleus (AGN). We now extend our study using radio synthesisand long-baseline interferometer observations made with the AustraliaTelescope, together with far-infrared IRAS observations, to discuss therelative contribution of starburst and AGN components to the overallluminosity of the composite galaxies. We find that only a small fractionof the radio emission (<10%) can be attributed to an AGN and that themajority of the far-infrared emission (>90%) is probably due to thestarburst component. We also show that an AGN contribution to theoptical emission of as little as 10% is sufficient to account for theambiguous line-ratio diagnostics.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| Compact Radio Emission from Warm Infrared Galaxies
In this paper, we present a comparison between the optical spectroscopicdata and the incidence of compact radio emission for a sample of 60 warminfrared galaxies. We find that 80% of optically classified activegalactic nucleus (AGN)-type galaxies contain compact radio sources,while 37% of optically classified starburst galaxies contain compactradio sources. The compact radio luminosity shows a bimodaldistribution, indicating two populations in our sample. The majority ofthe higher radio luminosity class (L>104Lsolar) are AGNs, while the majority of the lower radioluminosity class (L<104 Lsolar) are starbursts.The compact radio emission in the starburst galaxies may be due toeither obscured AGNs or complexes of extremely luminous supernovae suchas that seen in Arp 220. The incidence of optically classified AGNsincreases with increasing far-infrared (FIR) luminosity. Using FIRcolor-color diagrams, we find that globally the energetics of 92% of thegalaxies in our sample are dominated by starburst activity, including60% of galaxies that we find to contain AGNs on the basis of theiroptical classification. The remainder are energetically dominated bytheir AGNs in the infrared. For starburst galaxies, electron densityincreases with dust temperature, consistent with the merger model forinfrared galaxies.
| Starburst or Seyfert? Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Measure the Activity in Composite Galaxies
We present near-infrared spectra for a sample of galaxies with ambiguousoptical emission-line ratios. These galaxies fall between starbursts andSeyferts in the usual optical diagnostic diagrams. We find a similarresult with the near-infrared emission-line ratios, which suggests thatthe galaxies are composite, containing both a starburst and an AGNcomponent. Furthermore, CO absorption, produced in late-type stars, isdetected within the sample, although at a weaker level than is typicalfor starburst galaxies. We conclude that the CO feature is being dilutedby a contribution from an AGN, thereby confirming the composite natureof these galaxies.
| The Southern Sky Redshift Survey
We report redshifts, magnitudes, and morphological classifications for5369 galaxies with m_B <= 15.5 and for 57 galaxies fainter than thislimit, in two regions covering a total of 1.70 sr in the southerncelestial hemisphere. The galaxy catalog is drawn primarily from thelist of nonstellar objects identified in the Hubble Space TelescopeGuide Star Catalog (GSC). The galaxies have positions accurate to ~1"and magnitudes with an rms scatter of ~0.3 mag. We compute magnitudes(m_SSRS2) from the relation between instrumental GSC magnitudes and thephotometry by Lauberts & Valentijn. From a comparison with CCDphotometry, we find that our system is homogeneous across the sky andcorresponds to magnitudes measured at the isophotal level ~26 magarcsec^-2. The precision of the radial velocities is ~40 km s^-1, andthe redshift survey is more than 99% complete to the m_SSRS2 = 15.5 maglimit. This sample is in the direction opposite that of the CfA2; incombination the two surveys provide an important database for studies ofthe properties of galaxies and their large-scale distribution in thenearby universe. Based on observations obtained at Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories,operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation;Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito, operated under agreement between theConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas de laRepública Argentina and the National Universities of La Plata,Córdoba, and San Juan; the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile, partially under the bilateral ESO-ObservatórioNacional agreement; Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory;Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Brazil; and the SouthAfrican Astronomical Observatory.
| An image database. II. Catalogue between δ=-30deg and δ=70deg.
A preliminary list of 68.040 galaxies was built from extraction of35.841 digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey (Paper I). For eachgalaxy, the basic parameters are obtained: coordinates, diameter, axisratio, total magnitude, position angle. On this preliminary list, weapply severe selection rules to get a catalog of 28.000 galaxies, wellidentified and well documented. For each parameter, a comparison is madewith standard measurements. The accuracy of the raw photometricparameters is quite good despite of the simplicity of the method.Without any local correction, the standard error on the total magnitudeis about 0.5 magnitude up to a total magnitude of B_T_=17. Significantsecondary effects are detected concerning the magnitudes: distance toplate center effect and air-mass effect.
| Optical Spectroscopy of Luminous Infrared Galaxies. II. Analysis of the Nuclear and Long-Slit Data
A spectroscopic survey of a sample of 200 luminous IRAS galaxies (LIGs:L_ir_^7^ > 3 x 10^10^ L_sun_; H_0_ = 75 km s^-1^ Mpc^-1^) was carriedout using the Palomar 5 meter and University of Hawaii 2.2 m telescopes.Kim et al. (1995) described the data-taking and data-reductionprocedures and presented line and continuum measurements extracted fromthe nucleus of these objects. In this paper, the nuclear data arecombined with circumnuclear measurements on 23 of these galaxies toinvestigate the properties of the line-emitting gas and underlyingstellar population in and out of the nucleus. The nuclear spectra ofthese galaxies were classified as H II region-like" or "AGN-like" usinga large number of line-ratio diagnostics corrected for the underlyingstellar absorption features. This correction is an important source oferrors in some previous studies. The emission-line spectra of many AGNswere found to-be of relatively low ionization level and were thereforeclassified as LINER. We confirm that both the fraction of LIGs with AGNspectra and the fraction of Seyferts among the AGN increase withinfrared luminosity, reaching values of 62% and 54% at the highestobserved luminosities, respectively. The fraction of LINERs, on theother hand, is relatively constant at ~27%. The source of the ionizationof the emission-line gas often is a function of the distance from thenucleus. Based on the emission-line ratios and the strengths of thestellar absorption features, circumnuclear starburst activity is acommon feature of LIGs, regardless of their nuclear spectral types. Theemission-line, absorption-line, continuum, radio, and IRAS properties ofthe LINERs suggest that most of the LINER emission in theseinfrared-selected galaxies is produced through shock ionization ratherthan photoionization by a genuine active nucleus. The nuclear region ofSeyfert LIGs is found to be slightly less reddened than that of theLINERs and H II galaxies. The dust distribution generally isconcentrated toward the nucleus, in agreement with the often peakydistribution of the molecular gas observed in these galaxies. Inverteddust profiles in which the nucleus appears less dusty than thecircumnuclear region are observed in only three LIGs, all of which haveAGN emission-line characteristics (one Seyfert 2 galaxy and two LINERs).Low nuclear dust content appears to favor the detection of activenuclei. This may be due to selection effects or may reflect realphysical differences between these classes of objects: galaxies withSeyfert emission lines may be at a more advanced stage of dustdestruction/expulsion than H II LIGs. Complex optical depth effects mayalso explain these results without invoking a smaller amount of dust inthe nucleus. The Hβ and Mg I b absorption features are stronger inthe nuclei of AGNs (especially among the LINERs) than in H II LIGs,suggesting that AGN LIGs are at a more advanced stage of stellarevolution than H II LIGs. Further support for this scenario comes fromthe fact that AGNs are found more frequently in advanced mergers than HII galaxies (only two Seyfert galaxies are detected in systems withwell-separated nuclei). However, this last result may be a luminosityeffect rather than an effect related to the dominant nuclear source ofionization. Moreover, the absorption-line data may simply reflect thefact that galaxies with powerful H II regions show evidence for youngstars while galaxies with AGNs do not. The radial variations of theHβ and Mg I b absorption features indicate the presence of a strongsource of featureless continuum in the nucleus of nearly all LIGs,regardless of their nuclear spectral types. Contamination by thecircumnuclear starburst prevents us from determining the extent of thiscontinuum source. The [O III] profiles of both Seyfert and LINER LIGswere found to be broader on average than those of H II objects. Nearly20% of the LIGs in our sample have line widths larger than 600 km s^-1^.We find that most of the galaxies in which we could determine the radialvariations of the [O III] line width present broader profiles in thecircumnuclear region than at the nucleus. When combined with publisheddata on a few other well-studied LIGs, these results suggest thatlarge-scale nuclear winds are common in these objects and are anefficient way of getting rid of the obscuring material in the nuclearregion. The spatially extended LINER emission observed in many of theseobjects is probably due to shock ionization resulting from theinteraction of the wind-accelerated gas with the ambient material of thehost galaxy.
| Optical Spectroscopy of Luminous Infrared Galaxies. I. Nuclear Data
A spectroscopic survey of a large sample of luminous infrared galaxies[log (L_ir_/L_sun_)^7^ ~ 10.5-12.5; H_0_ = 75 km s^-1^ Mpc^-1^] has beencarried out using the Palomar 5 m telescope,, and the University ofHawaii 2.2 m telescope. Long-slit spectra covering 375o-8000 A at aresolution of ~10 A were obtained of 200 IRAS galaxies, including 114objects from the IRAS Bright Galaxy Survey, and 86 objects with fainterinfrared fluxes selected on the basis of their "warm" far-infrared(S_60_/S_100_) colors. The methods of observation and data reduction arediscussed. An atlas of the spectra extracted from the nuclear region ofthese objects is presented along with a large number of parametersdescribing the properties of the emission lines, the stellar absorptionlines, and the continuum emission that were measured from the spectra.An analysis of these data is presented in a companion paper (Veilleux etal. 1995) along with a discussion of the spatial variations of theseparameters in a subsample of twenty-three objects.
| X-ray study of starburst galaxies.
We present full results of a wide-energy, population study of X-rayemission from a sample of 51 candidate starburst galaxies selected fromthe IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample. Superposed low and high energy X-rayemission from these galaxies in the Einstein IPC and HEAO-1 A2 and A4energy bands, which span 0.5 to 160keV, is detected at the 99.99%confidence level, after allowing for confusion noise in the HEAO-1 data.Above 13keV the confidence level is only 85%. A power-law fit to themean spectral luminosity yields a (photon) index of 1.47+/-0.26. Weconsider and assess likely environments and mechanisms for X-rayemission in starburst galaxies. These include thermal emission frommassive binaries, supernova remnants, and galactic halos, and nonthermalemission resulting from Compton scattering of relativistic electrons bythe far IR and the cosmic microwave background radiation fields. Thecontribution of the population of sources represented by this sample tothe 3-50keV residual cosmic X-ray background is estimated to be at the3-4% level assuming no evolution. This contribution is significantlyhigher if the population evolved moderately.
| Luminous infrared galaxies : AGN or starbursts ?
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1993RMxAA..27...65V&db_key=AST
| The extended 12 micron galaxy sample
We have selected an all-sky (absolute value of b greater than or equalto 25 deg) 12 micron flux-limited sample of 893 galaxies from the IRASFaint Source Catalog, Version 2 (FSC-2). We have obtained accurate totalfluxes in the IRAS wavebands by using the ADDSCAN procedure for allobjects with FSC-2 12 micron fluxes greater than 0.15 Jy and increasingflux densities from 12 to 60 microns, and defined the sample by imposinga survey limit of 0.22 Jy on the total 12 micron flux. Its completenessis verified, by means of the classical log N - log S andV/Vmax tests, down to 0.30 Jy, below which we have measuredthe incompleteness down to the survey limit, using the log N - log Splot, for our statistical analysis. We have obtained redshifts (mostlyfrom catalogs) for virtually all (98.4%) the galaxies in the sample.Using existing catalogs of active galaxies, we defined a subsample of118 objects consisting of 53 Seyfert 1s and quasars, 63 Seyfert 2s, andtwo blazars (approximately 13% of the full sample), which is the largestunbiased sample of Seyfert galaxies ever assembled. Since the 12 micronflux has been shown to be about one-fifth of the bolometric flux forSeyfert galaxies and quasars, the subsample of Seyferts (includingquasars and blazars) is complete not only to 0.30 Jy at 12 microns butalso with respect to a bolometric flux limit of approximately 2.0 x10-10 ergs/s/sq cm. The average value of V/Vmaxfor the full sample, corrected for incompleteness at low fluxes, is 0.51+/- 0.04, expected for a complete sample of uniformly distributedgalaxies, while the value for the Seyfert galaxy subsample is 0.46 +/-0.10. We have derived 12 microns and far-infrared luminosity functionsfor the AGNs, as well as for the entire sample. We extracted from oursample a complete subsample of 235 galaxies flux-limited (8.3 Jy) at 60microns. The 60 micron luminosity function computed for this subsampleis in satisfactory agreement with the ones derived from the brightgalaxy sample (BGS) and the deep high-galactic latitude sample, bothselected at 60 microns.
| Hydroxyl in galaxies. I - Surveys with the NRAO 300 FT telescope
Results are presented of a search for 1667- and 1665-MHz mainline OHtransitions for 321 galaxies, which were observed during four separatesessions at the NRAO 300-ft telescope in the period 1984-1987. Threedetections of OH megamasers are reported, as well as detections of threenew OH absorption sources. The observational sample contains sourcesfrom a variety of catalogs and represents different criteria. Theresults for the whole sample confirm that FIR luminosity and colorcriteria used for these surveys are indeed optimized for findingmegamasers. The results also confirm that detecting distant highluminosity OH megamasers is considerably more successful than findingnearby weak masers.
| A 1.49 GHz atlas of the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample
The VLA has been used in its A-, B-, C-, and D-configurations to make1.49 GHz maps of sources in both the original and revised IRAS BrightGalaxy Samples of strong extragalactic sources selected at a wavelengthof 60 microns. Integrated 1.49 GHz flux densities were obtained from thelowest resolution maps, and maps were made with higher resolution sothat nearly all of the radio sources have been at least partiallyresolved. Only NGC 1377 was not detected at 1.49 GHz. An atlas ofcontour maps, a table of total flux densities plus other radio sourceparameters, and references to published radio maps are given. Since theinfrared and radio continuum brightness distributions of IR-selectedgalaxies are usually similar, these high-resolution radio maps can beused as substitutes for the unavailable IR maps to indicate the sizesand precise locations of the IR-emitting regions.
| The IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample. IV - Complete IRAS observations
Total flux densities, peak flux densities, and spatial extents at 12,25, 60, and 100 microns are presented for the 330 sources in the IRASBright Galaxy Sample. The flux density ratios Snu (60microns)/Snu (100 microns) and Snu (12microns)/Sn (25 microns) are found to correlate with both theinfrared luminosity and the ratio of IR to visible flux. The relationbetween these two flux density ratios is shown to follow that foundpreviously, with different slopes appearing for the warmer and coldergalaxies in the sample. The results suggest that single photon heatingof small grains (often the dominant source of 12 and 25 micron radiationfrom galaxies) significantly affects the emission of some galaxies at 60microns, and that optical depth effects may alter the emergent radiationat 12 and 25 microns.
| The IRAS bright galaxy sample. II - The sample and luminosity function
A statistically complete sample of 324 of the brightest infraredgalaxies discovered at 60 microns in the IRAS all-sky survey isdescribed. The results show that far-infrared emission is a significantluminosity component in the local universe, representing 25 percent ofthe luminosity emitted by stars in the same volume. Above 10 to the 11thsolar luminosities, the infrared luminous galaxies are the dominantpopulation of objects in the universe, being as numerous as the Seyfertgalaxies and more numerous than quasars at higher luminosities. Theinfrared luminosity appears to be independent of the optical luminosityof galaxies. Most infrared bright galaxies appear to require much of theinterstellar matter to be contributing to the observed infraredluminosity. Approximately 60-80 percent of the far-infrared luminosityof the local universe can be attributed, directly or indirectly, torecent or ongoing star formation.
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