Grants related:
General
This project consists of two main research lines. First, the study of quasar-driven outflows in luminous and nearby obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the impact that they have on their massive host galaxies (AGN feedback). To do so, we have obtained Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) infrared and optical observations with the instruments CanariCam, EMIR and MEGARA, as well as with ALMA in the sub-mm/mm regime. Part of this project is being done within the framework of the H2020 Innovative Training Network BID4BEST. The group is also devoted to obtain and exploit observing time with the JWST and ALMA as part of the GATOS consortium (Galactic Activity, Torus and Outflow Survey) with the aim of characterizing nuclear obscuration and the gas flow cycle in local AGN. Second, the application of integral field spectroscopy to the study of extended objects (active and star forming galaxies) to investigate the triggering of both phenomena. We also contribute to the development of new instruments and data analysis procedures related to 3D observing techniques. In particular, we participate in the development of HARMONI, the first-light high-spatial resolution integral field spectrograph for the ESO Extremely Large Telescope.
Members
Results
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Publication of a letter in MNRAS in which we studied the interplay between the ionized gas winds and the young stellar populations in the type-2 quasar Mrk 34 (Bessiere & Ramos Almeida 2022). We find evidence of positive and negative feedback happening in different parts of the same galaxy, induced by the ionized outflow. This study, part of the QSOFEED project, opens a new window to investigate the direct impact of nuclear activity on star formation in galaxies.
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Publication of a detailed study of the ionized and warm molecular gas kinematics in the type-2 quasar J0945+1737, part of the QSOFEED sample (Speranza et al. 2022). We reported measurements of an ionized outflow with a maximum outflow rate of 51 Msun/yr, and lack of its warm molecular counterpart.
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The European Network H2020-ITN-2019 "Big Data Applications for Black Hole Evolution Studies" (BID4BEST) started on March, 1st 2020 (end date Feb, 28th 2024). PhD student Giovanna Speranza started her contract at the IAC in September 2020.
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The total budget awarded to this project through external funding sources corresponds to 1.152.000 euros (452.000 euros - PI: C. Ramos & 700.000 euros - PI: B. García). This only includes projects starting in or after 2020, and most of the funding has been invested in hiring new researchers. Currently we are the IAC group with larger female participation.
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Publication of the two first papers based on the GATOS sample (García-Burillo et al. 2021; Alonso-Herrero et al. 2021). The GATOS collaboration was awarded two JWST proposals in Cycle 1, led by D. Rosario (University of Newcastle, UK) and T. Shimizu (MPE, Germany).
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Publication of a study of the morphology and kinematics of the cold molecular in a sample of type-2 quasars (QSO2s) at z=0.1 (Ramos Almeida et al. 2022). The study is based on data from the ALMA interferometer in the mm range, and it is part of the QSOFEED project.
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Publication of the work García-Lorenzo et al. (2022), which presents an analysis of the capabilities of HARMONI to reveal the stellar morpho-kinematic properties of the host galaxies of AGNs at cosmic noon.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Larger λ<SUB>R</SUB> in the disc of isolated active spiral galaxies than in their non-active twinsWe present a comparison of the spin parameter λ R, measured in a region dominated by the galaxy disc, between 20 pairs of nearby (0.005 < z < 0.03) seemingly isolated twin galaxies differing in nuclear activity. We find that 80-82% of the active galaxies show higher values of λ R than their corresponding non-active twin(s), indicating largerdel Moral-Castro, I. et al.
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72020 -
Low optical polarization at the core of the optically thin jet of M87We study the optical linear and circular polarization in the optically thin regime of the core and jet of M87. Observations were acquired two days before the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) campaign in early 2017 April. A high degree (∼20 per cent) of linear polarization (P lin) is detected in the bright jet knots resolved at $\sim 10\,\mathrm{ to}\Fresco, A. Y. et al.
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62020 -
VLA and ALMA observations of the lensed radio-quiet quasar SDSS J0924+0219: a molecular structure in a 3 μJy radio sourceWe present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) observations of SDSS J0924+0219, a z = 1.524 radio-quiet lensed quasar with an intrinsic radio flux density of about 3 $\, \mu$ Jy. The four lensed images are clearly detected in the radio continuum and the CO(5-4) line, whose centroid is at z = 1.5254 ± 0Badole, Shruti et al.
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52020 -
Recovering Age-Metallicity Distributions from Integrated Spectra: Validation with MUSE Data of a Nearby Nuclear Star ClusterCurrent instruments and spectral analysis programs are now able to decompose the integrated spectrum of a stellar system into distributions of ages and metallicities. The reliability of these methods has rarely been tested on nearby systems with resolved stellar ages and metallicities. Here we derive the age-metallicity distribution of M54, theBoecker, Alina et al.
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62020 -
Modeling the Strongest Silicate Emission Features of Local Type 1 AGNsWe measure the 10 and 18 μm silicate features in a sample of 67 local (z < 0.1) type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with available Spitzer spectra dominated by nonstellar processes. We find that the 10 μm silicate feature peaks at ${10.3}_{-0.9}^{+0.7}\,\mu {\rm{m}}$ with a strength (Si p = ln f p(spectrum)/f p(continuum)) of ${0.11}_{-0.36}^{+0.15Martínez-Paredes, M. et al.
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22020 -
Arp 70: an interacting galaxy with extreme outflowsWe analysed a Fabry-Pérot (FP) cube of the interacting pair of galaxies Arp 70, which was obtained from the CeSAM public repository of FP data. On the larger galaxy Arp 70b, we detected the spectral signature of two different outflows, one located in the centre and the other associated with a giant H II region in the arm region. The central outflowCamps-Fariña, A. et al.
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32020 -
The MUSE view of the planetary nebula NGC 3132Aims: Two-dimensional spectroscopic data for the whole extent of the NGC 3132 planetary nebula have been obtained. We deliver a reduced data-cube and high-quality maps on a spaxel-by-spaxel basis for the many emission lines falling within the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) spectral coverage over a range in surface brightness >1000Monreal-Ibero, Ana et al.
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22020 -
Physical Parameters of the Torus for the Type 2 Seyfert IC 5063 from Mid-IR and X-Ray Simultaneous Spectral FittingIn order to understand the diversity of classes observed in active galactic nuclei (AGNs), a geometrically and optically thick torus of gas and dust is required to obscure the central engine depending on the line of sight to the observer. We perform a simultaneous fitting of X-ray and mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectra to investigate whether the sameEsparza-Arredondo, Donaji et al.
Advertised on:
122019 -
Black hole-galaxy scaling relation evolution from Z̃2.5: Simulated observations with HARMONI on the ELTWe present preliminary results on the potential of HARMONI, the first light integral field spectrograph for the ELT, to explore the evolution of central super massive black holes (SMBH) - host galaxy relation in the range from z̃0.7 to z̃2.5. We simulated HARMONI observations of QSO+host galaxy at different redshifts, assuming differentGarcía-Lorenzo, Begoña et al.
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122019 -
Exploring the Mid-infrared SEDs of Six AGN Dusty Torus Models. I. Synthetic SpectraAt distances from the active galaxy nucleus where the ambient temperature falls below ̃1500-1800 K, dust is able to survive. It is thus possible to have a large dusty structure present that surrounds the active galaxy nucleus. This is the first of two papers aiming at comparing six dusty torus models with available spectral energy distributionsGonzález-Martín, Omaira et al.
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102019 -
Exploring the Mid-infrared SEDs of Six AGN Dusty Torus Models. II. The DataThis is the second in a series of papers devoted to exploring a set of six dusty models of active galactic nuclei (AGN) with available spectral energy distributions. These models are the smooth torus by Fritz et al., the clumpy torus by Nenkova et al., the clumpy torus by Hönig & Kishimoto, the two-phase torus by Siebenmorgen et al., the two-phaseGonzález-Martín, Omaira et al.
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102019 -
NGC 6240: A triple nucleus system in the advanced or final state of mergingAims: NGC 6240 is a well-studied nearby galaxy system in the process of merging. Based on optical, X-ray, and radio observations, it is thought to harbor two active nuclei. We carried out a detailed optical 3D spectroscopic study to investigate the inner region of this system in connection with existing MERLIN and VLBA data. Methods: We observedKollatschny, W. et al.
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12020 -
The CALIFA view on stellar angular momentum across the Hubble sequenceWe present the apparent stellar angular momentum over the optical extent of 300 galaxies across the Hubble sequence using integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) data from the CALIFA survey. Adopting the same λ R parameter previously used to distinguish between slow and fast rotating early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies, we show that spiralFalcón-Barroso, J. et al.
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122019 -
ALMA images the many faces of the <ASTROBJ>NGC 1068</ASTROBJ> torus and its surroundingsAims: We investigate the fueling and the feedback of nuclear activity in the nearby (D = 14 Mpc) Seyfert 2 barred galaxy NGC 1068 by studying the distribution and kinematics of molecular gas in the torus and its connections to the host galaxy disk. Methods: We used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA ) to image the emission of a set ofGarcía-Burillo, S. et al.
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122019 -
Nuclear molecular outflow in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3227ALMA observations have revealed nuclear dusty molecular disks or tori with characteristic sizes 15-40 pc in the few Seyferts and low -luminosity AGN that have been studied so far. These structures are generally decoupled both morphologically and kinematically from the host galaxy disk. We present ALMA observations of the CO(2-1) and CO(3-2)Alonso-Herrero, A. et al.
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82019 -
Do AGN triggering mechanisms vary with radio power? - I. Optical morphologies of radio-intermediate HERGsActive galactic nuclei (AGNs) with intermediate radio powers are capable of driving multiphase outflows in galaxy bulges, and are also more common than their high-radio-power counterparts. In-depth characterization of the typical host galaxies and likely triggering mechanisms for this population is therefore required in order to better understandPierce, J. C. S. et al.
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82019 -
Quantifying the AGN-driven outflows in ULIRGs (QUADROS) IV: HST/STIS spectroscopy of the sub-kpc warm outflow in F14394+5332Considerable uncertainties remain about the nature of warm, AGN-driven outflows and their impact on the evolution of galaxies. This is because the outflows are often unresolved in ground-based observations. As part of a project to study the AGN outflows in some of the most rapidly evolving galaxies in the local Universe, here we present HubbleTadhunter, C. et al.
Advertised on:
92019 -
Discovery of an old nova remnant in the Galactic globular cluster M 22A nova is a cataclysmic event on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system that increases the overall brightness by several orders of magnitude. Although binary systems with a white dwarf are expected to be overabundant in globular clusters compared with in the Galaxy, only two novae from Galactic globular clusters have been observed. WeGöttgens, Fabian et al.
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62019 -
A near-infrared study of the multiphase outflow in the type-2 quasar J1509+0434Based on new near-infrared spectroscopic data from the instrument Espectrógrafo Multiobjeto Infra-Rojo (EMIR) on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias, we report the presence of an ionized and warm molecular outflow in the luminous type-2 quasar J150904.22+043441.8 (z = 0.1118). The ionized outflow is faster than its molecular counterpart, althoughFernández-Torreiro, M. et al.
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62019 -
Polarization of changing-look quasarsIf the disappearance of the broad emission lines observed in changing-look quasars originates from the obscuration of the quasar core by dusty clouds moving in the torus, high linear optical polarization would be expected in those objects. We then measured the rest-frame UV-blue linear polarization of a sample of 13 changing-look quasars, 7 of themHutsemékers, D. et al.
Advertised on:
52019
