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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Star Formation And Relaxation In 379 Nearby Galaxy Clusters, Seth A. Cohen, Ryan C. Hickox, Gary A. Wegner Jun 2015

Star Formation And Relaxation In 379 Nearby Galaxy Clusters, Seth A. Cohen, Ryan C. Hickox, Gary A. Wegner

Dartmouth Scholarship

We investigate the relationship between star formation (SF) and level of relaxation in a sample of 379 galaxy clusters at z < 0.2. We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to measure cluster membership and level of relaxation, and to select star-forming galaxies based on mid-infrared emission detected with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. For galaxies with absolute magnitudes Mr < −19.5, we find an inverse correlation between SF fraction and cluster relaxation: as a cluster becomes less relaxed, its SF fraction increases. Furthermore, in general, the subtracted SF fraction in all unrelaxed clusters (0.117 ± 0.003) is higher than that in all relaxed clusters (0.097 ± 0.005). We verify the validity of our SF calculation methods and membership criteria through analysis of previous work. Our results agree with previous findings that a weak correlation exists between cluster SF and dynamical state, possibly because unrelaxed clusters are less evolved relative to relaxed clusters.


Early-Type Galaxies In The Chandra Cosmos Survey, F. Civano, G. Fabbiano, S. Pellegrini, D.-W. Kim Jun 2014

Early-Type Galaxies In The Chandra Cosmos Survey, F. Civano, G. Fabbiano, S. Pellegrini, D.-W. Kim

Dartmouth Scholarship

We study a sample of 69 X-ray detected early-type galaxies (ETGs), selected from the Chandra COSMOS survey, to explore the relation between the X-ray luminosity of hot gaseous halos (L X, gas) and the integrated stellar luminosity (LK ) of the galaxies, in a range of redshift extending out to z = 1.5. In the local universe, a tight, steep relationship has been established between these two quantities, suggesting the presence of largely virialized halos in X-ray luminous systems. We use well-established relations from the study of local universe ETGs, together with the expected evolution …


Star Formation And Substructure In Galaxy Clusters, Seth A. Cohen, Ryan C. Hickox, Gary A. Wegner, Maret Einasto, Jaan Vennik Feb 2014

Star Formation And Substructure In Galaxy Clusters, Seth A. Cohen, Ryan C. Hickox, Gary A. Wegner, Maret Einasto, Jaan Vennik

Dartmouth Scholarship

We investigate the relationship between star formation (SF) and substructure in a sample of 107 nearby galaxy clusters using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Several past studies of individual galaxy clusters have suggested that cluster mergers enhance cluster SF, while others find no such relationship. The SF fraction in multi-component clusters (0.228 +/- 0.007) is higher than that in single-component clusters (0.175 +/- 0.016) for galaxies with M^0.1_r < -20.5. In both single- and multi-component clusters, the fraction of star-forming galaxies increases with clustercentric distance and decreases with local galaxy number density, and multi-component clusters show a higher SF fraction than single-component clusters at almost all clustercentric distances and local densities. Comparing the SF fraction in individual clusters to several statistical measures of substructure, we find weak, but in most cases significant at greater than 2 sigma, correlations between substructure and SF fraction. These results could indicate that cluster mergers may cause weak but significant SF enhancement in clusters, or unrelaxed clusters exhibit slightly stronger SF due to their less evolved states relative to relaxed clusters.


Tracing The Evolution Of Active Galactic Nuclei Host Galaxies Over The Last 9 Gyr Of Cosmic Time, A. D. Goulding, W. R. Forman, R. C. Hickox, C. Jones Feb 2014

Tracing The Evolution Of Active Galactic Nuclei Host Galaxies Over The Last 9 Gyr Of Cosmic Time, A. D. Goulding, W. R. Forman, R. C. Hickox, C. Jones

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present the results of a combined galaxy population analysis for the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei (AGN) identified at 0 < z < 1.4 within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Boötes, and DEEP2 surveys. We identified AGN in a uniform and unbiased manner at X-ray, infrared, and radio wavelengths. Supermassive black holes undergoing radiatively efficient accretion (detected as X-ray and/or infrared AGN) appear to be hosted in a separate and distinct galaxy population than AGN undergoing powerful mechanically dominated accretion (radio AGN). Consistent with some previous studies, radiatively efficient AGN appear to be preferentially hosted in modest star-forming galaxies, with little dependence on AGN or galaxy luminosity. AGN exhibiting radio-emitting jets due to mechanically dominated accretion are almost exclusively observed in massive, passive galaxies. Crucially, we now provide strong evidence that the observed host-galaxy trends are independent of redshift. In particular, these different accretion-mode AGN have remained as separate galaxy populations throughout the last 9 Gyr. Furthermore, it appears that galaxies hosting AGN have evolved along the same path as galaxies that are not hosting AGN with little evidence for distinctly separate evolution.


Black Hole Variability And The Star Formation-Active Galactic Nucleus Connection: Do All Star-Forming Galaxies Host An Active Galactic Nucleus?, Ryan C. Hickox, James R. Mullaney, David M. Alexander, Chien-Ting J. Chen, Francesca M. Civano, Andy D. Goulding, Kevin N. Hainline Jan 2014

Black Hole Variability And The Star Formation-Active Galactic Nucleus Connection: Do All Star-Forming Galaxies Host An Active Galactic Nucleus?, Ryan C. Hickox, James R. Mullaney, David M. Alexander, Chien-Ting J. Chen, Francesca M. Civano, Andy D. Goulding, Kevin N. Hainline

Dartmouth Scholarship

We investigate the effect of active galactic nucleus (AGN) variability on the observed connection between star formation and black hole accretion in extragalactic surveys. Recent studies have reported relatively weak correlations between observed AGN luminosities and the properties of AGN hosts, which has been interpreted to imply that there is no direct connection between AGN activity and star formation. However, AGNs may be expected to vary significantly on a wide range of timescales (from hours to Myr) that are far shorter than the typical timescale for star formation (100 Myr). This variability can have important consequences for observed correlations. We …


Deep Silicate Absorption Features In Compton-Thick Active Galactic Nuclei Predominantly Arise Due To Dust In The Host Galaxy, A. D. Goulding, D. M. Alexander, F. E. Bauer, W. R. Forman, R. C. Hickox Jul 2012

Deep Silicate Absorption Features In Compton-Thick Active Galactic Nuclei Predominantly Arise Due To Dust In The Host Galaxy, A. D. Goulding, D. M. Alexander, F. E. Bauer, W. R. Forman, R. C. Hickox

Dartmouth Scholarship

We explore the origin of mid-infrared (mid-IR) dust extinction in all 20 nearby (z < 0.05) bona fide Compton-thick (N H > 1.5 × 1024 cm–2) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with hard energy (E > 10 keV) X-ray spectral measurements. We accurately measure the silicate absorption features at λ ~ 9.7 μm in archival low-resolution (R ~ 57-127) Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectroscopy, and show that only a minority (≈45%) of nearby Compton-thick AGNs have strong Si-absorption features (S 9.7 = ln (f int/f obs) 0.5) which would indicate significant dust attenuation. The majority (≈60%) are star …


Ages And Metallicities Of Early-Type Void Galaxies From Line Strength Measurements, Gary Wegner, Norman A. Grogin May 2008

Ages And Metallicities Of Early-Type Void Galaxies From Line Strength Measurements, Gary Wegner, Norman A. Grogin

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present spectroscopic observations of 26 galaxies of type E and S0, based on their blue morphologies, located in voids by the study of Grogin & Geller in 1999. Measurements of redshift, velocity dispersion, and four Lick line indices, Mg b , Fe5270, Fe5335, and Hβ with their errors are given for all of these galaxies, along with Hβ, [O III], Hα, and [N II] emission line strengths for a subset of these objects. These sources are brighter than M* for low-density regions and tend to be bluer than their counterpart early-type objects in high-density regions. Using the models …