Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)

Abstract: Wide-area deep imaging surveys have discovered large numbers of extremely low surface brightness dwarf galaxies, which challenge galaxy formation theory and, potentially, offer new constraints on the nature of dark matter. Here we discuss one as-yet unexplored formation mechanism that may account for a fraction of low surface brightness dwarfs. We call this the `ghost galaxy' scenario. In this scenario, inefficient radiative cooling prevents star formation in the `main branch' of the merger tree of a low mass dark matter halo, such that almost all its stellar mass is acquired through mergers with less massive (but nevertheless star-forming) progenitors. Present-day systems formed in this way would be `ghostly' isolated stellar halos with no central galaxy. We use merger trees based on the Extended Press-Schechter formalism and the COCO cosmological N-body simulation to demonstrate that mass assembly histories of this kind can occur for low-mass halos in Lambda-CDM, but they are rare. They are most probable in isolated halos of present-day mass ~4x10^9 M_sun, occurring for ~5 per cent of all halos of that mass under standard assumptions about the timing and effect of cosmic reionization. The stellar masses of star-forming progenitors in these systems are highly uncertain; abundance-matching arguments imply a bimodal present-day mass function having a brighter population (median M_star ~3x10^6 M_sun) consistent with the tail of the observed luminosity function of ultra-diffuse galaxies. This suggests observable analogues of these systems may await discovery. We find that a stronger ionizing background (globally or locally) produces brighter and more extended ghost galaxies.

Abstract: This article presents a study of the geometry and motion of the Galactic disk using open clusters in the Gaia era. The findings suggest that the inclination angle of the Galactic disk increases gradually from the inner to the outer disk, with a shift in orientation at the Galactocentric radius of approximately 5 to 7 kpc. Furthermore, the study reveals that the inclined orbits may be elliptical rather than circular, however, more observations are needed to confirm this. An analysis of the vertical motion along the Galactocentric radius reveals that the disk has warped with precession, and that the line-of-nodes shifts at different radii, aligning with the results from the classical Cepheids. Although there is uncertainty for precession/peculiar motion in Solar orbit, after considering the uncertainty, the study derives a median value of precession rate = 6.8 km/s/kpc in the Galaxy. This value for the derived precession in the outer disk is lower than those in the literature due to the systematic motion in Solar orbit (inclination angle = 0.6 deg). The study also finds that the inclinational variation of the disk is significant and can cause systematic motion, with the inclinational variation rate decreasing along the Galactic radius with a slope of -8.9 uas/yr/kpc. Moreover, the derived inclinational variation rate in Solar orbit is 59.1+-11.2(sample)+-7.7(VZsun) uas/yr, which makes it observable for high precision astrometry.

Abstract: PSO J334.2028+1.4075 (PSO J334) is a luminous quasar located at redshift z=2.06. The source gained attention when periodic flux density variations were discovered in its optical light curve. These variations were initially interpreted as the variability due to the orbital motion of a supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) residing in a single circumbinary accretion disk. However, subsequent multiwavelength observations provided evidence against the binary hypothesis as no optical periodicity was found on extended time baselines. On the other hand, detailed radio analysis with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) revealed a lobe-dominated quasar at kpc scales, and possibly a precessing jet, which could retain PSO J334 as a binary SMBH candidate. We aim to study both the large- and small-scale radio structures in PSO J334 to provide additional evidence for or against the binary scenario. We observed the source at 1.7 GHz with the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (EVN), and at 1.5 and 6.2 GHz with the VLA, at frequencies that complement the previous radio interferometric study. Our images reveal a single component at parsec scales slightly resolved in the southeast-northwest direction and a lobe-dominated quasar at kiloparsec scales with a complex structure. The source morphology and polarization in our VLA maps suggest that the jet is interacting with dense clumps of the ambient medium. While we also observe a misalignment between the inner jet and the outer lobes, we suggest that this is due to the restarted nature of the radio jet activity and the possible presence of a warped accretion disk rather than due to the perturbing effects of a companion SMBH. Our analysis suggests that PSO J334 is most likely a jetted AGN with a single SMBH, and there is no clear evidence of a binary SMBH system in its central engine.

Abstract: Massive star clusters are often used as tracers of galaxy formation and assembly. In order to do so, we must understand their properties at formation, and how those properties change with time, galactic environment, and galaxy assembly history. The two most important intrinsic properties that govern star cluster evolution are mass and radius. In this paper, we investigate 10 theoretically and observationally motivated initial size-mass relations for star clusters, and evolve populations of clusters through galaxy formation models. We compare our results to each other and to observations of cluster populations in M83, M31, and the Milky Way. We find that none of our size-mass relations agree with the observations after 6-10 Gyr of evolution. We can successfully reproduce the cluster mass functions with models that have a small range of initial radii, and which do not allow cluster radii to change with time. However, these models do not agree with our understanding of cluster evolution, which does involve radius evolution, and do not match the observed distributions of radii. We note that there is a region of parameter space where clusters are optimally protected from both tidal shocks and evaporation due to two-body relaxation. Clusters which are allowed to evolve into this parameter space will likely survive. An improved understanding of both mass and radius evolution of star clusters in realistic, time-varying galactic potentials is necessary to appropriately make the connection between present-day cluster properties and their use as tracers of galaxy formation and assembly.

Abstract: One of the most fundamental hypotheses in astrochemistry and astrobiology states that crucial biotic molecules like glycine (NH$_2$CH$_2$COOH) found in meteorites and comets are inherited from early phases of star formation. Most observational searches for glycine in the interstellar medium have focused on warm, high-mass molecular cloud sources. However, recent studies suggest that it might be appropriate to shift the observational focus to cold, low-mass sources. We aim to detect glycine towards the so-called methanol hotspot in the Barnard 5 dark cloud. The hotspot is a cold source ($T_\mathrm{gas}\approx 7.5$ K) with yet high abundances of complex organic molecules (COMs) and water in the gas phase. We carried out deep, pointed observations with the Onsala 20m telescope, targeting several transitions of glycine conformers I and II (Gly-I and Gly-II) in the frequency range $70.2$-$77.9$ GHz. No glycine lines are detected towards the targeted position, but we use a line stacking procedure to derive sensitive abundance upper limits w.r.t. H$_2$ for Gly-I and Gly-II, i.e. $\leq(2$-$5)\times10^{-10}$ and $\leq(0.7$-$3)\times10^{-11}$, respectively. The obtained Gly-II upper limits are the most stringent for a cold source, while the Gly-I upper limits are mostly on the same order as previously measured limits. The measured abundances w.r.t. H$_2$ of other COMs at the B5 methanol hotspot range from $2\times10^{-10}$ (acetaldehyde) to $2\times10^{-8}$ (methanol). Hence, based on a total glycine upper limit of $(2$-$5)\times10^{-10}$, we cannot rule out that glycine is present but undetected.

Abstract: We present a new, all-sky quasar catalog, Quaia, that samples the largest comoving volume and has the cleanest selection function of any existing spectroscopic quasar sample. The catalog draws on the 6,649,162 quasar candidates identified by the Gaia mission that have redshift estimates from the space observatory's low-resolution BP/RP spectra. This initial sample is highly homogeneous and complete, but has low purity, and 18% of even the bright ($G<20.0$) confirmed quasars have discrepant redshift estimates ($|\Delta z/(1+z)| > 0.2$) compared to those from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). In this work, we combine the Gaia candidates with unWISE infrared data (based on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer survey) to construct a catalog useful for cosmological and astrophysical quasar studies. We apply cuts based on proper motions and Gaia and unWISE colors, reducing the number of contaminants by $\sim$4$\times$. We improve the redshifts by training a $k$-nearest neighbors model on colors and Gaia redshift estimates and using SDSS redshift labels, and achieve redshift estimates on the $G<20.0$ sample with only 6% (10%) catastrophic errors with $|\Delta z/(1+z)| > 0.2$ ($0.1$), a reduction of $\sim$3$\times$ ($\sim$2$\times$) compared to the Gaia redshifts. The final catalog has 1,295,502 quasars with a $G<20.5$, and 755,850 candidates in an even cleaner $G<20.0$ sample. We also construct a rigorous all-sky selection function model for the catalog. We compare Quaia to existing quasar catalogs, in particular showing that its large effective volume makes it a highly competitive sample for cosmological large-scale structure analyses. The catalog is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8060755.

Abstract: Pattern speeds are a fundamental parameter of the dynamical features (e.g. bars, spiral arms) of a galaxy, setting resonance locations. Pattern speeds are not directly observable, so the Tremaine-Weinberg (TW) method has become the most common method used to measure them in galaxies. However, it has not been tested properly whether this method can straightforwardly be applied to gas tracers, despite this being widely done in the literature. When applied to observations, the TW method may return invalid results, which are difficult to diagnose due to a lack of ground truth for comparison. Although some works applying the TW method to simulated galaxies exist, only stellar populations have been tested. Therefore, here we explore the applicability of the TW method for gas gracers, by applying it to hydrodynamical simulations of galaxies, where we know the true value of the bar pattern speed. We perform some simple tests to see if the TW method has a physically reasonable output. We add different kinds of uncertainties (e.g. in position angle or flux) to the data to mock observational errors based on the magnitude of uncertainty present in the observations. Second, we test the method on 3D simulations with chemical networks. We show that in general, applying TW to observations of gas will not recover the true pattern speed. These results have implications for many "pattern speeds" reported in the literature, and based on these tests we also give some best practices for measuring pattern speeds using gas tracers going forwards.

Abstract: Motivated by the LMC's impact on the integral of motion space of the stellar halo, we run an $N$-body merger simulation to produce a population of halo-like stars. We subsequently move to a test particle simulation, in which the LMC perturbs this debris. When an axisymmetric potential is assumed for the final snapshot of the $N$-body merger remnant, a series of vertical striations in $(L_z, E)$ space form as the LMC approaches its pericentre. These result from the formation of overdensities in angular momentum owing to a relationship between the precession rate of near radial orbits and the torquing of these orbits by the LMC. This effect is heavily dependent on the shape of the inner potential. If a quadrupole component of the potential is included these striations become significantly less apparent due to the difference in precession rate between the two potentials. The absence of these features in data, and the dramatic change in orbital plane precession rate, discourages the use of an axisymmetric potential for highly eccentric orbits accreted from a massive GSE-like merger. Given the link between appearance of these striations and the shape of the potential, this effect may provide a new method of constraining the axisymmetry of the halo.

Abstract: We present a methodology for modeling the joint ionizing impact due to a ``simple X-ray population" (SXP) and its corresponding simple stellar population (SSP), where ``simple" refers to a single age and metallicity population. We construct composite spectral energy distributions (SEDs) including contributions from ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) and stars, with physically meaningful and consistent consideration of the relative contributions of each component as a function of instantaneous burst age and stellar metallicity. These composite SEDs are used as input for photoionization modeling with Cloudy, from which we produce a grid for the time- and metallicity-dependent nebular emission from these composite populations. We make the results from the photoionization simulations publicly available. We find that the addition of the SXP prolongs the high-energy ionizing output from the population, and correspondingly increases the intensity of nebular lines such as He II $\lambda$1640,4686, [Ne V] $\lambda$3426,14.3$\mu$m, and [O IV] 25.9$\mu$m by factors of at least two relative to models without an SXP spectral component. This effect is most pronounced for instantaneous bursts of star formation on timescales $>$ 10 Myr and at low metallicities ($\sim$ 0.1 $Z_{\odot}$), due to the imposed time- and metallicity-dependent behavior of the SXP relative to the SSP. We propose nebular emission line diagnostics accessible with JWST suitable for inferring the presence of a composite SXP + SSP, and discuss how the ionization signatures compare to models for sources such as intermediate mass black holes.

Abstract: It has been argued that recycled gas from stellar mass loss in galaxies might serve as an important fuelling source for black holes (BHs) in their centers. Utilizing spectroscopic samples of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) at $z = 0-0.35$ and the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census (LEGA-C) survey at $z = 0.6-1$ that have X-ray coverage from XMM-Newton or Chandra, we test this stellar mass loss fuelling scenario by investigating how AGN activity and BH growth vary with the break strength at 4000 $\r{A}$, $\rm D_{n}4000$ (which is closely related to the age of stellar populations), as younger galaxies are considered to have higher stellar mass loss rates. We found that when controlling for host-galaxy properties, the fraction of log $L_{\rm X}$/$M_\star$ > 32 (which roughly corresponds to Eddington ratios $\gtrsim 1$%) AGN and sample-averaged black hole accretion rate ($\rm \overline{BHAR}$) decrease with $\rm D_{n}4000$ among $\rm D_{n}4000$ $\lesssim$ 1.9 galaxies, suggesting a higher level of AGN activity among younger galaxies, which supports the stellar mass loss fuelling scenario. For the oldest and most massive galaxies at $z = 0-0.35$, this decreasing trend is not present anymore. We found that, among these most massive galaxies at low redshift, the fraction of low specific-accretion-rate (31 $<$ log $L_{\rm X}$/$M_\star$ $<$ 32) AGNs increases with $\rm D_{n}4000$, which may be associated with additional fuelling from hot halo gas and/or enhanced accretion capability.

Abstract: When a detailed model of a stellar population is unavailable, it is most common to assume that stellar masses are independently and identically distributed according to some distribution: the universal initial mass function (IMF). However, stellar masses resulting from causal, long-ranged physics cannot be truly random and independent, and the IMF may vary with environment. To compare stochastic sampling with a physical model, we run a suite of 100 STARFORGE radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of low-mass star cluster formation in $2000M_\odot$ clouds that form $\sim 200$ stars each on average. The stacked IMF from the simulated clouds has a sharp truncation at $\sim 28 M_\odot$, well below the typically-assumed maximum stellar mass $M_{\rm up} \sim 100-150M_\odot$ and the total cluster mass. The sequence of star formation is not totally random: massive stars tend to start accreting sooner and finish later than the average star. However, final cluster properties such as maximum stellar mass and total luminosity have a similar amount of cloud-to-cloud scatter to random sampling. Therefore stochastic sampling does not generally model the stellar demographics of a star cluster as it is forming, but may describe the end result fairly well, if the correct IMF -- and its environment-dependent upper cutoff -- are known.

Abstract: The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) will induce a dynamical friction (DF) wake on infall to the Milky Way (MW). The MW's stellar halo will respond to the gravity of the LMC and the dark matter (DM) wake, forming a stellar counterpart to the DM wake. This provides a novel opportunity to constrain the properties of the DM particle. We present a suite of high-resolution, windtunnel-style simulations of the LMC's DF wake that compare the structure, kinematics, and stellar tracer response of the DM wake in cold DM (CDM), with and without self-gravity, vs. fuzzy DM (FDM) with $m_a = 10^{-23}$ eV. We conclude that the self-gravity of the DM wake cannot be ignored. Its inclusion raises the wake's density by $\sim 10\%$, and holds the wake together over larger distances ($\sim$ 50 kpc) than if self-gravity is ignored. The DM wake's mass is comparable to the LMC's infall mass, meaning the DM wake is a significant perturber to the dynamics of MW halo tracers. An FDM wake is more granular in structure and is $\sim 20\%$ dynamically colder than a CDM wake, but with comparable density. The granularity of an FDM wake increases the stars' kinematic response at the percent level compared to CDM, providing a possible avenue of distinguishing a CDM vs. FDM wake. This underscores the need for kinematic measurements of stars in the stellar halo at distances of 70-100 kpc.

Abstract: Carbon spectral features are ubiquitous in the ultraviolet (UV) and far-infrared (FIR) spectra of galaxies in the epoch of reionization (EoR). We probe the ionized carbon content of a blue compact dwarf galaxy Pox 186 using the UV, optical, mid-infrared and FIR data taken with telescopes in space (Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel) and on the ground (Gemini). This local (z~0.0040705) galaxy is likely an analogue of EoR galaxies, as revealed by its extreme FIR emission line ratio, [OIII] 88/[CII] 157 (>10). The UV spectra reveal extreme CIII] 1907, 1909 emission with the strongest equivalent width (EW) = 35.85 $\pm$ 0.73 \AA detected so far in the local (z~0) Universe, a relatively strong CIV 1548, 1550 emission with EW = 7.95 $\pm$0.45\AA, but no He II 1640 detection. Several scenarios are explored to explain the high EW of carbon lines, including high effective temperature, high carbon-to-oxygen ratio, slope and upper mass of top-heavy initial mass function, hard ionizing radiation and in-homogeneous dust distribution. Both CIII] and CIV line profiles are broadened with respect to the OIII] 1660 emission line. Each emission line of CIV 1548, 1550 shows the most distinct double-peak structure ever detected, which we model via two scenarios, firstly a double-peaked profile that might emerge from resonant scattering and secondly, a single nebular emission line along with a weaker interstellar absorption. The study demonstrates that galaxies with extreme FIR emission line ratio may also show extreme UV properties, hence paving a promising avenue of using FIR+UV in the local (via HST+Herschel/SOFIA) and distant (via JWST+ALMA) Universe for unveiling the mysteries of the EoR.

Abstract: We explore the feasibility of learning the connection between SDSS galaxies and ELUCID subhaloes with random forest (RF). ELUCID is a constrained $N$-body simulation constructed using the matter density field of SDSS. Based on an SDSS-ELUCID matched catalogue, we build RF models that predict $M_r$ magnitude, colour, stellar mass $M_*$, and specific star formation rate (sSFR) with several subhalo properties. While the RF can predict $M_r$ and $M_*$ with reasonable accuracy, the prediction accuracy of colour and sSFR is low, which could be due to the mismatch between galaxies and subhaloes. To test this, we shuffle the galaxies in subhaloes of narrow mass bins in the local neighbourhood using galaxies of a semi-analytic model (SAM) and the TNG hydrodynamic simulation. We find that the shuffling only slightly reduces the colour prediction accuracy in SAM and TNG, which is still considerably higher than that of the SDSS. This suggests that the true connection between SDSS colour and subhalo properties could be weaker than that in the SAM and TNG without the mismatch effect. We also measure the Pearson correlation coefficient between galaxy properties and the subhalo properties in SDSS, SAM, and TNG. Similar to the RF results, we find that the colour-subhalo correlation in SDSS is lower than both the SAM and TNG. We also show that the galaxy-subhalo correlations depend on subhalo mass in the galaxy formation models. Advanced surveys with more fainter galaxies will provide new insights into the galaxy-subhalo relation in the real Universe.