Papers by Gabriela Canalizo
The Astrophysical Journal, 2020
We report the discovery of a buried, active supermassive black hole in SDSS J085153.64+392611.76,... more We report the discovery of a buried, active supermassive black hole in SDSS J085153.64+392611.76, a bulgeless Seyfert 2 (Sy2) galaxy. Keck near-infrared observations reveal a hidden broad line region, allowing for the rare case where strong constraints can be placed on both the black hole mass and bulge component. Using virial mass estimators, we obtain a black hole mass of log(M BH /M) = 6.78 ± 0.50. This is one of the only Sy2 AGN hosted in a bulgeless galaxy with a virial black hole mass estimate and could provide important constraints on the formation scenarios of the black hole seed population. The lack of a bulge component suggests that the SMBH has grown quiescently, likely caused by secular processes independent of major mergers. In the absence of a detectable bulge component, we find the M BH-M stellar relation to be more reliable than the M BH-M bulge relation. In addition, we detect extended narrow Paα emission that allows us to create a rotation curve where we see counter-rotating gas within the central kiloparsec (kpc). Possible causes of this counter-rotation include a galactic bar or disruption of the inner gas by a recent fly-by of a companion galaxy. This in turn could have triggered accretion onto the central SMBH in the current AGN phase.
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2006
The Triangulum Spiral Galaxy Messier 33 offers unique insights into the building of a galactic di... more The Triangulum Spiral Galaxy Messier 33 offers unique insights into the building of a galactic disk. We identify spectacular arcs of intermediate age (0.6 Gyr − 2 Gyr) stars in the low-metallicity outer disk. The northern arc spans ~120 degrees in azimuth and up to 5 arcmin in width. The arcs are located 2-3 disk scale lengths from the galaxy centre (where 1 disk scale length is equivalent to 0.1 degrees in the V-band) and lie precisely where there is a warp in the HI profile of M33. Warps and infall are inextricably linked (Binney, 1992). We present spectroscopy of candidate stars in the outer northern arc, secured using the Keck I telescope in Hawaii. The target stars have estimated visual magnitudes as faint as V~ 25m. Absorption bands of CN are seen in all spectra reported in this review talk, confirming their carbon star status. Also presented are PAH emissivity radial profiles generated from IRAC observations of M33 using the Spitzer Space Telescope. A dramatic change of phase...
Post-starburst galaxies host a population of early-type stars (A or F), but simultaneously lack i... more Post-starburst galaxies host a population of early-type stars (A or F), but simultaneously lack indicators of ongoing star formation such as OII emission. Two distinct stellar populations have been identified in these systems: a young post-starburst population superimposed on an older host population. We present a study of nine post-starburst galaxies with the following objectives: 1) to investigate if and how kinematical differences between the young and old populations of stars can be measured; and 2) to gain insight into the formation mechanism of the young population in these systems. We fit high signal-to-noise spectra with two independent populations in distinct spectral regions: the Balmer region, the MgIb region, and the Ca Triplet when available. We show that the kinematics of the two populations largely track one another if measured in the Balmer region with high signal-to-noise data. Results from examining the Faber-Jackson relation and the Fundamental Plane indicate thes...
We have obtained Spitzer IRS spectra and MIPS 24, 70, and 160 micron photometry for a volume-limi... more We have obtained Spitzer IRS spectra and MIPS 24, 70, and 160 micron photometry for a volume-limited sample of 22 SDSS-selected Low-ionization Broad Absorption Line QSOs (LoBALs) at 0.5 < z < 0.6. By comparing their mid-IR spectral properties and far-IR SEDs with those of a control sample of 35 non-LoBALs matched in M_i, we investigate the differences between the two populations in terms of their infrared emission and star formation activity. Twenty five percent of the LoBALs show PAH features and 45% have weak 9.7 micron silicate dust emission. We model the SEDs and decouple the AGN and starburst contributions to the far-infrared luminosity in LoBALs and in non-LoBALs. Their median total, starburst, and AGN infrared luminosities are comparable. Twenty percent (but no more than 60%) of the LoBALs and 26% of the non-LoBALs are ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; L_IR>10^12*L_sun). We estimate star formation rates (SFRs) corrected for the AGN contribution to the FIR flu...
We present deep HST/ACS images and Keck spectroscopy of MC2 1635+119, a QSO hosted by a galaxy pr... more We present deep HST/ACS images and Keck spectroscopy of MC2 1635+119, a QSO hosted by a galaxy previously classified as an undisturbed elliptical. Our new images reveal dramatic shell structure indicative of a merger event in the relatively recent past. The brightest shells in the central regions of the host are distributed alternately in radius, with at least two distinct shells on one side of the nucleus and three on the other, out to a distance of ~13 kpc. The light within the five shells comprises ~6% of the total galaxy light. Lower surface brightness ripples or tails and other debris extend out to a distance of ~65 kpc. A simple N-body model for a merger reproduces the inner shell structure and gives an estimate for the age of the merger between ~30 Myr and ~1.7 Gyr, depending on a range of reasonable assumptions. While the inner shell structure is suggestive of a minor merger, the total light contribution from the shells and extended structures are more indicative of a major ...
The MBH - σ∗ relation has been studied extensively for local galaxies, but to date there have bee... more The MBH - σ∗ relation has been studied extensively for local galaxies, but to date there have been scarce few direct measurements of stellar velocity dispersions for systems beyond the local universe. We investigate black hole and host galaxy properties of six "post-starburst quasars" at z ∼ 0.3. Spectra of these objects simultaneously display features from the active nucleus including broad emission lines and a host galaxy Balmer absorption series indicative of the post-starburst stellar population. These are the first measurements of σ∗ in such objects, and we significantly increase the number of directly-measured non-local objects on the MBH - σ∗ diagram. The "post-starburst quasars" of our sample fall on or above the locally defined MBH - σ∗ relation, a result that is consistent with previous MBH - σ∗ studies of samples at z > 0.1. However, they are generally consistent with the MBH-Lbulge relation. Futhermore, their location on the Faber-Jackson relation ...
We describe a method to measure the M-sigma relation in the non-local universe using dust-obscure... more We describe a method to measure the M-sigma relation in the non-local universe using dust-obscured QSOs. We present results from a pilot sample of nine 2MASS red QSOs with redshifts 0.14<z<0.37. We find that there is an offset (0.8 dex, on average) between the position of our objects and the local relation for AGN, in the sense that the majority of red QSO hosts have lower velocity dispersions and/or more massive BHs than local galaxies. These results are in agreement with recent studies of AGN at similar and higher redshifts. This could indicate an unusually rapid growth in the host galaxies since z~0.2, if these objects were to land in the local relation at present time. However, the z>0.1 AGN (including our sample and those of previous studies) have significantly higher BH mass than those of local AGN, so a direct comparison is not straightforward. Further, using several samples of local and higher-z AGN, we find a striking trend of an increasing offset with respect to t...
Although mergers and starbursts are often invoked in the discussion of QSO activity in the contex... more Although mergers and starbursts are often invoked in the discussion of QSO activity in the context of galaxy evolution, several studies have questioned their importance or even their presence in QSO host galaxies. Accordingly, we are conducting a study of z~0.2 QSO host galaxies previously classified as passively evolving elliptical galaxies. We present deep Keck LRIS spectroscopy of a sample of 15 hosts and model their stellar absorption spectra using stellar synthesis models. The high S/N of our spectra allow us to break various degeneracies that arise from different combinations of models, varying metallicities, and contamination from QSO light. We find that none of the host spectra can be modeled by purely old stellar populations and that the majority of the hosts (14/15) have a substantial contribution from intermediate-age populations with ages ranging from 0.7 to 2.4 Gyr. An average host spectrum is strikingly well fit by a combination of an old population and a 2.1 (+0.5, -0...
NGC 6240 is a pair of colliding disk galaxies, each with a black hole in its core. We have used l... more NGC 6240 is a pair of colliding disk galaxies, each with a black hole in its core. We have used laser guide star adaptive optics on the Keck II telescope to obtain high-resolution (∼ 0.06") near-infrared integral-field spectra of the region surrounding the supermassive black hole in the south nucleus of this galaxy merger. We use the K-band CO absorption bandheads to trace stellar kinematics. We obtain a spatial resolution of about 20 pc and thus directly resolve the sphere of gravitational influence of the massive black hole. We explore two different methods to measure the black hole mass. Using a Jeans Axisymmetric Multi-Gaussian mass model, we investigate the limit that a relaxed mass distribution produces all of the measured velocity dispersion, and find an upper limit on the black hole mass at 2.0 ± 0.2 × 10^9 M_. When assuming the young stars whose spectra we observe remain in a thin disk, we compare Keplerian velocity fields to the measured two-dimensional velocity field...
We have obtained Spitzer IRS spectra and MIPS 24, 70, and 160 µm photometry for a volumelimited s... more We have obtained Spitzer IRS spectra and MIPS 24, 70, and 160 µm photometry for a volumelimited sample of 22 SDSS-selected Low-ionization Broad Absorption Line QSOs (LoBALs) at 0.5 < z < 0.6. By comparing their mid-IR spectral properties and far-IR SEDs with those of a control sample of 35 non-LoBALs matched in M i , we investigate the differences between the two populations in terms of their infrared emission and star formation activity. Twenty five percent of the LoBALs show PAH features and 45% have weak 9.7µm silicate dust emission. We model the SEDs and decouple the AGN and starburst contributions to the far-infrared luminosity in LoBALs and in non-LoBALs. Their median total, starburst, and AGN infrared luminosities are comparable. Twenty percent (but no more than 60%) of the LoBALs and 26% of the non-LoBALs are ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs; L IR > 10 12 L ⊙). We estimate star formation rates (SFRs) corrected for the AGN contribution to the FIR flux and find that LoBALs have comparable levels of star formation activity to non-LoBALs when considering the entire samples. However, the SFRs of the IR-luminous LoBALs are 80% higher than those of their counterparts in the control sample. The median contribution of star formation to the total far-infrared flux in LoBALs and in non-LoBALs is estimated to be 40-50%, in agreement with previous results for PG QSOs. Overall, our results show that there is no strong evidence from the midand far-IR properties that LoBALs are drawn from a different parent population than non-LoBALs.
arXiv: Astrophysics of Galaxies, 2016
We investigate the effects of stellar evolution and dust on measurements of stellar velocity disp... more We investigate the effects of stellar evolution and dust on measurements of stellar velocity dispersion in mergers of disk galaxies. $N$-body simulations and radiative transfer analysis software are used to obtain mass-weighted and flux-weighted measurements of stellar velocity dispersion. We find that the distribution of dust with respect to the distribution of young stars in such systems is more important than the total degree of attenuation. The presence of dust typically causes flux-weighted measurements of stellar velocity dispersion to be elevated with respect to mass-weighted measurements because dust preferentially obscures young stars, which tend to be dynamically cooler than older stellar populations in such systems. In exceptional situations, in which young stars are not preferentially obscured by dust, flux-weighted velocity dispersion measurements tend to be negatively offset with respect to mass-weighted measurements because the dynamically cool young stellar populatio...
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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2020
We present Bayesian active galactic nucleus (AGN) Decomposition Analysis for Sloan Digital Sky Su... more We present Bayesian active galactic nucleus (AGN) Decomposition Analysis for Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Spectra, an open source spectral analysis code designed for automatic detailed deconvolution of AGN and host galaxy spectra, implemented in python, and designed for the next generation of large-scale surveys. The code simultaneously fits all spectral components, including power-law continuum, stellar line-of-sight velocity distribution, Fe ii emission, as well as forbidden (narrow), permitted (broad), and outflow emission line features, all performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo to obtain robust uncertainties and autocorrelation analysis to assess parameter convergence. Our code also utilizes multiprocessing for batch fitting large samples of spectra while efficiently managing memory and computation resources and is currently being used in a cluster environment to fit thousands of SDSS spectra. We use our code to perform a correlation analysis of 63 SDSS type 1 AGNs with ev...
The Astrophysical Journal, 2019
The co-evolution of galaxies and the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers via hierar... more The co-evolution of galaxies and the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers via hierarchical galaxy mergers is a key prediction of ΛCDM cosmology. As gas and dust are funneled to the SMBHs during the merger, the SMBHs light up as active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In some cases, a merger of two galaxies can encounter a third galaxy, leading to a triple merger, which would manifest as a triple AGN if all three SMBHs are simultaneously accreting. Using high-spatial resolution X-ray, near-IR, and optical spectroscopic diagnostics, we report here a compelling case of an AGN triplet with mutual separations <10 kpc in the advanced merger SDSS J084905.51+111447.2 at z = 0.077. The system exhibits three nuclear X-ray sources, optical spectroscopic line ratios consistent with AGN in each nucleus, a high excitation near-IR coronal line in one nucleus, and broad Paα detections in two nuclei. Hard X-ray spectral fitting reveals a high column density along the line of sight, consistent with the picture of late-stage mergers hosting heavily absorbed AGNs. Our multiwavelength diagnostics support a triple AGN scenario, and we rule out alternative explanations such as star formation activity, shock-driven emission, and emission from fewer than three AGN. The dynamics of gravitationally bound triple SMBH systems can dramatically reduce binary SMBH inspiral timescales, providing a possible means to surmount the "Final Parsec Problem." AGN triplets in advanced mergers are the only observational forerunner to bound triple SMBH systems and thus offer a glimpse of the accretion activity and environments of the AGNs prior to the gravitationally-bound triple phase.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2019
The role of feedback in triggering or quenching star formation and hence driving galaxy evolution... more The role of feedback in triggering or quenching star formation and hence driving galaxy evolution can be directly studied with high resolution integral field observations. The manifestation of feedback in shocks is particularly important to examine in galaxy mergers, where violent interactions of gas takes place in the interstellar medium during the course of the galactic collision. As part of our effort to systematically study the local population of luminous infrared galaxies within the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey, we undertook the Keck OSIRIS AO LIRG Analysis observing campaign to study the gas dynamics in the inner kiloparsec regions of these systems at spatial scales of a few 10s of parsecs. With high-resolution near-infrared adaptive optics-assisted integral-field observations taken with OSIRIS on the Keck Telescopes, we employ near-infrared diagnostics such as Brγ and the ro-vibrationally excited H 2 lines to quantify the nuclear star formation rate and identify feedback associated with shocked molecular gas seen in 21 nearby luminous infrared galaxies. Shocked molecular gas is preferentially found in the ultraluminous infrared systems, but may also be triggered at a lowerluminosity, earlier merging stage. On circumnuclear scales, AGN have a strong effect on heating the surrounding molecular gas, though their coupling is not simply driven by AGN strength but rather is complicated by orientation, dust shielding, density, and other factors. We find that the nuclear
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2007
We present very deep HST/ACS images of five QSO host galaxies, classified as undisturbed elliptic... more We present very deep HST/ACS images of five QSO host galaxies, classified as undisturbed ellipticals in earlier studies. For four of the five objects, our images reveal strong signs of interaction such as tidal tails, shells, and other fine structure, suggesting that a large fraction of QSO host galaxies may have experienced a relatively recent merger event. Our preliminary results for a control sample of inactive elliptical galaxies do not reveal comparable fine structure.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2015
Post-starburst galaxies host a population of early-type stars (A or F), but simultaneously lack i... more Post-starburst galaxies host a population of early-type stars (A or F), but simultaneously lack indicators of ongoing star formation such as [O II] emission. Two distinct stellar populations have been identified in these systems: a young post-starburst population superimposed on an older host population. We present a study of nine post-starburst galaxies with the following objectives: 1) to investigate if and how kinematical differences between the young and old populations of stars can be measured; and 2) to gain insight into the formation mechanism of the young population in these systems. We fit high signal-to-noise spectra with two independent populations in distinct spectral regions: the Balmer region, the Mg Ib region, and the Ca Triplet when available. We show that the kinematics of the two populations largely track one another if measured in the Balmer region with high signal-to-noise data. Results from examining the Faber-Jackson relation and the Fundamental Plane indicate these objects are not kinematically disturbed relative to more evolved spheroids. A case-study of the internal kinematics of one object in our sample shows it to be pressure-supported and not rotationally-dominated. Overall our results are consistent with merger-induced starburst scenarios where the young population is observed during the later stages of the merger.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2014
In order to better understand stellar dynamics in merging systems, such as NGC 6240, we examine t... more In order to better understand stellar dynamics in merging systems, such as NGC 6240, we examine the evolution of central stellar velocity dispersion (σ *) in dissipative galaxy mergers using a suite of binary disk merger simulations that include feedback from stellar formation and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We find that σ * undergoes the same general stages of evolution that were observed in our previous dissipationless simulations: coherent oscillation, then phase mixing, followed by dynamical equilibrium. We also find that measurements of σ * that are based only upon the youngest stars in simulations consistently yield lower values than measurements based upon the total stellar population. This finding appears to be consistent with the so-called "σ * discrepancy," observed in real galaxies. We note that quasar-level AGN activity is much more likely to occur when σ * is near its equilibrium value rather than during periods of extreme σ *. Finally, we provide estimates of the scatter inherent in measuring σ * in ongoing mergers.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2012
We present optical spectroscopy of a sample of 38 post-starburst quasars (PSQs) at z ∼ 0.3, 29 of... more We present optical spectroscopy of a sample of 38 post-starburst quasars (PSQs) at z ∼ 0.3, 29 of which have morphological classifications based on Hubble Space Telescope imaging. These broad-lined active galactic nuclei (AGNs) possess the spectral signatures of massive intermediate-aged stellar populations making them potentially useful for studying connections between nuclear activity and host galaxy evolution. We model the spectra in order to determine the ages and masses of the host stellar populations, and the black hole masses and Eddington fractions of the AGNs. Our model components include an instantaneous starburst, a power-law, and emission lines. We find the PSQs have M BH ∼ 10 8 M accreting at a few percent of Eddington luminosity and host ∼ 10 10.5 M stellar populations which are several hundred Myr to a few Gyr old. We investigate relationships among these derived properties, spectral properties, and morphologies. We find that PSQs hosted in spiral galaxies have significantly weaker AGN luminosities, older starburst ages, and narrow emission-line ratios diagnostic of ongoing star-formation when compared to their early-type counterparts. We conclude that the early-type PSQs are likely the result of major mergers and were likely luminous infrared galaxies in the past, while spiral PSQs with more complex star-formation
The Astrophysical Journal, 2008
We have examined in detail the morphologies of seven z ∼ 1.5 passively evolving luminous red gala... more We have examined in detail the morphologies of seven z ∼ 1.5 passively evolving luminous red galaxies using high resolution HST NICMOS and ACS imaging data. Almost all of these galaxies appear to be relaxed systems, with smooth morphologies at both rest-frame UV and visible wavelengths. Previous results from spectral synthesis modeling favor a single burst of star formation more than 1 Gyr before the observed epoch. The prevalence of old stellar populations, however, does not correlate exclusively with early-type morphologies as it does in the local universe; the light profiles for some of these galaxies appear to be dominated by massive exponential disks. This evidence for massive old disks, along with the apparent uniformity of stellar age across the disk, suggests formation by a mechanism better described as a form of monolithic collapse than as a hierarchical merger. These galaxies could not have undergone a single major merging event since the bulk of their stars were formed, more than 1 Gyr earlier. There is at least one case, however, that appears to be undergoing a "dry merger", which may be an example of the process that converts these unusual galaxies into the familiar spheroids that dominate galaxies comprising old stellar populations at the present epoch.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2008
We present results from a pilot HST ACS deep imaging study in broadband Vof five low-redshift QSO... more We present results from a pilot HST ACS deep imaging study in broadband Vof five low-redshift QSO host galaxies classified in the literature as ellipticals. The aim of our study is to determine whether these early-type hosts formed at high redshift and have since evolved passively, or whether they have undergone relatively recent mergers that may be related to the triggering of the nuclear activity. We perform two-dimensional modeling of the light distributions to analyze the host galaxies' morphology. We find that, while each host galaxy is reasonably well fitted by a de Vaucouleurs profile, the majority of them (4/5) reveal significant fine structure such as shells and tidal tails. These structures contribute between $5% and 10% to the total V-band luminosity of each host galaxy within a region of r $ 3r eA and are indicative of merger events that occurred between a few hundred Myr and a Gyr ago. These timescales are comparable to starburst ages in the QSO hosts previously inferred from Keck spectroscopy. Our results thus support a consistent scenario in which most of the QSO host galaxies suffered mergers with accompanying starbursts that likely also triggered the QSO activity in some way, but we are also left with considerable uncertainty on physical mechanisms that might have delayed this triggering for several hundred Myr after the merger.
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Papers by Gabriela Canalizo