J/ApJ/804/34ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/804/34doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.18040034CDSHong J.Im M.Kim M.Ho L.C.2017-09-27T05:55:41Z2015-09-11T12:01:54ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.fractive-galactic-nucleiabsolute-magnitudegalaxy-classification-systemsgalaxiesvisible-astronomyIt is not yet clear what triggers the activity of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), but galaxy merging has been suspected to be one of the main mechanisms fueling the activity. Using deep optical images taken at various ground-based telescopes, we investigate the fraction of galaxy mergers in 39 luminous AGNs (M_R_<~-22.6mag) at z<=0.3 (a median redshift of 0.155), for which the host galaxies are generally considered as early-type galaxies. Through visual inspection of the images, we find that 17 of 39 AGN host galaxies (43.6%) show evidence for current or past mergers like tidal tails, shells, and disturbed morphology. In order to see if this fraction is abnormally high, we also examined the merging fraction of normal early-type galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe 82 data (a median redshift of 0.04), of which the surface-brightness limit is comparable to our imaging data. To correct for the effects related to the redshift difference of the two samples, we performed an image simulation by putting a bright point source as an artificial AGN in the images of SDSS early-type galaxies and placing them onto the redshifts of AGNs. The merging fraction in this realistic sample of simulated AGNs is only ~5-15% (1/4 to 1/8 of that of real AGNs). Our result strongly suggests that luminous AGN activity is associated with galaxy merging.2015ApJ...804...34Hhttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/804/34CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toVII/258 : Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei (13th Ed.) (Veron+ 2010)J/AJ/148/137 : Merging galaxies in COSMOS to z~1 (Lackner+, 2014)J/ApJ/766/109 : Color/age/metallicity gradients of E galaxies (Kim+, 2013)J/ApJS/197/22 : The Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey (GGS). II. (Li+, 2011)J/ApJS/197/21 : The Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey (CGS). I. (Ho+, 2011)J/ApJS/196/11 : Bulge+disk decompositions of SDSS galaxies (Simard+, 2011)J/ApJ/721/98 : Morphology of 70um COSMOS galaxies (Kartaltepe+, 2010)J/ApJ/709/884 : Starburst-AGN composite role in LIRG mergers (Yuan+, 2010)J/MNRAS/406/382 : Early-type galaxies in the SDSS Stripe82 (Kaviraj, 2010)J/ApJ/697/1369 : GOODS Ks-selected multiwavelength compilations (Bundy+, 2009)J/ApJ/692/511 : Mergers of luminous early-type galaxies (Wen+, 2009)J/ApJ/640/579 : Near-infrared spectra of 27 SDSS quasars (Glikman+, 2006)J/AJ/132/2596 : Spectroscopy of Ultraluminous IR galaxies (Darling+, 2006)J/AJ/130/2647 : Tidal features of 126 nearby red galaxies (van Dokkum+, 2005)J/ApJ/613/682 : AGN central mass & broad-line region sizes (Peterson+, 2004)J/ApJ/571/136 : DEEP Groth Strip survey. X. (Im+, 2002)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/804/34https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/804/34http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/804/34https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/804/34https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/804/34http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/804/34GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/ApJ/804/34/table1 (AGN sample)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/804/34/table1?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/804/34/table1?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/804/34/table1?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true129.9607917-12.24286110.005555555555555556Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/804/34/table3 (Control sample of early-type galaxies from SDSS Stripe 82)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/804/34/table3?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/804/34/table3?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/804/34/table3?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true321.91519194-1.1021750.0055555555555555565/4502 4504 4505 4693 4694 5798 5802 6/5091 5576 8528 8636 8845 8941 9194 10162 10472 10691 11668 11829 11924 12290 12604 17346 17406 17661 17662 17663 17698 17727 17742 17743 17745 17747 17749 17750 17752 17753 17756 17757 17758 17763 17765 17766 17768 17770 17771 17773 17777 17778 17784 17805 17806 17807 17809 17810 17811 17813 17814 17815 17817 17818 17819 17820 17821 17832 17838 17841 17857 17983 17998 17999 18001 18003 18004 18006 18007 18014 18024 18025 18028 18030 18032 18061 18063 18065 18066 18068 18070 18073 18074 18083 18087 18092 18093 18113 18114 18686 18751 18769 18771 18786 18789 18790 18792 18794 18795 18834 18837 18839 18840 18842 18844 18845 18855 18881 18883 19007 19022 19023 19031 19033 19045 19048 19051 19054 19058 19085 19090 19091 19096 19097 19099 19101 19102 19105 19107 19110 19111 19112 19113 19115 19120 19121 19201 19433 19746 19932 21935 23101 23102 23103 23138 23144 23146 23147 23150 23182 23185 23186 23187 23196 23197 23198 23201 23202 23203 23206 23218 23232 23233 25742 26297 26509 26769 27580 27862 28356 30036 30037 30044 30045 30064 31685 33620 34881 35893 35906 36861 36862 40838 44458 44668 44785 48614 49147https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/ApJ/804/34?format=asciiOpticaldefaultJ/ApJ/804/34/table1AGN sampleSimbadNameSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.idcharMag.h[-24.1/-21.3] Absolute R-band magnitude of the AGN host galaxy (4)magphys.magAbsfloatrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintNameAGN namemeta.id;meta.maincharz[0.05/0.3] Redshiftsrc.redshiftfloatVmag[13.8/17.5] Apparent V-band magnitude from Veron-Cetty+, 2010, VII/258magphot.mag;em.opt.VfloatRMag[-26.1/-22.7] Absolute R-band magnitude (1)magphot.mag;em.opt.RfloatlogMbh[7.4/8.9] log Black hole masslog(solMass)phys.massfloatn_logMbhMethod for estimating logMbh (2)meta.notecharr_logMbhReferences for logMbh (3)meta.ref;pos.framecharMag.n[-26.1/-18.9] Absolute R-band magnitude of the AGN nuclear component (4)magphys.magAbsfloatMag.b[-24/-20.9] Absolute R-band magnitude of the bulge of the AGN (4)magphys.magAbsfloatL/Edd[0.01/0.7]? Eddington ratio from Kim et al. (2008ApJ...687..767K)phys.luminosity;arith.ratiofloatnullableExp[640/14400] Integrated exposure timestime.duration;obs.exposureintn_muFilter (V, R, i or r)meta.code;instr.filtercharmu[25/28] Surface-brightness limit (5)mag.arcsec**-2phot.mag.sb;stat.maxfloatSee[0.7/2.6] Seeing FWHMarcsecinstr.obsty.seeingfloatTelTelescope (6)meta.id;instr.telcharClMerging type (7)meta.code.classcharNEDSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlchar_RARight Ascension (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.ra;meta.main_DEDeclination (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainJ/ApJ/804/34/table3Control sample of early-type galaxies from SDSS Stripe 82SimbadNameSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.idcharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintSeq[2/3726] ID from Kaviraj 2010, J/MNRAS/406/382meta.idintobjIDSDSS-DR7 object identifiermeta.id;meta.mainRAJ2000Right Ascension in decimal degrees (J2000)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDEJ2000Declination in decimal degrees (J2000)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainz[0.01/0.05] Redshiftsrc.redshiftfloatRmag[12.2/16.1] Apparent R band magnitudemagphot.mag;em.opt.Rfloate_Rmag[0.002/0.005] Error in Rmagmagstat.error;phot.mag;em.opt.RfloatB/T[0.1/1] Bulge-to-Total ratiophot.mag.sb;arith.ratiofloate_B/T[0/0.3]? Error in B/T (1)stat.errorfloatnullableRMag[-23.2/-18.8] Absolute bulge component R band magnitudemagphys.magAbs;em.opt.Rfloate_RMag[0/0.7] Error in RMagmagstat.error;phot.mag;em.opt.RfloatlogMbh[6.8/9.1] Log Black Hole masslog(solMass)phys.massfloatTT0Kaviraj 2010 (J/MNRAS/406/382) morphological type (2)src.morph.typeintTT[INST] Morphological type from this work (3)src.morph.typecharSloanDisplay the online SDSS data for this galaxymeta.ref.urlcharNEDSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlchar