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ALMA resolves extended star formation in high-z AGN host galaxies

Harrison, C.M.; Simpson, J.M.; Stanley, F.; Alexander, D.M.; Daddi, E.; Mullaney, J.R.; Pannella, M.; Rosario, D.J.; Smail, I.

ALMA resolves extended star formation in high-z AGN host galaxies Thumbnail


Authors

C.M. Harrison

J.M. Simpson

F. Stanley

E. Daddi

J.R. Mullaney

M. Pannella

D.J. Rosario



Abstract

We present high-resolution (0.3 arcsec) Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) 870 μm imaging of five z ≈ 1.5–4.5 X-ray detected AGN (with luminosities of L2–8keV > 1042 erg s−1). These data provide a ≳20 times improvement in spatial resolution over single-dish rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) measurements. The sub-millimetre emission is extended on scales of FWHM ≈ 0.2 arcsec–0.5 arcsec, corresponding to physical sizes of 1–3 kpc (median value of 1.8 kpc). These sizes are comparable to the majority of z=1–5 sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs) with equivalent ALMA measurements. In combination with spectral energy distribution analyses, we attribute this rest-frame FIR emission to dust heated by star formation. The implied star-formation rate surface densities are ≈20–200 M⊙ yr−1 kpc−2, which are consistent with SMGs of comparable FIR luminosities (i.e. LIR ≈ [1–5] × 1012 L⊙). Although limited by a small sample of AGN, which all have high-FIR luminosities, our study suggests that the kpc-scale spatial distribution and surface density of star formation in high-redshift star-forming galaxies is the same irrespective of the presence of X-ray detected AGN.

Citation

Harrison, C., Simpson, J., Stanley, F., Alexander, D., Daddi, E., Mullaney, J., …Smail, I. (2016). ALMA resolves extended star formation in high-z AGN host galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 457(1), L122-L126. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slw001

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 4, 2016
Online Publication Date Feb 1, 2016
Publication Date Mar 21, 2016
Deposit Date Feb 16, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Electronic ISSN 1745-3933
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 457
Issue 1
Pages L122-L126
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slw001
Keywords Galaxies: active, Galaxies: evolution, Quasars: general, Galaxies: star formation, Submillimetre: galaxies.
Related Public URLs http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.457L.122H

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters ©: 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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