AO observations of three powerful radio galaxies

Willem H. de Vries; Willem JM van Breugel; Andreas Quirrenbach

doi:10.1117/12.457006

13 February 2003 AO observations of three powerful radio galaxies

Willem H. de Vries, Willem JM van Breugel, Andreas Quirrenbach

Proceedings Volume 4834, Discoveries and Research Prospects from 6- to 10-Meter-Class Telescopes II; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.457006
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The host galaxies of powerful radio sources are ideal laboratories to study active galactic nuclei (AGN). The galaxies themselves are among the most massive systems in the universe, and are believed to harbor supermassive black holes (SMBH). If large galaxies are formed in a hierarchical way by multiple merger events, radio galaxies at low redshift represent the end-products of this process. However, it is not clear why some of these massive ellipticals have associated radio emission, while others do not. Both are thought to contain SMBHs, with masses proportional to the total luminous mass in the bulge. It either implies every SMBH has recurrent radio-loud phases, and the radio-quiet galaxies happen to be in the "low" state, or that the radio galaxy nuclei are physically different from radio-quiet ones, i.e. by having a more massive SMBH for a given bulge mass. Here we present the first results from our adaptive optics imaging and spectroscopy pilot program on three nearby powerful radio galaxies. Initiating a larger, more systematic AO survey of radio galaxies (preferentially with Laser Guide Star equipped AO systems) has the potential of furthering our understanding of the physical properties of radio sources, their triggering, and their subsequent evolution.

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Willem H. de Vries, Willem JM van Breugel, and Andreas Quirrenbach "AO observations of three powerful radio galaxies", Proc. SPIE 4834, Discoveries and Research Prospects from 6- to 10-Meter-Class Telescopes II, (13 February 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.457006

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KEYWORDS

Galactic astronomy

Adaptive optics

Imaging spectroscopy

Stars

Image resolution

Spectroscopy

Spectroscopes

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