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Faber, S. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Faber, S. M..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

The Host Galaxies of X-Ray Selected Active Galactic Nuclei to z - 2.5: Structure, Star-Formation and Their Relationships from CANDELS and Herschel/Pacs

We study the relationship between the structure and star-formation rate (SFR) of X-ray selected low and moderate luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the two Chandra Deep Fields, using Hubble Space Telescope imaging from the Cosmic Assembly Near Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and deep far-infrared maps from the PEP+GOODS-Herschel survey. We derive detailed distributions of structural parameters and FIR luminosities from carefully constructed control samples of galaxies, which we then compare to those of the AGNs. At z is approximately 1, AGNs show slightly diskier light profiles than massive inactive (non-AGN) galaxies, as well as modestly higher levels of gross galaxy disturbance (as measured by visual signatures of interactions and clumpy structure). In contrast, at z ∼ 2, AGNs show similar levels of galaxy disturbance as inactive galaxies, but display a red central light enhancement, which may arise due to a more pronounced bulge in AGN hosts or due to extinguished nuclear light. We undertake a number of tests of both these alternatives, but our results do not strongly favour one interpretation over the other. The mean SFR and its distribution among AGNs and inactive galaxies are similar at z greater than 1.5. At z less than 1, however, clear and significant enhancements are seen in the SFRs of AGNs with bulge-dominated light profiles. These trends suggest an evolution in the relation between nuclear activity and host properties with redshift towards a minor role for mergers and interactions at z greater than 15

host↗
NASA NTRS2013

The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Design, Observations, Data Reduction, and Redshifts

We describe the design and data analysis of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, the densest and largest high-precision redshift survey of galaxies at z approx. 1 completed to date. The survey was designed to conduct a comprehensive census of massive galaxies, their properties, environments, and large-scale structure down to absolute magnitude MB = −20 at z approx. 1 via approx.90 nights of observation on the Keck telescope. The survey covers an area of 2.8 Sq. deg divided into four separate fields observed to a limiting apparent magnitude of R(sub AB) = 24.1. Objects with z approx. < 0.7 are readily identifiable using BRI photometry and rejected in three of the four DEEP2 fields, allowing galaxies with z > 0.7 to be targeted approx. 2.5 times more efficiently than in a purely magnitude-limited sample. Approximately 60% of eligible targets are chosen for spectroscopy, yielding nearly 53,000 spectra and more than 38,000 reliable redshift measurements. Most of the targets that fail to yield secure redshifts are blue objects that lie beyond z approx. 1.45, where the [O ii] 3727 Ang. doublet lies in the infrared. The DEIMOS 1200 line mm(exp −1) grating used for the survey delivers high spectral resolution (R approx. 6000), accurate and secure redshifts, and unique internal kinematic information. Extensive ancillary data are available in the DEEP2 fields, particularly in the Extended Groth Strip, which has evolved into one of the richest multiwavelength regions on the sky. This paper is intended as a handbook for users of the DEEP2 Data Release 4, which includes all DEEP2 spectra and redshifts, as well as for the DEEP2 DEIMOS data reduction pipelines. Extensive details are provided on object selection, mask design, biases in target selection and redshift measurements, the spec2d two-dimensional data-reduction pipeline, the spec1d automated redshift pipeline, and the zspec visual redshift verification process, along with examples of instrumental signatures or other artifacts that in some cases remain after data reduction. Redshift errors and catastrophic failure rates are assessed through more than 2000 objects with duplicate observations. Sky subtraction is essentially photon-limited even under bright OH sky lines; we describe the strategies that permitted this, based on high image stability, accurate wavelength solutions, and powerful B-spline modeling methods. We also investigate the impact of targets that appear to be single objects in ground-based targeting imaging but prove to be composite in Hubble Space Telescope data; they constitute several percent of targets at z approx. 1, approaching approx. 5%-10% at z > 1.5. Summary data are given that demonstrate the superiority of DEEP2 over other deep high-precision redshift surveys at z approx. 1 in terms of redshift accuracy, sample number density, and amount of spectral information. We also provide an overview of the scientific highlights of the DEEP2 survey thus far.

Galaxy↗
NASA NTRS2012

Extreme Emission Line Galaxies in CANDELS: Broad-Band Selected, Star-Bursting Dwarf Galaxies at Z greater than 1

We identify an abundant population of extreme emission line galaxies (EELGs) at redshift z approx. 1.7 in the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) imaging from Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 (HST/WFC3). 69 EELG candidates are selected by the large contribution of exceptionally bright emission lines to their near-infrared broad-band magnitudes. Supported by spectroscopic confirmation of strong [OIII] emission lines . with rest-frame equivalent widths approx. 1000A in the four candidates that have HST/WFC3 grism observations, we conclude that these objects are galaxies with approx.10(exp 8) Solar Mass in stellar mass, undergoing an enormous starburst phase with M*/M* of only approx. 15 Myr. These bursts may cause outflows that are strong enough to produce cored dark matter profiles in low-mass galaxies. The individual star formation rates and the co-moving number density (3.7x10(exp -4) Mpc(sup -3) can produce in approx.4 Gyr much of the stellar mass density that is presently contained in 10(exp 8) - 10(exp 9) Solar Mass dwarf galaxies. Therefore, our observations provide a strong indication that many or even most of the stars in present-day dwarf galaxies formed in strong, short-lived bursts, mostly at z > 1.

vanderWel, A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Epoch of Disk Settling: Z Approximately Equal to 1 to Now

We present evidence from a sample of 544 galaxies from the DEEP2 Survey for evolution of the internal kinematics of blue galaxies over 0.2 < z < 1.2. DEEP2 provides a large sample of high resolution galaxy spectra and dual-band Hubble imaging from which we measure emission-line kinematics and galaxy inclinations, respectively. Our large sample allows us to overcome scatter intrinsic to galaxy properties, in order to examine trends. At a fixed stellar mass, galaxies systematically decrease in disturbed motions and increase in rotation velocity and potential well depth with time. The most massive galaxies are the most well-ordered at all times, with higher rotation velocities and less disturbed motions compared to less massive galaxies. We quantify disturbed motions with an integrated gas velocity dispersion (sigma(sub g)), which is unlike the typical pressure-supported velocity dispersion measured for early type galaxies and galaxy bulges. Due to finite slit width and seeing, sigma(sub g) integrates over unresolved velocity gradients which can correspond to non-ordered gas kinematics such as small-scale velocity gradients, gas motions due to star-formation, or super-imposed clumps along the line-of-sight. We compile surveys of galaxy kinematics over 1.2 < z < 3.8 and do not find any trends with redshift, likely because these studies are biased toward the most highly star-forming systems. In summary, over the last approx 8 billion years since z = 1.2, blue galaxies evolve from disturbed to ordered systems as they settle to become the rotation-dominated disk galaxies observed in the Universe today, with the most massive galaxies always being the most evolved at any time.

Kassin, Susan A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

What Turns Galaxies Off? the Different Morphologies of Star-Forming and Quiescent Galaxies Since z Approximates 2 from CANDELS

We use HST/WFC3 imaging from the CANDELS multicyc1e treasury survey, in conjunction with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to explore the evolution of galactic structure for galaxies with stellar masses > 3 x 10(exp 10) Solar Mass from Z= 2.2 to the present epoch, a time span of 10 Gyr. We explore the relationship between rest-frame optical color, stellar mass, star formation activity and the structural parameters of galaxies as determined from parametric fits to the surface brightness profiles of galaxies. We confirm the dramatic evolution from z= 2.2 to the present day in the number density of non-star-forming galaxies above 3 x 10(exp 10) Solar Mass reported by other authors. We find that the vast majority of these quiescent systems have concentrated light profiles, as parameterized by the Sersic index, and the population of concentrated galaxies grows similarly rapidly. We examine the joint distribution of star formation activity, Sersic index, stellar mass, mass divided by radius (a proxy for velocity dispersion), and stellar surface density. Quiescence correlates poorly with stellar mass at all z < 2.2 (given the approx < 0.2 dex scatter between halo mass and stellar mass at z approximates 0 inferred by More et al, this argues against halo mass being the only factor determining quiescence). Quiescence correlates better with Sersic index, 'velocity dispersion' and stellar surface density, where Sersic index correlates the best (increasingly so at lower redshift). Yet, there is significant scatter between quiescence and galaxy structure: while the vast majority of quiescent galaxies have prominent bulges, many of them have significant disks, and a number of bulge-dominated galaxies have significant star formation. Noting the rarity of quiescent galaxies without prominent bulges, we argue that a prominent bulge (and, perhaps by association, a supermassive black hole) is a necessary but not sufficient condition for quenching star formation on galactic scales over the last 10 Gyr; such a result is qualitatively consistent with the expectations of the AGN feedback paradigm.

Bell, Eric F.↗
NASA NTRS2011

A CANDELS WFC3 Grism Study of Emission-Line Galaxies at Z approximates 2: A mix of Nuclear Activity and Low-Metallicity Star Formation

We present Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 slitless grism spectroscopy of 28 emission-line galaxies at z approximates 2, in the GOODS-S region of the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). The high sensitivity of these grism observations, with > 5-sigma detections of emission lines to f > 2.5 X 10(exp -18( erg/s/ square cm, means that the galaxies in the sample are typically approximately 7 times less massive (median M(star). = 10(exp 9.5)M(solar)) than previously studied z approximates 2 emission-line galaxies. Despite their lower mass, the galaxies have [O-III]/H-Beta ratios which are very similar to previously studied z approximates 2 galaxies and much higher than the typical emission-line ratios of local galaxies. The WFC3 grism allows for unique studies of spatial gradients in emission lines, and we stack the two-dimensional spectra of the galaxies for this purpose. In the stacked data the [O-III] emission line is more spatially concentrated than the H-Beta emission line with 98.1% confidence. We additionally stack the X-ray data (all sources are individually undetected), and find that the average L(sub [O-III])/L(sub 0.5.10keV) ratio is intermediate between typical z approximates 0 obscured active galaxies and star-forming galaxies. Together the compactness of the stacked [O-III] spatial profile and the stacked X-ray data suggest that at least some of these low-mass, low-metallicity galaxies harbor weak active galactic nuclei.

Trump, Jonathan R.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Extreme Emission Line Galaxies in CANDELS: Broad-Band Selected, Star-Bursting Dwarf Galaxies at Z greater than 1

We identify an abundant population of extreme emission line galaxies at redshift z=1.6 - 1.8 in the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) imaging from Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 (HST/WFC3). 69 candidates are selected by the large contribution of exceptionally bright emission lines to their near-infrared, broad-band fluxes. Supported by spectroscopic confirmation of strong [OIII] emission lines - with equivalent widths approximately 1000A - in the four candidates that have HST/WFC3 grism observations, we conclude that these objects are dwarf galaxies with approximately 10(exp 8) solar mass in stellar mass, undergoing an enormous star-burst phase with M*/M* of only approximately 10 Myr. The star formation activity and the co-moving number density (3.7 x 10(exp -4) Mpc(exp -3)) imply that strong, short-lived bursts play a significant, perhaps even dominant role in the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies at z greater than 1. The observed star formation activity can produce in less than 5 Gyr the same amount of stellar mass density as is presently contained in dwarf galaxies. Therefore, our observations provide a strong indication that the stellar populations of present-day dwarf galaxies formed mainly in strong, short-lived bursts, mostly at z greater than 1.

VanDerWel, A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

CANDELS: The Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey

The Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) is designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, from z approx. 8 - 1.5. It will image > 250,000 distant galaxies using three separate cameras on the Hubble Space Tele8cope, from the mid-UV to near-IR, and will find and measure Type Ia supernovae beyond z > 1.5 to test their accuracy as standard candles for cosmology. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive ancillary data. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic variance and yields statistically robust and complete samples of galaxies down to a stellar mass of 10(exp 9) solar mass to z approx. 2, reaching the knee of the UV luminosity function of galaxies to z approx. 8. The survey covers approximately 800 square arc minutes and is divided into two parts. The CANDELS/Deep survey (5(sigma) point-source limit H =27.7mag) covers approx. 125 square arcminutes within GOODS-N and GOODS-S. The CANDELS/Wide survey includes GOODS and three additional fields (EGS, COSMOS, and UDS) and covers the full area to a 50(sigma) point-source limit of H ? or approx. = 27.0 mag. Together with the Hubble Ultradeep Fields, the strategy creates a three-tiered "wedding cake" approach that has proven efficient for extragalactic surveys. Data from the survey are non-proprietary and are useful for a wide variety of science investigations. In this paper, we describe the basic motivations for the survey, the CANDELS team science goals and the resulting observational requirements, the field selection and geometry, and the observing design.

Grogin, Norman A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

High-resolution spectra of distant compact narrow emission line galaxies: Progrenitors of spheroidal galaxies

Emission-line velocity widths have been determined for 17 faint (B approximately 20-23) very blue, compact galaxies whose redshifts range from z = 0.095 to 0.66. The spectra have a resolution of 8 Km/s and were taken with the HIRES echelle spectrograph of the Keck 10 m telescope. The galaxies are luminous with all but two within 1 mag of M(sub B) approximately -21. Yet they exhibit narrow velocity widths between sigma = 28-157 km/s, more consistent with typical values of extreme star-forming galaxies than with those of nearby spiral galaxies of similar luminosity. In particular, objects with sigma is less than or equal to 65 km/s follow the same correlations between sigma and both blue and H beta luminosities as those of nearby H II galaxies. These results strengthen the identification of H II glaxies as thier local counterparts. The blue colors and strong emission lines suggest these compact galaxies are undergoing a recent, strong burst of star formation. Like those which characterize some H II galaxies, this burst could be a nuclear star-forming event within a much larger, older stellar population. If the burst is instead a major episode in the total star-forming history, these distant galaxies could fade enough to match the low luminosities and surface brightnesses typical of nearby spheroidals like NGC 185 or NGC 205. Together with evidence for recent star formation, exponential light profiles, and subsolar metallicities, the postfading correlations between luminosity and velocity width and bewtween luminosity and surface brightness suggest that among the low-sigma galaxies, we may be witnessing, in situ, the progenitors of today's spheroidal galaxies.

Koo, David C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Old stellar populations. 5: Absorption feature indices for the complete LICK/IDS sample of stars

Twenty-one optical absorption features, 11 of which have been previously defined, are automatically measured in a sample of 460 stars. Following Gorgas et al., the indices are summarized in fitting functions that give index strengths as functions of stellar temperature, gravity, and (Fe/H). This project was carried out with the purpose of predicting index strengths in the integrated light of stellar populations of different ages and metallicities, but the data should be valuable for stellar studies in the Galaxy as well. Several of the new indices appear to be promising indicators of metallicity for old stellar populations. A complete list of index data and atmospheric parameters is available in computer-readable form.

Worthey, Guy↗
NASA NTRS1994

Hubble Space Telescope Planetary Camera observations of Arp 220

Planetary Camera images of peculiar galaxy Arp 220 taken with V, R, and I band filters reveal a very luminous object near the position of the western radio continuum source, assumed to be the major nucleus, ans seven lesser objects within 2 sec of this position. The most luminous object is formally coincident with the radio source to within the errors of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) pointing accuracy, but we have found an alternate, more compelling alignment of maps in which the eastern radio source coincides with one of the lesser objects and the OH radio sources reside near the surfaces of other optical objects. The proposed centering places the most luminous object 150 pc (0.4 sec) away from the western radio source. We explore the possibilities that the objects are either holes in the dense dust distribution, dusty clouds reflecting a hidden bright nucleus, or associations of bright young stars. We favor the interpretation that at least the brightest two objects are massive young star associations with luminosities 10(exp 9) to 10(exp 11) solar luminosity, but highly extinguished by intervening dust. These massive associations should fall into the nucleus on a time scale of 10(exp 8) yr. About 10% of the enigmatic far-IR flux arises from the observed objects. In addition, if the diffuse starlight out to a radius of 8 sec is dominated by stars with typical ages of order 10(exp 8) yr (the time since the alleged merger of two galaxies), as indicated by the blue colors at larger radius, then the lower limit to the reradiation of diffuse starlight contributes 3 x 10(exp 11) solar luminosity to the far-infrared flux, or greater than or equal to 25% of the total far-IR flux. Three additional bright objects (M(sub V) approximately equals -13) located about 6 sec from the core are likely young globular clusters, but any of these could be recently exploded supernovae instead. The expected supernovae rate, if the dominant energy source is young stars, is about one per month for the region where the intense far-infrared flux originates. Also, individual giant dust clouds are visible in these images. Their typical size is 300 pc (1 sec).

Shaya, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A family of models for spherical stellar systems

We describe a one-parameter family of models of stable sperical stellar systems in which the phase-space distribution function depends only on energy. The models have similar density profiles in their outer parts (rho propotional to r(exp -4)) and central power-law density cusps, rho proportional to r(exp 3-eta), 0 less than eta less than or = 3. The family contains the Jaffe (1983) and Hernquist (1990) models as special cases. We evaluate the surface brightness profile, the line-of-sight velocity dispersion profile, and the distribution function, and discuss analogs of King's core-fitting formula for determining mass-to-light ratio. We also generalize the models to a two-parameter family, in which the galaxy contains a central black hole; the second parameter is the mass of the black hole. Our models can be used to estimate the detectability of central black holes and the velocity-dispersion profiles of galaxies that contain central cusps, with or without a central black hole.

Tremaine, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1993

Wide field camera observations of Baade's Window

We have observed a field in Baade's Window using the Wide Field Camera (WFC) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and obtain V- and I-band photometry down to V approximately 22.5. These data go several magnitudes fainter than previously obtained from the ground. The location of the break in the luminosity function suggests that there are a significant number of intermediate age (less than 10 Gyr) stars in the Galactic bulge. This conclusion rests on the assumptions that the extinction towards our field is similar to that seen in other parts of Baade's Window, that the distance to the bulge is approximately 8 kpc, and that we can determine fairly accurate zero points for the HST photometry. Changes in any one of these assumptions could increase the inferred age, but a conspiracy of lower reddening, a shorter distance to the bulge, and/or photometric zero-point errors would be needed to imply a population entirely older than 10 Gyr. We infer an initial mass function slope for the main-sequence stars, and find that it is consistent with that measured in the solar neighborhood; unfortunately, the slope is poorly constrained because we sample only a narrow range of stellar mass and because of uncertainties in the observed luminosity function at the faint end.

Holtzman, Jon A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Planetary camera observations of the double nucleus of M31

HST Planetary Camera images obtained in the V and I band for M31 show its inner nucleus to consist of two components that are separated by 0.49 arcsec. The nuclear component with lower surface brightness closely coincides with the bulge photocenter and is argued to be at the kinematic center of the galaxy. It is surmised that, if dust absorption generates the asymmetric nuclear morphology observed, the dust grain size must either be exceptionally large, or the dust optical depth must be extremely high; the higher surface-brightness and off-center nuclear component may alternatively be a separate stellar system.

Lauer, Tod R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Dynamically hot galaxies. II - Global stellar populations

The global relationship between the stellar populations and the structural properties of dynamically hot galaxies (DHGs) is investigated using the same sample as was analyzed by Bender et al. (1992), which includes giant ellipticals, low-luminosity ellipticals, compact ellipticals, diffuse dwarf ellipticals, dwarf spheroidals, and bulges. It was found that all DHGs follow a single relationship between global stellar population (represented by Mg2 index or B-V color) and central velocity dispersion sigma(0), and that the Mg2-sigma(0) relation is significantly tighter than the relation between the Mg2 index and absolute luminosity. The relation between central Mg2 index and bulk B-V color was also found to be tight.

Bender, Ralf↗
NASA NTRS1992

Dynamically hot galaxies. I - Structural properties

Results are reported from an analysis of the structural properties of dynamically hot galaxies which combines central velocity dispersion, effective surface brightness, and effective radius into a new 3-space (k), in which the axes are parameters that are physically meaningful. Hot galaxies are found to divide into groups in k-space that closely parallel conventional morphological classifications, namely, luminous ellipticals, compacts, bulges, bright dwarfs, and dwarf spheroidals. A major sequence is defined by luminous ellipticals, bulges, and most compacts, which together constitute a smooth continuum in k-space. Several properties vary smoothly with mass along this continuum, including bulge-to-disk ratio, radio properties, rotation, degree of velocity anisotropy, and 'unrelaxed'. A second major sequence is comprised of dwarf ellipticals and dwarf spheroidals. It is suggested that mass loss is a major factor in hot dwarf galaxies, but the dwarf sequence cannot be simply a mass-loss sequence, as it has the wrong direction in k-space.

Bender, Ralf↗
NASA NTRS1992

Hubble Space Telescope Planetary Camera images of R136

Images obtained with the Planetary Camera on the HST is used here to study the stellar population of R136, the core of the 30 Doradus cluster. It is found that R136a, the brightest knot at the center of R136, is indeed a tight cluster of stars containing at least 12 components in a 1 arcsec region. Three of the stars are of the Wolf-Rayet (W-R) type. The brightest stars have luminosities consistent with their being massive O supergiants or W-R stars. The stellar mass density in R136a is at least a million tiems that of the solar neighborhood. In the larger region known as R136, the magnitudes of 214 stars are detected and measured. A color-magnitude diagram shows a range of stars from luminous O supergiants to ZAMS B3 stars. The diagram is very similar to that of stars outside of R136. A surface brightness profile constructed from stellar photometry is best fit by a pure power law.

Campbell, Bel↗