The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes
Context. Galaxies, which often contain ionised gas, sometimes also exhibit a so-called low-ionisation nuclear emission line region (LINER). For 30 years, this was attributed to a central mass-accreting supermassive black hole (more commonly known as active galactic nucleus, AGN) of low luminosity, m...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2013 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/405621 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/405621 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Galaxies: active Galaxies: ISM Galaxies: nuclei Stars: AGB and post-AGB |
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España |
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| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| title |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| spellingShingle |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes Singh, R. Galaxies: active Galaxies: ISM Galaxies: nuclei Stars: AGB and post-AGB |
| title_short |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| title_full |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| title_fullStr |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| title_sort |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holes |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Singh, R. van de Ven, G. Jahnke, K. Lyubenova, M. Falcón-Barroso, Jesús Alves, João Cid Fernandes, R. Galbany, Lluís García-Benito, Rubén Husemann, B. Kennicutt, R. C. Marino, R.A. Márquez, Isabel Masegosa, Josefa Mast, Damián Pasquali, A. Sánchez, S. F. Walcher, J. Wild, V. Wisotzki, L. Ziegler, B. |
| author |
Singh, R. |
| author_facet |
Singh, R. van de Ven, G. Jahnke, K. Lyubenova, M. Falcón-Barroso, Jesús Alves, João Cid Fernandes, R. Galbany, Lluís García-Benito, Rubén Husemann, B. Kennicutt, R. C. Marino, R.A. Márquez, Isabel Masegosa, Josefa Mast, Damián Pasquali, A. Sánchez, S. F. Walcher, J. Wild, V. Wisotzki, L. Ziegler, B. |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
van de Ven, G. Jahnke, K. Lyubenova, M. Falcón-Barroso, Jesús Alves, João Cid Fernandes, R. Galbany, Lluís García-Benito, Rubén Husemann, B. Kennicutt, R. C. Marino, R.A. Márquez, Isabel Masegosa, Josefa Mast, Damián Pasquali, A. Sánchez, S. F. Walcher, J. Wild, V. Wisotzki, L. Ziegler, B. |
| author2_role |
author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
German Research Foundation European Commission Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España) Campus de Excelencia Internacional Moncloa German Centre for Air and Space Travel European Research Council Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72] |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Galaxies: active Galaxies: ISM Galaxies: nuclei Stars: AGB and post-AGB |
| topic |
Galaxies: active Galaxies: ISM Galaxies: nuclei Stars: AGB and post-AGB |
| description |
Context. Galaxies, which often contain ionised gas, sometimes also exhibit a so-called low-ionisation nuclear emission line region (LINER). For 30 years, this was attributed to a central mass-accreting supermassive black hole (more commonly known as active galactic nucleus, AGN) of low luminosity, making LINER galaxies the largest AGN sub-population, which dominate in numbers over higher luminosity Seyfert galaxies and quasars. This, however, poses a serious problem. While the inferred energy balance is plausible, many LINERs clearly do not contain any other independent signatures of an AGN. Aims. Using integral field spectroscopic data from the CALIFA survey, we compare the observed radial surface brightness profiles with what is expected from illumination by an AGN. Methods. Essential for this analysis is a proper extraction of emission lines, especially weak lines, such as Balmer Hβ lines, which are superposed on an absorption trough. To accomplish this, we use the GANDALF code, which simultaneously fits the underlying stellar continuum and emission lines. Results. For 48 galaxies with LINER-like emission, we show that the radial emission-line surface brightness profiles are inconsistent with ionisation by a central point-source and hence cannot be due to an AGN alone. Conclusions. The most probable explanation for the excess LINER-like emission is ionisation by evolved stars during the short but very hot and energetic phase known as post-AGB. This leads us to an entirely new interpretation. Post-AGB stars are ubiquitous and their ionising effect should be potentially observable in every galaxy with the gas present and with stars older than ~1 Gyr unless a stronger radiation field from young hot stars or an AGN outshines them. This means that galaxies with LINER-like emission are not a class defined by a property but rather by the absence of a property. It also explains why LINER emission is observed mostly in massive galaxies with old stars and little star formation. © ESO, 2013. |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2013 2025 2025 |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 Publisher's version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| format |
article |
| status_str |
publishedVersion |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/405621 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/405621 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
Inglés |
| language_invalid_str_mv |
Inglés |
| dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/289313 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN//AYA2010-21322-C03-02 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/306299 http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201322062 Sí |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
| dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
EDP Sciences |
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EDP Sciences |
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reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
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Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
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DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
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DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
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| _version_ |
1869422859297751040 |
| spelling |
The nature of LINER galaxies: Ubiquitous hot old stars and rare accreting black holesSingh, R.van de Ven, G.Jahnke, K.Lyubenova, M.Falcón-Barroso, JesúsAlves, JoãoCid Fernandes, R.Galbany, LluísGarcía-Benito, RubénHusemann, B.Kennicutt, R. C.Marino, R.A.Márquez, IsabelMasegosa, JosefaMast, DamiánPasquali, A.Sánchez, S. F.Walcher, J.Wild, V.Wisotzki, L.Ziegler, B.Galaxies: activeGalaxies: ISMGalaxies: nucleiStars: AGB and post-AGBContext. Galaxies, which often contain ionised gas, sometimes also exhibit a so-called low-ionisation nuclear emission line region (LINER). For 30 years, this was attributed to a central mass-accreting supermassive black hole (more commonly known as active galactic nucleus, AGN) of low luminosity, making LINER galaxies the largest AGN sub-population, which dominate in numbers over higher luminosity Seyfert galaxies and quasars. This, however, poses a serious problem. While the inferred energy balance is plausible, many LINERs clearly do not contain any other independent signatures of an AGN. Aims. Using integral field spectroscopic data from the CALIFA survey, we compare the observed radial surface brightness profiles with what is expected from illumination by an AGN. Methods. Essential for this analysis is a proper extraction of emission lines, especially weak lines, such as Balmer Hβ lines, which are superposed on an absorption trough. To accomplish this, we use the GANDALF code, which simultaneously fits the underlying stellar continuum and emission lines. Results. For 48 galaxies with LINER-like emission, we show that the radial emission-line surface brightness profiles are inconsistent with ionisation by a central point-source and hence cannot be due to an AGN alone. Conclusions. The most probable explanation for the excess LINER-like emission is ionisation by evolved stars during the short but very hot and energetic phase known as post-AGB. This leads us to an entirely new interpretation. Post-AGB stars are ubiquitous and their ionising effect should be potentially observable in every galaxy with the gas present and with stars older than ~1 Gyr unless a stronger radiation field from young hot stars or an AGN outshines them. This means that galaxies with LINER-like emission are not a class defined by a property but rather by the absence of a property. It also explains why LINER emission is observed mostly in massive galaxies with old stars and little star formation. © ESO, 2013.The authors would like to thank all of the CALIFA collaboration for their input, Brent Groves for very useful discussions on ionisation properties, and Remco van den Bosch for his technical and scientific advises. R.S. acknowledges support by the IMPRS for Astronomy & Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg. K.J. is supported by the Emmy Noether-Programme of the German Science Foundation DFG under grant Ja 1114/3-2 and the German Space Agency DLR. G.v.d.V. and J.F.-B. acknowledge the DAGAL network from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union\u2019s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ under REA grant agreement number PITN-GA-2011-289313. J.F.-B. further acknowledges financial support from the Ram\u00F3n y Cajal Program and grant AYA2010-21322-C03-02 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). V.W. acknowledges support from the ERC Starting Grant SEDmorph. R. A. Marino was also funded by the spanish programme of International Campus of Excellence Moncloa (CEI). This study makes uses of the data provided by the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey ( http://califa.caha.es/ ) and is based on observations collected at the Centro Astron\u00F3mico Hispano Alem\u00E1n (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck-Institut f\u00FCr Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrof\u00EDsica de Andaluc\u00EDa (CSIC).Peer reviewedEDP SciencesGerman Research FoundationEuropean CommissionMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (España)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Campus de Excelencia Internacional MoncloaGerman Centre for Air and Space TravelEuropean Research CouncilConsejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202520252013info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/405621reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/289313info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN//AYA2010-21322-C03-02info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/306299http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201322062Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/4056212026-05-22T06:33:51Z |
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15,811543 |