Discovery of a bright quasar without a massive host galaxy

A quasar is thought to be powered by the infall of matter onto a supermassive black hole at the centre of a massive galaxy. Because the optical luminosity of quasars exceeds that of their host galaxy, disentangling the two components can be difficult. This led in the 1990s to the controversial claim of the discovery of 'naked' quasars. Since then, the connection between quasars and galaxies has been well established. Here we report the discovery of a quasar lying at the edge of a gas cloud, whose size is comparable to that of a small galaxy, but whose spectrum shows no evidence for stars. The gas in the cloud is excited by the quasar itself. If a host galaxy is present, it is at least six times fainter than would normally be expected for such a bright quasar. The quasar is interacting dynamically with a neighbouring galaxy, whose gas might be feeding the black hole.     

类星体的特征及其红移

介绍了类星体的发现及主要特征；讨论了类星体的红移，并对类星体无定论的性质以及它与活动星系核的关系作了探讨．     

塞弗特星系NGC5953的形态和表面色指数

用国家天文台昆明站1m光学望远镜和兴隆站2．16m光学望远镜对塞弗特2型活动星系NGC5953进行了B、V、R三色测光观测，着重研究了星系形态、三个光学波段上的表面亮度轮廓和（B-V）、（B—R）表面色指数分布。结果发现，在NGC5953星系核的附近偏北方有一个大小约2kpc、平均光谱型相当于A5的蟹状“蓝区”，该“蓝区”伸展出5条旋臂状结构并分别与5组巨电离氢区成协；在NGC5953与邻近的旋涡星系NGC5954的连接区域存在一个较弱的结构，可能是一个大小约1kpc、绝对星等约-12．75的矮星系；NGC5953表面色指数分布重心相对于巨电离氢区分布重心及星系核存在着约0．5kpc的偏离，这表明了NGC5953／4的相互作用与NGC5953中发生的恒星形成有密切相关。     

Molecular gas in the host galaxy of a quasar at redshift z = 6.42

Observations of molecular hydrogen in quasar host galaxies at high redshifts provide fundamental constraints on galaxy evolution, because it is out of this molecular gas that stars form. Molecular hydrogen is traced by emission from the carbon monoxide molecule, CO; cold H2 itself is generally not observable. Carbon monoxide has been detected in about ten quasar host galaxies with redshifts z > 2; the record-holder is at z = 4.69 (refs 1-3). Here we report CO emission from the quasar SDSS J114816.64 + 525150.3 (refs 5, 6) at z = 6.42. At that redshift, the Universe was only 1/16 of its present age, and the era of cosmic reionization was just ending. The presence of about 2 x 1010 M\circ of H2 in an object at this time demonstrates that molecular gas enriched with heavy elements can be generated rapidly in the youngest galaxies.     

A tidally distorted dwarf galaxy near NGC 4449

NGC 4449 is a nearby Magellanic irregular starburst galaxy with a B-band absolute magnitude of -18 and a prominent, massive, intermediate-age nucleus at a distance from Earth of 3.8?megaparsecs (ref. 3). It is wreathed in an extraordinary neutral hydrogen (H?I) complex, which includes rings, shells and a counter-rotating core, spanning ～90?kiloparsecs (kpc; refs 1, 4). NGC 4449 is relatively isolated, although an interaction with its nearest known companion--the galaxy DDO 125, some 40?kpc to the south--has been proposed as being responsible for the complexity of its H?I structure. Here we report the presence of a dwarf galaxy companion to NGC 4449, namely NGC 4449B. This companion has a V-band absolute magnitude of -13.4 and a half-light radius of 2.7?kpc, with a full extent of around 8?kpc. It is in a transient stage of tidal disruption, similar to that of the Sagittarius dwarf near the Milky Way. NGC 4449B exhibits a striking S-shaped morphology that has been predicted for disrupting galaxies but has hitherto been seen only in a dissolving globular cluster. We also detect an additional arc or disk ripple embedded in a two-component stellar halo, including a component extending twice as far as previously known, to about 20?kpc from the galaxy's centre.     

类星体的多波段观测

在发现类星体的方法中,最有效的４种方法是颜色方法,无缝光谱方法,射电方法和Ｘ射线方法,覆盖的波段为射电波段,光学波段和Ｘ射波段,将４种方法联合在一起,应用于４个ＵＫＳＴ天区。其目的是尽量减少选择效应,建立更完备的类星体巡天体本。从１０２天区开始,已完成了Ｘ射线选和部分光学选的分光观测工作,发现了１颗Ｂ＝１５．１的亮类星本和１个Ｓｅｙｆｅｒｔ星系对,其强Ｘ射线辐射是迄今首次观测到的。     

类星体光谱特征分析

用多普勒红移和引力红移分析类星体的光谱特征及类星体的性质,并对类星体研究的前景作了展望。     

吸积盘的观测效应与类星体的光谱证认

讨论了相对论天体物理中的两个热点问题：黑洞吸积盘的观测效应和类星体光谱证认；对用吸积盘模型给类星体１６０４＋１７９谱线作重新证认进行了探讨     

A gravitationally lensed quasar with quadruple images separated by 14.62 arcseconds

Gravitational lensing is a powerful tool for the study of the distribution of dark matter in the Universe. The cold-dark-matter model of the formation of large-scale structures (that is, clusters of galaxies and even larger assemblies) predicts the existence of quasars gravitationally lensed by concentrations of dark matter so massive that the quasar images would be split by over 7 arcsec. Numerous searches for large-separation lensed quasars have, however, been unsuccessful. All of the roughly 70 lensed quasars known, including the first lensed quasar discovered, have smaller separations that can be explained in terms of galaxy-scale concentrations of baryonic matter. Although gravitationally lensed galaxies with large separations are known, quasars are more useful cosmological probes because of the simplicity of the resulting lens systems. Here we report the discovery of a lensed quasar, SDSS J1004 + 4112, which has a maximum separation between the components of 14.62 arcsec. Such a large separation means that the lensing object must be dominated by dark matter. Our results are fully consistent with theoretical expectations based on the cold-dark-matter model.     

THE JET-DRIVEN BOW SHOCK IN OUTFLOWS

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A large neutral fraction of cosmic hydrogen a billion years after the Big Bang

The fraction of ionized hydrogen left over from the Big Bang provides evidence for the time of formation of the first stars and quasar black holes in the early Universe; such objects provide the high-energy photons necessary to ionize hydrogen. Spectra of the two most distant known quasars show nearly complete absorption of photons with wavelengths shorter than the Lyman alpha transition of neutral hydrogen, indicating that hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) had not been completely ionized at a redshift of z approximately 6.3, about one billion years after the Big Bang. Here we show that the IGM surrounding these quasars had a neutral hydrogen fraction of tens of per cent before the quasar activity started, much higher than the previous lower limits of approximately 0.1 per cent. Our results, when combined with the recent inference of a large cumulative optical depth to electron scattering after cosmological recombination therefore suggest the presence of a second peak in the mean ionization history of the Universe.     

中等亮类星体的光变

研究了极限星等为Ｂ＝１７．６的中等亮类星体样本的光亮。以Ｑ〉３．０作为变的判据，大约有１／３的类本被探测到有光变；     

证认类星体吸收线方法(英文)

提出和完善了一个分析类星体能谱数据的方法.利用该方法,可以发现并测出类星体的吸收线.文章还通过取自Sloan Digital Sky Survey样本的3个类星体的能谱数据,演示了采用该方法证认MgII吸收线的结果     

Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies

In the early Universe, while galaxies were still forming, black holes as massive as a billion solar masses powered quasars. Supermassive black holes are found at the centres of most galaxies today, where their masses are related to the velocity dispersions of stars in their host galaxies and hence to the mass of the central bulge of the galaxy. This suggests a link between the growth of the black holes and their host galaxies, which has indeed been assumed for a number of years. But the origin of the observed relation between black hole mass and stellar velocity dispersion, and its connection with the evolution of galaxies, have remained unclear. Here we report simulations that simultaneously follow star formation and the growth of black holes during galaxy-galaxy collisions. We find that, in addition to generating a burst of star formation, a merger leads to strong inflows that feed gas to the supermassive black hole and thereby power the quasar. The energy released by the quasar expels enough gas to quench both star formation and further black hole growth. This determines the lifetime of the quasar phase (approaching 100 million years) and explains the relationship between the black hole mass and the stellar velocity dispersion.     

A supernova origin for dust in a high-redshift quasar

Interstellar dust plays a crucial role in the evolution of the Universe by assisting the formation of molecules, by triggering the formation of the first low-mass stars, and by absorbing stellar ultraviolet-optical light and subsequently re-emitting it at infrared/millimetre wavelengths. Dust is thought to be produced predominantly in the envelopes of evolved (age >1 Gyr), low-mass stars. This picture has, however, recently been brought into question by the discovery of large masses of dust in the host galaxies of quasars at redshift z > 6, when the age of the Universe was less than 1 Gyr. Theoretical studies, corroborated by observations of nearby supernova remnants, have suggested that supernovae provide a fast and efficient dust formation environment in the early Universe. Here we report infrared observations of a quasar at redshift 6.2, which are used to obtain directly its dust extinction curve. We then show that such a curve is in excellent agreement with supernova dust models. This result demonstrates a supernova origin for dust in this high-redshift quasar, from which we infer that most of the dust at high redshifts probably has the same origin.     

A massive binary black-hole system in OJ 287 and a test of general relativity

Tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity have mostly been carried out in weak gravitational fields where the space-time curvature effects are first-order deviations from Newton's theory. Binary pulsars provide a means of probing the strong gravitational field around a neutron star, but strong-field effects may be best tested in systems containing black holes. Here we report such a test in a close binary system of two candidate black holes in the quasar OJ 287. This quasar shows quasi-periodic optical outbursts at 12-year intervals, with two outburst peaks per interval. The latest outburst occurred in September 2007, within a day of the time predicted by the binary black-hole model and general relativity. The observations confirm the binary nature of the system and also provide evidence for the loss of orbital energy in agreement (within 10 per cent) with the emission of gravitational waves from the system. In the absence of gravitational wave emission the outburst would have happened 20 days later.     

Are some BL Lacs artefacts of gravitational lensing?

WE suggested in 1985 that a significant fraction of BL Lacertae objects, a kind of lineless quasar, seen in nearby galaxies are in fact images, gravitationally lensed and substantially amplified by stars in the nearby galaxy, of background objects, optically violent variable (OVV) quasars at redshifts z > 1 (ref. 1). This hypothesis was made on the basis of certain general similarities between BL Lacs and O Ws, but for two recently observed BL Lacs(2,3) a strong case can be made that the accompanying elliptical galaxy is a foreground object. In addition, we argue that the distribution of BL Lac redshifts is hard to understand without gravitational lensing, unless we happen to be at a very local maximum of the spatial cosmic distribution of BL Lacs. Our analysis also indicates that the galaxies whose stars are likely to act as microlenses will be found in two peaks, one nearby, with redshift 0.05-0.10, and the other near the distant quasar.     

The development of a protoplanetary disk from its natal envelope

Class 0 protostars, the youngest type of young stellar objects, show many signs of rapid development from their initial, spheroidal configurations, and therefore are studied intensively for details of the formation of protoplanetary disks within protostellar envelopes. At millimetre wavelengths, kinematic signatures of collapse have been observed in several such protostars, through observations of molecular lines that probe their outer envelopes. It has been suggested that one or more components of the proto-multiple system NGC 1333-IRAS 4 (refs 1, 2) may display signs of an embedded region that is warmer and denser than the bulk of the envelope. Here we report observations that reveal details of the core on Solar System dimensions. We detect in NGC 1333-IRAS 4B a rich emission spectrum of H2O, at wavelengths 20-37 microm, which indicates an origin in extremely dense, warm gas. We can model the emission as infall from a protostellar envelope onto the surface of a deeply embedded, dense disk, and therefore see the development of a protoplanetary disk. This is the only example of mid-infrared water emission from a sample of 30 class 0 objects, perhaps arising from a favourable orientation; alternatively, this may be an early and short-lived stage in the evolution of a protoplanetary disk.     

SDSS甚高红移类星体MgII吸收线初步证认

文章利用美国SDSS望远镜观测的类星体光谱,在IDL可视化程序平台中进行处理,处理过程包括消光改正、扣除连续谱和铁谱、扣除发射线、认证吸收线等。通过对甚高红移（Zem〉4．7）类星体光谱的分析,证认出281个MgIDλλ2796,2803双线吸收系统。     

类星体3C 273 X射线波段周期特性分析

收集了Ariel V ssI、GINGA、EXOSAT及RXTEX卫星在X射线波段（2-10keV）的观测数据点1059个,获得了类星体3C273从1976年至2008年的历史光变曲线。利用Jurkevich方法及DCF方法计算并分析了类星体3C273的光变周期,结果表明,3C273在X射线波段的光变周期为14.45±0.15年。此外,针对这一光变周期结果,用双黑洞模型对其中心黑洞质量进行了估算和讨论。