| 1. |
- Amati, L., et al.
(author)
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The THESEUS space mission concept : science case, design and expected performances
- 2018
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In: Advances in Space Research. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0273-1177 .- 1879-1948. ; 62:1, s. 191-244
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB and X-ray transient detection over a broad field of view (more than 1 sr) with 0.5-1 arcmin localization, an energy band extending from several MeV down to 0.3 keV and high sensitivity to transient sources in the soft X-ray domain, as well as on-board prompt (few minutes) follow-up with a 0.7 m class IR telescope with both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. THESEUS will be perfectly suited for addressing the main open issues in cosmology such as, e.g., star formation rate and metallicity evolution of the inter-stellar and intra-galactic medium up to redshift similar to 10, signatures of Pop III stars, sources and physics of re-ionization, and the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. In addition, it will provide unprecedented capability to monitor the X-ray variable sky, thus detecting, localizing, and identifying the electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational radiation, which may be routinely detected in the late '20s/early '30s by next generation facilities like aLIGO/ aVirgo, eLISA, KAGRA, and Einstein Telescope. THESEUS will also provide powerful synergies with the next generation of multi-wavelength observatories (e.g., LSST, ELT, SKA, CTA, ATHENA).
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| 2. |
- Vanzella, E., et al.
(author)
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An extremely metal-poor star complex in the reionization era : Approaching Population III stars with JWST
- 2023
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 678
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present JWST/Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) integral field spectroscopy (IFS) of a lensed Population III candidate stellar complex (dubbed Lensed And Pristine 1, LAP1), with a lensing-corrected stellar mass of ≲104 M⊙ and an absolute luminosity of MUV > −11.2 (mUV > 35.6), confirmed at redshift 6.639 ± 0.004. The system is strongly amplified (μ ≳ 100) by straddling a critical line of the Hubble Frontier Field galaxy cluster MACS J0416. Although the stellar continuum is currently not detected in the Hubble and JWST/Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) imaging, arclet-like shapes of Lyman and Balmer lines, Lyα, Hγ, Hβ and Hα are detected with NIRSpec IFS with signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) of approximately 5 − 13 and large equivalent widths (> 300 − 2000 Å), along with a remarkably weak [O III]λλ4959, 5007 at S/N ≃ 4. LAP1 shows a large ionizing photon production efficiency, log(ξion[erg Hz−1]) > 26. From the metallicity indexes R23 = ([O III] + [O II])/Hβ ≲ 0.74 and R3 = ([O III]/Hβ) = 0.55 ± 0.14, we derive an oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H)≲6.3. Intriguingly, the Hα emission is also measured in mirrored subcomponents where no [O III] is detected, providing even more stringent upper limits on the metallicity if in situ star formation is ongoing in this region (12 + log(O/H) < 6). The formal stellar mass limit of the subcomponents would correspond to ∼103 M⊙ or MUV fainter than −10. Alternatively, this metal-free, pure line-emitting region could be the first case of a fluorescing H I gas region induced by transverse escaping ionizing radiation from a nearby star complex. The presence of large equivalent-width hydrogen lines and the deficiency of metal lines in such a small region make LAP1 the most metal-poor star-forming region currently known in the reionization era and a promising site that may host isolated, pristine stars.
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| 3. |
- Vietri, G., et al.
(author)
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SUPER - III. Broad line region properties of AGNs at z ∼ 2
- 2020
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 644
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims. The SINFONI survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback (SUPER) was designed to conduct a blind search for AGN-driven outflows on X-ray-selected AGNs at redshift z similar to 2 with high (similar to 2 kpc) spatial resolution, and to correlate them with the properties of their host galaxy and central black hole. The main aims of this paper are: (a) to derive reliable estimates for the masses of the black holes and accretion rates for the Type-1 AGNs in this survey; and (b) to characterise the properties of the AGN-driven winds in the broad line region (BLR).Methods. We analysed rest-frame optical and UV spectra of 21 Type-1 AGNs. We used H alpha, H beta, and MgII line profiles to estimate the masses of the black holes. We used the blueshift of the CIV line profile to trace the presence of winds in the BLR.Results. We find that the H alpha and H beta line widths are strongly correlated, as is the line continuum luminosity at 5100 angstrom with H alpha line luminosity, resulting in a well-defined correlation between black hole masses estimated from H alpha and H beta. Using these lines, we estimate that the black hole masses for our objects are in the range Log (M-BH/M-circle dot) = 8.4-10.8 and are accreting at lambda (Edd) = 0.04-1.3. Furthermore, we confirm the well-known finding that the CIV line width does not correlate with the Balmer lines and the peak of the line profile is blueshifted with respect to the [OIII]-based systemic redshift. These findings support the idea that the CIV line is tracing outflowing gas in the BLR for which we estimated velocities up to similar to 4700 km s(-1). We confirm the strong dependence of the BLR wind velocity on the UV-to-X-ray continuum slope, the bolometric luminosity, and Eddington ratio. We infer BLR mass outflow rates in the range 0.005-3 M-circle dot yr(-1), revealing a correlation with the bolometric luminosity consistent with that observed for ionised winds in the narrow line region (NLR), and X-ray winds detected in local AGNs, and kinetic power similar to 10(-7)-10(-4)xL(Bol). The coupling efficiencies predicted by AGN-feedback models are much higher than the values reported for the BLR winds in the SUPER sample; although it should be noted that only a fraction of the energy injected by the AGN into the surrounding medium is expected to become kinetic power in the outflow. Finally, we find an anti-correlation between the equivalent width of the [OIII] line and the CIV velocity shift, and a positive correlation between this latter parameter and [OIII] outflow velocity. These findings, for the first time in an unbiased sample of AGNs at z similar to 2, support a scenario where BLR winds are connected to galaxy-scale detected outflows, and are therefore capable of affecting the gas in the NLR located at kiloparsec scale distances.
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| 4. |
- Luo, B., et al.
(author)
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The Chandra Deep Field-South Survey : 7 Ms Source Catalogs
- 2017
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In: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 228:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present X-ray source catalogs for the ≈7 Ms exposure of the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S), which covers a total area of 484.2 arcmin2. Utilizing wavdetect for initial source detection and ACIS Extract for photometric extraction and significance assessment, we create a main source catalog containing 1008 sources that are detected in up to three X-ray bands: 0.5-7.0 keV, 0.5-2.0 keV, and 2-7 keV. A supplementary source catalog is also provided, including 47 lower-significance sources that have bright (Ks ≤ 23) near-infrared counterparts. We identify multiwavelength counterparts for 992 (98.4%) of the main-catalog sources, and we collect redshifts for 986 of these sources, including 653 spectroscopic redshifts and 333 photometric redshifts. Based on the X-ray and multiwavelength properties, we identify 711 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the main-catalog sources. Compared to the previous ≈4 Ms CDF-S catalogs, 291 of the main-catalog sources are new detections. We have achieved unprecedented X-ray sensitivity with average flux limits over the central ≈1 arcmin2 region of ≈1.9 ×10-17, 6.4 ×10-18, and 2.7 ×10-17 erg cm-2 s-1 in the three X-ray bands, respectively. We provide cumulative number-count measurements observing, for the first time, that normal galaxies start to dominate the X-ray source population at the faintest 0.5-2.0 keV flux levels. The highest X-ray source density reaches ≈50,500 deg-2, and 47% ± 4% of these sources are AGNs (≈23,900 deg-2).
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| 5. |
- Kakkad, D., et al.
(author)
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SUPER: II. Spatially resolved ionised gas kinematics and scaling relations in z 2 ∼ AGN host galaxies
- 2020
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 642
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims. The SINFONI survey for Unveiling the Physics and Effect of Radiative feedback (SUPER) aims to trace and characterise ionised gas outflows and their impact on star formation in a statistical sample of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) at z ∼ 2. We present the first SINFONI results for a sample of 21 Type 1 AGN spanning a wide range in bolometric luminosity (log Lbol = 45.4-47.9 erg s-1). The main aims of this paper are to determine the extension of the ionised gas, characterise the occurrence of AGN-driven outflows, and link the properties of such outflows with those of the AGN. Methods. We used adaptive optics-assisted SINFONI observations to trace ionised gas in the extended narrow line region using the [O» III] λ5007 line. We classified a target as hosting an outflow if its non-parametric velocity of the [O» III] line, w80, was larger than 600 km s-1. We studied the presence of extended emission using dedicated point-spread function (PSF) observations, after modelling the PSF from the Balmer lines originating from the broad line region. Results. We detect outflows in all the Type 1 AGN sample based on the w80 value from the integrated spectrum, which is in the range ∼650-2700 km s-1. There is a clear positive correlation between w80 and the AGN bolometric luminosity (> 99% correlation probability), and the black hole mass (98% correlation probability). A comparison of the PSF and the [O» III] radial profile shows that the [O» III] emission is spatially resolved for ∼35% of the Type 1 sample and the outflows show an extension up to ∼6 kpc. The relation between maximum velocity and the bolometric luminosity is consistent with model predictions for shocks from an AGN-driven outflow. The escape fraction of the outflowing gas increases with the AGN luminosity, although for most galaxies, this fraction is less than 10%.
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| 6. |
- Marchesi, S., et al.
(author)
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THE CHANDRA COSMOS LEGACY SURVEY : OPTICAL/IR IDENTIFICATIONS
- 2016
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X. ; 817:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the catalog of optical and infrared counterparts of the Chandra COSMOS-Legacy Survey, a 4.6 Ms Chandra program on the 2.2 deg2 of the COSMOS field, combination of 56 new overlapping observations obtained in Cycle 14 with the previous C-COSMOS survey. In this Paper we report the i, K, and 3.6 μm identifications of the 2273 X-ray point sources detected in the new Cycle 14 observations. We use the likelihood ratio technique to derive the association of optical/infrared (IR) counterparts for 97% of the X-ray sources. We also update the information for the 1743 sources detected in C-COSMOS, using new K and 3.6 μm information not available when the C-COSMOS analysis was performed. The final catalog contains 4016 X-ray sources, 97% of which have an optical/IR counterpart and a photometric redshift, while ≃54% of the sources have a spectroscopic redshift. The full catalog, including spectroscopic and photometric redshifts and optical and X-ray properties described here in detail, is available online. We study several X-ray to optical (X/O) properties: with our large statistics we put better constraints on the X/O flux ratio locus, finding a shift toward faint optical magnitudes in both soft and hard X-ray band. We confirm the existence of a correlation between X/O and the the 2-10 keV luminosity for Type 2 sources. We extend to low luminosities the analysis of the correlation between the fraction of obscured AGNs and the hard band luminosity, finding a different behavior between the optically and X-ray classified obscured fraction.
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| 7. |
- Vito, F., et al.
(author)
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The deepest X-ray view of high-redshift galaxies : Constraints on low-rate black hole accretion
- 2016
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 463:1, s. 348-374
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We exploit the 7 Ms Chandra observations in the Chandra Deep Field-South (CDF-S), the deepest X-ray survey to date, coupled with CANDELS/GOODS-S data, to measure the total X-ray emission arising from 2076 galaxies at 3.5 ≤ z < 6.5. This aim is achieved by stacking the Chandra data at the positions of optically selected galaxies, reaching effective exposure times of ≥109s.We detect significant (>3.7s) X-ray emission from massive galaxies at z ≈ 4. We also report the detection of massive galaxies at z ≈ 5 at a 99.7 per cent confidence level (2.7σ), the highest significance ever obtained for X-ray emission from galaxies at such high redshifts. No significant signal is detected from galaxies at even higher redshifts. The stacking results place constraints on theBHADassociated with the known high-redshift galaxy samples, as well as on the SFRD at high redshift, assuming a range of prescriptions for X-ray emission due to X- ray binaries.We find that the X-ray emission from our sample is likely dominated by processes related to star formation. Our results show that low-rate mass accretion on to SMBHs in individually X-ray-undetected galaxies is negligible, compared with the BHAD measured for samples of X-ray detected AGN, for cosmic SMBH mass assembly at high redshift. We also place, for the first time, constraints on the faint-end of the AGN X-ray luminosity function (logLX ~ 42) at z > 4, with evidence for fairly flat slopes. The implications of all of these findings are discussed in the context of the evolution of the AGN population at high redshift.
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| 8. |
- Vito, F., et al.
(author)
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High-redshift AGN in the Chandra Deep Fields : The obscured fraction and space density of the sub-L* population
- 2018
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 473:2, s. 2378-2406
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigate the population of high-redshift (3≤z < 6) active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected in the two deepest X-ray surveys, the 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South and 2 Ms Chandra Deep Field-North. Their outstanding sensitivity and spectral characterization of faint sources allow us to focus on the sub-L* regime (logLX ≲ 44), poorly sampled by previous works using shallower data, and the obscured population. Taking fully into account the individual photometric-redshift probability distribution functions, the final sample consists of ≈102 X-ray-selected AGN at 3 ≤ z < 6. The fraction of AGN obscured by column densities logNH > 23 is ~0.6-0.8, once incompleteness effects are taken into account, with no strong dependence on redshift or luminosity. We derived the high-redshift AGN number counts down to F0.5-2 keV = 7 × 10-18 erg cm-2 s-1, extending previous results to fainter fluxes, especially at z > 4. We put the tightest constraints to date on the low-luminosity end of AGN luminosity function at high redshift. The space density, in particular, declines at z > 3 at all luminosities, with only a marginally steeper slope for low-luminosity AGN. By comparing the evolution of the AGN and galaxy densities, we suggest that such a decline at high luminosities is mainly driven by the underlying galaxy population, while at low luminosities there are hints of an intrinsic evolution of the parameters driving nuclear activity. Also, the black hole accretion rate density and star formation rate density, which are usually found to evolve similarly at z ≲ 3, appear to diverge at higher redshifts.
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| 9. |
- Comastri, A., et al.
(author)
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The XMM deep survey in the Chandra Deep Field South
- 2017
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In: Astronomical Notes - Astronomische Nachrichten. - : Wiley. - 0004-6337. ; 338:2-3, s. 311-315
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) was observed by XMM-Newton for about 3Ms in many periods over the past decade (2001-2002 and 2008-2009). The main goal of the survey was to obtain good quality X-ray spectroscopy of the active galactic nuclei responsible for the bulk of the X-ray background. We present the scientific highlights of the XMM-Newton survey and briefly discuss the perspectives of future observations to pursue XMM deep survey science with current and forthcoming X-ray facilities.
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| 10. |
- Falocco, Serena, et al.
(author)
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The XMM deep survey in the CDF-S X. X-ray variability of bright sources
- 2017
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 608
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims. We aim to study the variability properties of bright hard X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the redshift range between 0.3 and 1.6 detected in the Chandra Deep Field South (XMM-CDFS) by a long (similar to 3 Ms) XMM observation.& para;& para;Methods. Taking advantage of the good count statistics in the XMM CDFS, we search for flux and spectral variability using the hardness ratio (HR) techniques. We also investigate the spectral variability of different spectral components (photon index of the power law, column density of the local absorber, and reflection intensity). The spectra were merged in six epochs (defined as adjacent observations) and in high and low flux states to understand whether the flux transitions are accompanied by spectral changes.& para;& para;Results. The flux variability is significant in all the sources investigated. The HRs in general are not as variable as the fluxes, in line with previous results on deep fields. Only one source displays a variable HR, anti-correlated with the flux (source 337). The spectral analysis in the available epochs confirms the steeper when brighter trend consistent with Comptonisation models only in this source at 99% confidence level. Finding this trend in one out of seven unabsorbed sources is consistent, within the statistical limits, with the 15% of unabsorbed AGN in previous deep surveys. No significant variability in the column densities, nor in the Compton reflection component, has been detected across the epochs considered. The high and low states display in general different normalisations but consistent spectral properties.& para;& para;Conclusions. X-ray flux fluctuations are ubiquitous in AGN, though in some cases the data quality does not allow for their detection. In general, the significant flux variations are not associated with spectral variability: photon index and column densities are not significantly variable in nine out of the ten AGN over long timescales (from three to six and a half years). Photon index variability is found only in one source (which is steeper when brighter) out of seven unabsorbed AGN. The percentage of spectrally variable objects is consistent, within the limited statistics of sources studied here, with previous deep samples.
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