The connection between radio-loudness and central surface brightness profiles in optically-selected low-luminosity active galaxies

Abstract

Recent results indicate a correlation between nuclear radio-loudness of active galaxies and their central stellar surface-brightness profiles, in that `core' galaxies (with inner logarithmic slope γ<0.3) are significantly more radio loud than `power-law' galaxies (γ>0.5). This connection, which indicates possible links between radio-loudness and galaxy formation history (e.g. through black hole spin) has so far only been confirmed for a radio-selected sample of galaxies. Furthermore, it has since been shown that the Nuker law, which was used to parameterise the brightness profiles in these studies, gives a poor description of the brightness profile. Here, we present an analysis of the central surface brightness profiles of the active galaxies of Hubble Type T<3, that were identified by the optically-selected Palomar spectroscopic survey of nearby galaxies. We fit the brightness profiles using Sersic, Core-Sersic and, where necessary, Double-Sersic models, which we fit to the semi-major axis brightness profiles extracted from high resolution images of the galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We use these fits to classify the galaxies as `Core', `Sersic' or `Double-Sersic' and compare this classification with the properties of the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). We find that AGN hosted in Core galaxies are generally more radio-loud than those hosted in Sersic galaxies, although there is a large overlap between the two subsamples. The correlation between radio-loudness and brightness profile can partly be explained by a correlation between radio-loudness and black hole mass. Additionally, there is a significant (99 per cent confidence) partial correlation between radio-loudness and the Core/Sersic classification of the host galaxy, which lends support to the previous results based on the radio-selected sample.

16 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (5)

• The ACS Fornax Cluster Survey. II. The Central Brightness Profiles of Early-Type Galaxies: A Characteristic Radius on Nuclear Scales and the Transition from Central Luminosity Deficit to Excess
• A Search for "Dwarf" Seyfert Nuclei. VII. A Catalog of Central Stellar Velocity Dispersions of Nearby Galaxies
• The host galaxy/AGN connection in nearby early-type galaxies. A new view of the origin of the radio-quiet/radio-loud dichotomy?
• HST/WFPC2 imaging of the circumnuclear structure of LLAGNs. I Data and nuclear morphology
• The host galaxy/AGN connection. Brightness profiles of early-type galaxies hosting Seyfert nuclei

Cited by in corpus (30)

• Imfit: A Fast, Flexible New Program for Astronomical Image Fitting
• The (black hole mass)-(host spheroid luminosity) relation at high and low masses, the quadratic growth of black holes, and intermediate-mass black hole candidates
• Black Hole Mass Scaling Relations for Early-Type Galaxies: $M_{BH}$-$M_{\ast ,sph}$ and $M_{BH}$-$M_{\ast ,gal}$
• Galaxy bulges and their massive black holes: a review
• Depleted Galaxy Cores and Dynamical Black Hole Masses
• Depleted cores, multi-component fits, and structural parameter relations for luminous early-type galaxies
• Central Stellar Mass Deficits in the Bulges of Local Lenticular Galaxies, and the Connection with Compact z ~ 1.5 Galaxies
• How frequent are close supermassive binary black holes in powerful jet sources?
• Supermassive black holes and their host spheroids I. Disassembling galaxies
• The ATLAS3D Project -- XXIII. Angular momentum and nuclear surface brightness profiles
• The Fundamental Plane of Black Hole Activity in the Optical Band
• Sizing up Partially-Depleted Galaxy Cores
• A remarkably large depleted core in the Abell 2029 BCG IC 1101
• Formation channels of slowly rotating early-type galaxies
• What sparks the radio-loud phase of nearby quasars?
• The quest for the largest depleted galaxy core: supermassive black hole binaries and stalled in-falling satellites
• Complex central structures suggest complex evolutionary paths for barred S0 galaxies
• Examining the Radio-Loud/Radio-Quiet dichotomy with new Chandra and VLA observations of 13 UGC galaxies
• The nuclear activity and central structure of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5322
• GALFIT-CORSAIR: implementing the core-Sersic model into GALFIT
• Too big to be real? No depleted core in Holm 15A
• Splitting the lentils: Clues to galaxy/black hole coevolution from the discovery of offset relations for non-dusty versus dusty (wet-merger-built) lenticular galaxies in the $M_{\mathrm{bh}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{spheroid}}$ diagram
• Connecting traces of galaxy evolution: the missing core mass -- morphological fine structure relation
• Modelling dust rings in early-type galaxies through a sequence of radiative transfer simulations and 2D image fitting
• A jet-dominated model for a broad-band spectral energy distribution of the nearby low-luminosity active galactic nucleus in M94
• Searching for Nuclear Obscuration in the Infrared Spectra of Nearby FR I Radio Galaxies
• LeMMINGs. VI. Connecting nuclear activity to bulge properties of active and inactive galaxies: radio scaling relations and galaxy environment
• Elliptical (E) and ellicular (ES) galaxies in the M_bh-M_*,sph diagram, and a merger-driven explanation for the origin of ES galaxies, anti-truncated stellar discs in lenticular galaxies, and the Sersicification of E galaxy light profiles
• LeMMINGs. V. Nuclear activity and bulge properties: a detailed multi-component decomposition of $e$-MERLIN Palomar galaxies with $HST$
• The most massive galaxies with large depleted cores: structural parameter relations and black hole masses