High Redshift Radio Galaxies: Laboratories for Massive Galaxy and Cluster Formation in the Early Universe
Abstract
High redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs, z > 2) are among the largest, most luminous, most massive, and most beautiful objects in the Universe. They are generally identified from their radio emission, thought to be powered by accretion of matter onto supermassive black holes in the nuclei of their host galaxies. Further observations show that they are energetic sources of radiation throughout most of the electromagnetic spectrum. Figure 1 shows the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a typical HzRG from radio to X-ray wavelengths, together with a decomposition into various observable HzRG constituents - relativistic plasma, gas and dust, stars and the active galactic nuclei (AGN). In a recent review article Miley & de Breuck (9) present an extensive analysis of the properties and implications of HzRGs, including a detailed description of the major emitting components which provide important diagnostics about various physical constituents of the early Universe. A list of known HzRG building blocks is given in Table 1, together with a summary of techniques used to study them. Also included are a list of the resultant diagnostics, some useful references (see Miley & De Breuck), and our best estimate for the typical mass of the component in HzRGs. As can be seen in Table 1, several constituents of HzRGs are inferred to be extremely massive, including old stars (up to ~ 10(12) M.), hot gas (up to ~10(12) M.) and molecular gas (up to 1011 M?).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA520904
Entities
People
- Avi J. Cohen
- C. Carilli
- C. De Breuck
- G. Taylor
- Galen P. Miley
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory