Kavli Affiliate: Michael D. Gladders
| First 5 Authors: Michael K Florian, Michael K Florian, , ,
| Summary:
JWST has enabled the discovery of a statistical sample of obscured (type II)
active galactic nuclei (AGN) at cosmic noon. Studies comparing those type II
AGN with type I AGN at that epoch have reinforced the long-standing idea of an
evolutionary link between those classes of objects. Mergers, the idea goes,
disturb the morphologies and angular momentum of galaxies. The disruption of
angular momentum allows material to be funneled toward galactic cores, sparking
AGN activity and potentially also a burst of star-formation. That material
enshrouds the galactic nucleus, leading to a type II AGN. Later, AGN feedback
clears the circumnuclear dust, leading to a transition into a type I AGN, and
also quenches star formation. If this is a common outcome, a class of
intermediate objects should exist. Such objects would be somewhat disturbed and
dusty and sit below the star-forming galaxy main sequence, and their
star-formation histories would show an increase in star-formation at around the
time of the suspected merger. We present new JWST observations of
SDSSJ2222+2745, a strongly lensed AGN at z=2.801. The lensing magnification
enables a detailed study of the host galaxy spanning the rest-ultraviolet
through near infrared. JWST and HST photometry, morphological models, and
models of the host’s spectral energy distribution reveal that SDSSJ2222+2745 is
actively transitioning from a type II to type I AGN. Catching a lensed AGN at
this special evolutionary phase makes SDSSJ2222+2745 a unique laboratory to
study the physical processes involved in the transition and their relationships
to the AGN and the host galaxy at incredible spatial-resolution down to about
20pc at z=2.801.
| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Michael D. Gladders”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3