Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1999-06-30
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
35 pages including 10 figures; to appear in Nov 10 ApJ
Scientific paper
10.1086/307926
We present ground-based images of the z=1.824 radio galaxy 3C 256 in the standard BVRIJHK filters and an interference filter centered at 8800A, a Hubble Space Telescope image in a filter dominated by Ly-alpha emission (F336W), and spectra covering rest-frame wavelengths from Ly-alpha to [O III] 5007. Together with published polarimetry observations, we use these to decompose the overall spectral energy distribution into nebular continuum emission, scattered quasar light, and stellar emission. The nebular continuum and scattered light together comprise half (one third) of the V-band (K-band) light within a 4-arcsec aperture, and are responsible for the strong alignment between the optical/near-infrared light and the radio emission. The stellar emission is dominated by a population estimated to be 100-200 Myr old (assuming a Salpeter IMF), and formed in a short burst with a peak star formation rate of 1-4x10^3 Msun/yr. The total stellar mass is estimated to be no more than 2x10^{11} Msun, which is far less than other luminous radio galaxies at similar redshifts, and suggests that 3C 256 will undergo further star formation or mergers.
Armus Lee
Chokshi Arati
Dickinson Mark
Djorgovski Stanislav G.
Eisenhardt Peter
No associations
LandOfFree
Young stars and non-stellar emission in the aligned radio galaxy 3C 256 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Young stars and non-stellar emission in the aligned radio galaxy 3C 256, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Young stars and non-stellar emission in the aligned radio galaxy 3C 256 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-544838