FR0CAT: a FIRST catalog of FR0 radio galaxies

With the aim of exploring the properties of the class of FR0 radio galaxies, we selected a sample of 108 compact radio sources, called FR0CAT, by combining observations from the NVSS, FIRST, and SDSS surveys. The catalog includes sources with z$\leq 0.05$, with a radio size $\lesssim$ 5 kpc, and with an optical spectrum characteristic of low-excitation galaxies. Their 1.4-GHz radio luminosities range $10^{38} \lesssim \nu L_{1.4} \lesssim 10^{40}$ erg/s. The FR0CAT hosts are mostly (86%) luminous ($-21 \gtrsim M_r \gtrsim -23$) red early-type galaxies with black hole masses $10^8 \lesssim M_{\rm BH} \lesssim 10^9 M_\odot$: similar to the hosts of FRI radio galaxies, but they are on average a factor $\sim$1.6 less massive. The number density of FR0CAT sources is $\sim$5 times higher than that of FRIs, and thus they represent the dominant population of radio sources in the local Universe. Different scenarios are considered to account for the smaller sizes and larger abundance of FR0s with respect to FRIs. An age-size scenario that considers FR0s as young radio galaxies that will all eventually evolve into extended radio sources cannot be reconciled with the large space density of FR0s. However, the radio activity recurrence, with the duration of the active phase covering a wide range of values and with short active periods strongly favored with respect to longer ones, might account for their large density number. Alternatively, the jet properties of FR0s might be intrinsically different from those of the FRIs, the former class having lower bulk Lorentz factors, possibly due to lower black hole spins. Our study indicates that FR0s and FRI/IIs can be interpreted as two extremes of a continuous population of radio sources that is characterized by a broad distribution of sizes and luminosities of their extended radio emission, but shares a single class of host galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication on A&

The effect of supersymmetry breaking in the Mass Varying Neutrinos

We discuss the effect of the supersymmetry breaking on the Mass Varying Neutrinos(MaVaNs) scenario. Especially, the effect mediated by the gravitational interaction between the hidden sector and the dark energy sector is studied. A model including a chiral superfield in the dark sector and the right handed neutrino superfield is proposed. Evolutions of the neutrino mass and the equation of state parameter are presented in the model. It is remarked that only the mass of a sterile neutrino is variable in the case of the vanishing mixing between the left-handed and a sterile neutrino on cosmological time scale. The finite mixing makes the mass of the left-handed neutrino variable.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX4, references added, discussions and figures revise

FRICAT: A FIRST catalog of FRI radio galaxies

We built a catalog of 219 FRI radio galaxies (FRIs), called FRICAT, selected from a published sample and obtained by combining observations from the NVSS, FIRST, and SDSS surveys. We included in the catalog the sources with an edge-darkened radio morphology, redshift $\leq 0.15$, and extending (at the sensitivity of the FIRST images) to a radius $r$ larger than 30 kpc from the center of the host. We also selected an additional sample (sFRICAT) of 14 smaller (10 $<r<$ 30 kpc) FRIs, limiting to $z<0.05$. The hosts of the FRICAT sources are all luminous ($-21 \gtrsim M_r \gtrsim -24$), red early-type galaxies with black hole masses in the range $10^8 \lesssim M_{\rm BH} \lesssim 3\times10^9 M_\odot$; the spectroscopic classification based on the optical emission line ratios indicates that they are all low excitation galaxies. Sources in the FRICAT are then indistinguishable from the FRIs belonging to the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources (3C) on the basis of their optical properties. Conversely, while the 3C-FRIs show a strong positive trend between radio and [OIII] emission line luminosity, these two quantities are unrelated in the FRICAT sources; at a given line luminosity, they show radio luminosities spanning about two orders of magnitude and extending to much lower ratios between radio and line power than 3C-FRIs. Our main conclusion is that the 3C-FRIs just represent the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and diverse population of FRIs.Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, 1 appendix,accepted for publication in A&A, pre-proof versio

New flaring of an ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 1365

We have studied a highly variable ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the Fornax galaxy NGC 1365, with a series of 12 Chandra and XMM-Newton observations between 2002 and 2006. In 2006 April, the source peaked at a luminosity ~ 3 x 10^{40} erg/s in the 0.3-10 keV band (similar to the maximum luminosity found by ASCA in 1995), and declined on an e-folding timescale ~ 3 days. The X-ray spectrum is always dominated by a broad power-law-like component. When the source is seen at X-ray luminosities ~ 10^{40} erg/s, an additional soft thermal component (which we interpret as emission from the accretion disk) contributes ~ 1/4 of the X-ray flux; when the luminosity is higher, ~ 3 x 10^{40} erg/s, the thermal component is not detected and must contribute < 10% of the flux. At the beginning of the decline, ionized absorption is detected around 0.5-2 keV; it is a possible signature of a massive outflow. The power-law is always hard, with a photon index Gamma ~ 1.7 (and even flatter at times), as is generally the case with bright ULXs. We speculate that this source and perhaps most other bright ULXs are in a high/hard state: as the accretion rate increases well above the Eddington limit, more and more power is extracted from the inner region of the inflow through non-radiative channels, and is used to power a Comptonizing corona, jet or wind. The observed thermal component comes from the standard outer disk; the transition radius between outer standard disk and Comptonizing inner region moves further out and to lower disk temperatures as the accretion rate increases. This produces the observed appearance of a large, cool disk. Based on X-ray luminosity and spectral arguments, we suggest that this accreting black hole has a likely mass ~ 50-150 Msun (even without accounting for possible beaming).Comment: 14 pages, to appear in MNRA

The evolution of the spatially-resolved metal abundance in galaxy clusters up to z=1.4

We present the combined analysis of the metal content of 83 objects in the redshift range 0.09-1.39, and spatially-resolved in the 3 bins (0-0.15, 0.15-0.4, >0.4) R500, as obtained with similar analysis using XMM-Newton data in Leccardi & Molendi (2008) and Baldi et al. (2012). We use the pseudo-entropy ratio to separate the Cool-Core (CC) cluster population, where the central gas density tends to be relatively higher, cooler and more metal rich, from the Non-Cool-Core systems. The average, redshift-independent, metal abundance measured in the 3 radial bins decrease moving outwards, with a mean metallicity in the core that is even 3 (two) times higher than the value of 0.16 times the solar abundance in Anders & Grevesse (1989) estimated at r>0.4 R500 in CC (NCC) objects. We find that the values of the emission-weighted metallicity are well-fitted by the relation $Z(z) = Z_0 (1+z)^{-\gamma}$ at given radius. A significant scatter, intrinsic to the observed distribution and of the order of 0.05-0.15, is observed below 0.4 R500. The nominal best-fit value of $\gamma$ is significantly different from zero in the inner cluster regions ($\gamma = 1.6 \pm 0.2$) and in CC clusters only. These results are confirmed also with a bootstrap analysis, which provides a still significant negative evolution in the core of CC systems (P>99.9 per cent). No redshift-evolution is observed when regions above the core (r > 0.15 R500) are considered. A reasonable good fit of both the radial and redshift dependence is provided from the functional form $Z(r,z)=Z_0 (1+(r/0.15 R500)^2)^{-\beta} (1+z)^{-\gamma}$, with $(Z_0, \beta, \gamma) = (0.83 \pm 0.13, 0.55 \pm 0.07, 1.7 \pm 0.6)$ in CC clusters and $(0.39 \pm 0.04, 0.37 \pm 0.15, 0.5 \pm 0.5)$ for NCC systems. Our results represent the most extensive study of the spatially-resolved metal distribution in the cluster plasma as function of redshift.Comment: 5 pages. Research Note accepted for publication in A&

The HST view of the innermost narrow line region

We analyze the properties of the innermost narrow line region in a sample of low-luminosity AGN. We select 33 LINERs (bona fide AGN) and Seyfert galaxies from the optical spectroscopic Palomar survey observed by HST/STIS. We find that in LINERs the [NII] and [OI] lines are broader than the [SII] line and that the [NII]/[SII] flux ratio increases when moving from ground-based to HST spectra. This effect is more pronounced considering the wings of the lines. Our interpretation is that, as a result of superior HST spatial resolution, we isolate a compact region of dense ionized gas in LINERs, located at a typical distance of about 3 pc and with a gas density of about 10$^4$-10$^5$ cm$^{-3}$, which we identify with the outer portion of the intermediate line region (ILR). Instead, we do not observe these kinds of effects in Seyferts; this may be the result of a stronger dilution from the NLR emission, since the HST slit maps a larger region in these sources. Alternatively, we argue that the innermost, higher density component of the ILR is only present in Seyferts, while it is truncated at larger radii because of the presence of the circumnuclear torus. The ILR is only visible in its entirety in LINERs because the obscuring torus is not present in these sources.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, A&A in pres

Emission lines in early-type galaxies: active nuclei or stars?

We selected 27244 nearby, red, giant early-type galaxies (RGEs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). In a large fraction (53%) of their spectra the [O III] emission line is detected, with an equivalent width (EW) distribution strongly clustered around ~0.75 A. The vast majority of those RGEs for which it is possible to derive emission line ratios (amounting to about half of the sample) show values characteristic of LINERs. The close connection between emission lines and stellar continuum points to stellar processes as the most likely source of the bulk of the ionizing photons in RGEs, rather than active nuclei. In particular, the observed EW and optical line ratios are consistent with the predictions of models in which the photoionization comes from to hot evolved stars. Shocks driven by supernovae or stellar ejecta might also contribute to the ionization budget. A minority, ~4%, of the galaxies show emission lines with an equivalent that is width a factor of ~2 greater than the sample median. Only among them are Seyfert-like spectra found. Furthermore, 40% of this subgroup have a radio counterpart, compared to ~6% of the rest of the sample. These characteristics argue in favor of an AGN origin for their emission lines. Emission lines diagnostic diagrams do not reveal a distinction between the AGN subset and the other members of the sample, and consequently they are not a useful tool for establishing the dominant source of the ionizing photons, which is better predicted by the EW of the emission lines.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Deciphering the large-scale environment of radio galaxies in the local Universe: where do they born, grow and die?

The role played by the large-scale environment on the nuclear activity of radio galaxies (RGs), is still not completely understood. Accretion mode, jet power and galaxy evolution are connected with their large-scale environment from tens to hundreds of kpc. Here we present a detailed, statistical, analysis of the large-scale environment for two samples of RGs up to redshifts $z_\mathrm{src}$=0.15. The main advantages of our study, with respect to those already present in the literature, are due to the extremely homogeneous selection criteria of catalogs adopted to perform our investigation. This is also coupled with the use of several clustering algorithms. We performed a direct search of galaxy-rich environments around RGs using them as beacon. To perform this study we also developed a new method that does not appear to suffer by a strong $z_\mathrm{src}$ dependence as other algorithms. We conclude that, despite their radio morphological (FR\,I $vs$ FR\,II) and/or their optical (HERG $vs$ LERG) classification, RGs in the local Universe tend to live in galaxy-rich large-scale environments having similar characteristics and richness. We highlight that the fraction of FR\,Is-LERG, inhabiting galaxy rich environments, appears larger than that of FR\,IIs-LERG. We also found that 5 out of 7 FR\,II-HERGs, with $z_\mathrm{src}\leq$0.11, lie in groups/clusters of galaxies. However, we recognize that, despite the high level of completeness of our catalogs, when restricting to the local Universe, the low number of HERGs ($\sim$10\% of the total FR\,IIs investigated) prevent us to make a strong statistical conclusion about this source class.Comment: 21 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication on the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series - pre-proof versio