TY - JOUR

T1 - HST WFC3/IR observations of active galactic nucleus host galaxies at z∼2

T2 - supermassive black holes grow in disk galaxies

AU - Schawinski, Kevin

AU - Treister, Ezequiel

AU - Urry, C. Megan

AU - Cardamone, Carolin N.

AU - Simmons, Brooke

AU - Yi, Sukyoung K.

PY - 2011/2/1

Y1 - 2011/2/1

N2 - We present the rest-frame optical morphologies of active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxies at 1.5 < z < 3, using near-infrared imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3, the first such study of AGN host galaxies at these redshifts. The AGNs are X-ray-selected from the Chandra Deep Field South and have typical luminosities of 1042 erg s–1<L X < 1044 erg s–1. Accreting black holes in this luminosity and redshift range account for a substantial fraction of the total space density and black hole mass growth over cosmic time; they thus represent an important mode of black hole growth in the universe. We find that the majority (~80%) of the host galaxies of these AGNs have low Sérsic indices indicative of disk-dominated light profiles, suggesting that secular processes govern a significant fraction of the cosmic growth of black holes. That is, many black holes in the present-day universe grew much of their mass in disk-dominated galaxies and not in early-type galaxies or major mergers. The properties of the AGN host galaxies are furthermore indistinguishable from their parent galaxy population and we find no strong evolution in either effective radii or morphological mix between z ~ 2 and z ~ 0.05.

AB - We present the rest-frame optical morphologies of active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxies at 1.5 < z < 3, using near-infrared imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3, the first such study of AGN host galaxies at these redshifts. The AGNs are X-ray-selected from the Chandra Deep Field South and have typical luminosities of 1042 erg s–1<L X < 1044 erg s–1. Accreting black holes in this luminosity and redshift range account for a substantial fraction of the total space density and black hole mass growth over cosmic time; they thus represent an important mode of black hole growth in the universe. We find that the majority (~80%) of the host galaxies of these AGNs have low Sérsic indices indicative of disk-dominated light profiles, suggesting that secular processes govern a significant fraction of the cosmic growth of black holes. That is, many black holes in the present-day universe grew much of their mass in disk-dominated galaxies and not in early-type galaxies or major mergers. The properties of the AGN host galaxies are furthermore indistinguishable from their parent galaxy population and we find no strong evolution in either effective radii or morphological mix between z ~ 2 and z ~ 0.05.

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/727/2/L31

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/727/2/L31

M3 - Journal article

VL - 727

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

SN - 2041-8205

IS - 2

M1 - L31

ER -