Related papers: Blazar candidates beyond redshift 4 observed with …
The radio-loud quasar SDSS J114657.79+403708.6 at a redshift z=5.0 is one of the most distant radio-loud objects. The IR-optical luminosity and spectrum suggest that its black hole has a very large mass: M=(5+-1)x 1e9 Msun. The…
The ultraviolet (UV) spectra of 16 blazars (<z> ~1) from the archives of the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph have been analyzed in order to study in a systematic way the properties oftheir broad UV emission lines. We find…
The James Webb Space Telescope will have the power to characterize high-redshift quasars at z>6 with an unprecedented depth and spatial resolution. While the brightest quasars at such redshift (i.e., with bolometric luminosity L_bol> 10^46…
We report the discovery of a radio-loud flat-spectrum QSO at z=5.47 with properties similar to those of the EGRET gamma-ray blazars. This source is the brightest radio QSO at z>5, with a pc-scale radio jet and a black hole mass estimate…
We present results from a survey of 70 radio galaxies (RGs) at redshifts 1<z<5.2 using the PACS and SPIRE on-board Herschel. Combined with existing mid-IR photometry from Spitzer and observations obtained with LABOCA, the SEDs of galaxies…
I discuss two programs to study radio-loud quasars at high (z>4) redshift. Quasars are the most luminous, non-transient objects known and are observed to the earliest cosmic epochs. At lower redshifts, radio-loud quasars are associated with…
4C 71.07 is a high-redshift blazar whose optical radiation is dominated by quasar-like nuclear emission. We here present the results of a spectroscopic monitoring of the source to study its unbeamed properties. We obtained 24 optical…
The cosmic black hole accretion density (BHAD) is critical for our understanding of the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes (BHs). However, at high redshifts ($z>3$), X-ray observations report BHADs significantly ($\sim 10$…
B2 1023+25 is an extremely radio-loud quasar at z=5.3 which was first identified as a likely high-redshift blazar candidate in the SDSS+FIRST quasar catalog. Here we use the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) to investigate its…
We investigate the global properties of the radiation emitted by the accretion disk around Kerr black holes. Using the Kerr blackbody (KERRBB) numerical model, we build an analytic approximation of the disk emission features focusing on the…
Many present-day galaxies are known to harbor supermassive, >10^6 Mo, black holes. These central black holes must have grown through accretion from less massive seeds in the early universe. The molecules CO and H2 can be used to trace this…
The next generation of X-ray telescopes have the potential to detect faint quasars at very high redshift and probe the early growth of massive black holes (BHs). We present modelling of the evolution of the optical and X-ray AGN luminosity…
JWST is discovering star forming `candidate' galaxies with photometric redshifts $z>9$ and little attenuation. We model presumptive massive black holes (MBHs) in such galaxies and find that their unobscured emission is fainter than the…
Context. Although Blazars are a small fraction of the overall AGN population they are expected to be the dominant population of extragalactic sources in the hard X-ray and gamma-ray bands and have been shown to be the largest contaminant of…
Powered by supermassive black holes at their centers, quasars are among the most luminous objects in the Universe, serving as important probes of cosmic history and galaxy evolution. The size of the accretion disc surrounding the black hole…
High-redshift ($z >3$) $\gamma$-ray blazars are rare, but they are crucial for our understanding of jet evolution, $\gamma$-ray production and propagation, and the growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe. A new analysis of…
Studying how the black hole (BH) - (galaxy) bulge mass relation evolves with redshift provides valuable insights into the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. However, obtaining accurate measurement of BH masses…
We assemble a catalogue of 488 spectroscopically confirmed very high ($z\geq5.00$) redshift quasars and report their near- ($ZYJHK_{s}/K$) and mid- (WISE W1234) infrared properties. 97\% of the VH$z$Q sample is detected in one or more NIR…
We constrain the total accreted mass density in supermassive black holes at z>6, inferred via the upper limit derived from the integrated X-ray emission from a sample of photometrically selected galaxy candidates. Studying galaxies obtained…
Context. Blazars are a distinct subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN), known for their fast variability, high polarization, and intense emission across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays. Gamma-ray blazar…