Related papers: Galaxy interactions are the dominant trigger for l…
We used the Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 near-infrared camera to image the host galaxies of a sample of eleven luminous, dust-reddened quasars at z ~ 2 -- the peak epoch of black hole growth and star formation in the Universe -- to test the…
Luminous type-2 quasars in which the glow from the central black hole is obscured by dust are ideal targets for studying their host galaxies and the quasars' effect on galaxy evolution. Such feedback appears ubiquitous in luminous obscured…
Over the past few years, we have been collecting data with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) on the galaxy environments around active galactic nuclei (AGN). Here we present some results from a sample of 21 radio-loud and 20 radio-quiet…
We analyze the idea that nuclear activity, either AGN or star formation, can be triggered by interactions, studying the percentage of active, HII and quiescent galaxies with companions. Our sample was selected from the Palomar survey, and…
Galaxy mergers represent a fundamental physical process under hierarchical structure formation, but their role in triggering AGNs is still unclear. We aim to investigate the merger-AGN connection using state-of-the-art observations and…
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) significantly influence galaxy evolution. Specific sources such as obscured AGNs, especially Type II quasars (QSO2), still remain understudied. We characterise 366 QSO2 candidates in the redshift desert (median…
We have identified ionized outflows in the narrow line region of all but one SDSS type 2 quasars (QSO2) at z<~0.1 (20/21, detection rate 95%), implying that this is a ubiquitous phenomenon in this object class also at the lowest z. The…
There is an ongoing debate concerning the driver of nuclear activity in galaxies, with AGN either being triggered by major or minor galactic mergers or, alternatively, through secular processes like cooling gas accretion and/or formation of…
We perform a quantitative morphological comparison between the hosts of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and quiescent galaxies at intermediate redshifts (z~0.7). The imaging data are taken from the large HST/ACS mosaics of the GEMS and STAGES…
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are known to exhibit optical/UV variability and most of them can be well modeled by the damped random walks. Physical processes that are not related to the accretion disk, such as tidal disruption events (TDE)…
We present a study of the prevalence and luminosity of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN; traced by optical spectra) as a function of both environment and galaxy interactions. For this study we used a sample of more than 250000 galaxies drawn…
We explore host galaxy properties and environment of a sample of Type 1 and 2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) taken from the COSMOS2015 catalog, within 0.3 $\leq z \leq$ 1.1 selected for their emission in X-rays, optical spectra and SED…
We explore the properties of galaxies in the proximity (within a $\sim$2 Mpc radius sphere) of Type I quasars at 0.1<z<0.35, to check whether and how an active galaxy influences the properties of its neighbors. We further compare these with…
Galaxy mergers and interactions have long been suggested as a significant driver of galaxy evolution. However, the exact extent to which mergers enhance star formation and AGN activity has been challenging to establish observationally. In…
We explore the nature of heavily obscured quasar host galaxies at z~2 using deep Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/IR imaging of 28 Dust Obscured Galaxies (DOGs) to investigate the role of major mergers in driving black hole growth. The high…
We examine the connection between galaxy mergers and the triggering of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using a sample of 614 type 1 AGNs at $z<0.07$, along with a control sample of inactive galaxies matched to the AGNs for comparison. We used…
We present a study of the incidence of active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a sample of major merging systems at 0.3<z<2.5. Galaxies in this merger sample have projected separations between 3 to 15 kpc and are selected from the CANDELS/3D-HST…
We present long-slit spectroscopy, continuum and [OIII]5007 imaging data obtained with the Very Large Telescope and the Gran Telescopio Canarias of the type 2 quasar SDSS J0123+00 at z=0.399. The quasar lies in a complex, gas-rich…
Galaxy mergers are likely to play a role in triggering active galactic nuclei (AGN), but the conditions under which this process occurs are poorly understood. In Paper I, we constructed a sample of spatially offset X-ray AGN that represent…
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are thought to play a critical role in shaping galaxies, but their effect on the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is not well studied. We present results from the COS-AGN survey: 19 quasar sightlines that probe the…