Increasing observational evidence shows that a non-negligible fraction of the cosmic carbon is locked into macromolecules like Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Interstellar PAHs live in extreme environments where there are processed by energetic photons (UV and X-rays) and by ions and electrons accelerated in hot shocked plasma and arising from cosmic rays. It is therefore important to quantify the capability of PAHs to survive under these extreme conditions and to determine the structural modifications induced by such energetic processing. I will present some novel results on this topic, focusing on the bombardment by ions and electrons in interstellar shocks. This work shows the importance of pairing an appropriate physical description of the interaction between target and projectiles with updated laboratory measurements of the relevant physical parameters. The results from physical modeling allowed to derive updated astronomical lifetimes for PAHs.

We use quantum chemical techniques to model the vibrational spectra of small aromatic molecules on a proton-ordered hexagonal crystalline water ice (XIh) model. We achieve a good agreement with experimental data by accounting for vibrational anharmonicity and correcting the potential energy landscape for known failures of density functional theory. A standard harmonic description of the vibrational spectra only leads to a broad qualitative agreement.

Chondritic meteorites, and especially the most volatile-rich chondrites, the carbonaceous chondrites, preserve a record of the solar protoplanetary disk dust component and how it has been changed both in the disk environment itself and in its asteroidal parent body. Here we review some of the key features of carbonaceous chondrites and report some new data on their organics component. These show that the nebula reached temperature of >10000C, but only very locally, to produce chondrules. Most meteoritic material underwent thermal and/or aqueous processing, but some retain delicate nebular components such as complex organic molecules and amorphous silicates.

A characterisation of the collision properties between icy interstellar grains is crucial to understand planet formation. Here, we measure collision properties on a reference elastic system to evaluate the inelasticity of ice particles collisions. We propose upgrades to correct for some experimental biases and to investigate water evaporation as possible explanation for the energy loss during collision.

We present here the results from a full polarisation study, an important VLBI capability, of a selected set of bright Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), along with the steps required to fully calibrate the Australian Long Baseline Array. We compare strategies for high-precision polarisation measurements using two polarisation correction methods: (1) Linear model and (2) Ellipticity-Orientation model and two data-recording techniques: recording (1) nominally circular polarisation at all stations and (2) mixed polarisation, where all but one station record circular polarisation and the other recorded linear polarisation. The latter is corrected post-correlation. We explored these possible solution to discover which will best accommodate the heterogeneous nature of the Australian Long Baseline Array without impacting on the science results. The targets, all compact and of low polarisation fraction, allow us to compare multiple independent solutions for polarisation characteristics. The results show that the agreement between the two polarisation correction models is excellent. However, the values from Mopra with nominally circular polarisation are larger than would be acceptable. However, we also demonstrate that recording mixed polarisation modes and correcting post-correlation provide a high quality polarisation product. We report on the detailed tests of these strategies and assess that the array is ready for full polarisation operation.

We present independent optical spectroscopic follow-up of WGD2038-4008/GRAL2038-4008, a background quasar strongly lensed by a foreground elliptical galaxy into four images, recently discovered independently by Agnello et al. [2018, MNRAS, 479, 4345] and Krone-Martins et al. [2018, A&A, 616, L11] thanks to the exquisite spatial resolution of Gaia. The quasar images are bright (i ∼ 19 mag), thus enabling us to reach S/N > 20 for the continuum within 30 min of exposure time with the Andalucia Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera spectrograph mounted on the 2.56-m Nordic Optical Telescope. The flexible scheduling and high sensitivity delivered by Andalucia Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera provide timely redshifts and reveal the nature of the quasar images; both are essential for lensing modelling and cosmography. Our analysis shows a strong emission feature in a data gap in Agnello et al. [2018, MNRAS, 479, 4345], which can be attributed to as an interloper emission line feature from the foreground lensing galaxy, or hinting to a higher redshift of the background quasar. We discuss these two scenarios and outline possible tests to verify these scenarios.

We measure the cosmic star formation history out to z = 1.3 using a sample of 918 radio-selected star-forming galaxies within the 2-deg2 COSMOS field. To increase our sample size, we combine 1.4-GHz flux densities from the VLA-COSMOS catalogue with flux densities measured from the VLA-COSMOS radio continuum image at the positions of I < 26.5 galaxies, enabling us to detect 1.4-GHz sources as faint as 40 μJy. We find that radio measurements of the cosmic star formation history are highly dependent on sample completeness and models used to extrapolate the faint end of the radio luminosity function. For our preferred model of the luminosity function, we find the star formation rate density increases from 0.017 M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3 at z ∼ 0.225 to 0.092 M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3 at z ∼ 1.1, which agrees to within 40% of recent UV, IR and 3-GHz measurements of the cosmic star formation history.

This is an introduction to Bayesian inference with a focus on hierarchical models and hyper-parameters. We write primarily for an audience of Bayesian novices, but we hope to provide useful insights for seasoned veterans as well. Examples are drawn from gravitational-wave astronomy, though we endeavour for the presentation to be understandable to a broader audience. We begin with a review of the fundamentals: likelihoods, priors, and posteriors. Next, we discuss Bayesian evidence, Bayes factors, odds ratios, and model selection. From there, we describe how posteriors are estimated using samplers such as Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms and nested sampling. Finally, we generalise the formalism to discuss hyper-parameters and hierarchical models. We include extensive appendices discussing the creation of credible intervals, Gaussian noise, explicit marginalisation, posterior predictive distributions, and selection effects.

We present Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) Integral Field Unit (IFU), Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the inner kpc of the OH Megamaser galaxy IRAS 11506-3851. In this work we discuss the kinematics and excitation of the gas as well as its radio emission. The HST images reveal an isolated spiral galaxy and the combination with the GMOS-IFU flux distributions allowed us to identify a partial ring of star-forming regions surrounding the nucleus with a radius of ≍500 pc. The emission-line ratios and excitation map reveal that the region inside the ring present mixed/transition excitation between those of Starbursts and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), while regions along the ring are excited by Starbursts. We suggest that we are probing a buried or fading AGN that could be both exciting the gas and originating an outflow.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are objects in which a supermassive black hole is fed by gas and, as this generates energy, can ionise the environment and interact with it by jets and winds. This work is focused on the processes of feeding and feedback in the nucleus of NGC 613. This object is a case in which both phenomena can be studied in some detail. The kinematics and morphology of the molecular gas trace the feeding process while the ionization cone, seen in [O iii]λ5007 and soft X-rays, as well as the radio jet and wind/outflows are associated with feedback processes. In addition, we see 10 HII regions, associated with nuclear and circumnuclear young stellar populations, dominant in the optical, that makes the analysis complicated, though more interesting. For all these phenomena, NGC 613 nucleus is a vibrant example of the interplay between the AGN and the host galaxy.

We report the results from our ongoing pilot investigation of the use of deep learning techniques for forecasting the state of turbulent flows onto black holes. Deep neural networks seem to learn well black hole accretion physics and evolve the accretion flow orders of magnitude faster than traditional numerical solvers, while maintaining a reasonable accuracy for a long time.

We summarize here some of the results reviewed recently by Sanchez (2020) comprising the advances in the comprehension of galaxies in the nearby universe based on integral field spectroscopic galaxy surveys. In particular we explore the bimodal distribution of galaxies in terms of the properties of their ionized gas, showing the connection between the star-formation (quenching) process with the presence (absence) of molecular gas and the star-formation efficiency. We show two galaxy examples that illustrates the well known fact that ionization in galaxies (and the processes that produce it), does not happen monolitically at galactic scales. This highlight the importance to explore the spectroscopic properties of galaxies and the evolutionary processes unveiled by them at different spatial scales, from sub-kpc to galaxy wide.

The galaxy Mrk 590 is one of the few known ‘changing-look’ Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) to have transitioned between states twice, having just increased its flux after a period of ˜10 years of low activity. In addition to the increase in flux, the optical broad emission lines have reappeared but show a different profile than what was observed before they disappeared. The gas motions in the host galaxy of this changing-look AGN show outflows and dynamical structures able to drive gas to the nucleus, suggesting an interplay between inflow and outflow in the centre of the galaxy.

We present an update of our ongoing project to characterise the impact of radio jets on the interstellar medium (ISM). This is done by tracing the distribution, kinematics and excitation of the molecular gas at high spatial resolution using ALMA. The radio active galactic nuclei (AGN) studied are in the interesting phase of having a recently born radio jet. In this stage, the plasma jets can have the largest impact on the ISM, as also predicted by state-of-the-art simulations. The two targets we present have quite different ages, allowing us to get snapshots of the effects of radio jets as they grow and evolve. Interestingly, both also host powerful quasar emission, making them ideal for studying the full impact of AGN. The largest mass outflow rate of molecular gas is found in a radio galaxy () hosting a newly born radio jet still in the early phase of emerging from an obscuring cocoon of gas and dust. Although the molecular mass outflow rate is high (few hundred), the outflow is limited to the inner few hundred pc region. In a second object (), the jet is larger (a few kpc) and is in a more advanced evolutionary phase. In this object, the distribution of the molecular gas is reminiscent of what is seen, on larger scales, in cool-core clusters hosting radio galaxies. Interestingly, gas deviating from quiescent kinematics (possibly indicating an outflow) is not very prominent, limited only to the very inner region, and has a low mass outflow rate. Instead, on kpc scales, the radio lobes appear associated with depressions in the distribution of the molecular gas. This suggests that the lobes have broken out from the dense nuclear region. However, the AGN does not appear to be able, at present, to stop the star formation observed in this galaxy. These results support the idea that the effects of the radio source start in the very first phases by producing outflows which, however, tend to be limited to the kpc region. After that, the effects turn into producing large-scale bubbles which could, in the long term, prevent the surrounding gas from cooling. Thus, our results provide a way to characterise the effect of radio jets in different phases of their evolution and in different environments, bridging the studies done for radio galaxies in clusters.

We use Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) Integral Field Unit (IFU) observations of a sample of 5 bright nearby Seyfert galaxies to map their emission-line flux distributions and kinematics at a spatial resolution ranging from 110 to 280 pc. For all galaxies, the gas kinematics show two components: a rotation and an outflow component.

The aim of diagnostic diagrams is to classify galactic nuclei according to their photoionizing source using emission-line ratios, differentiating starburst regions from active galactic nuclei (AGN). However, the three traditional diagnostic diagrams can sometimes be ambiguous with regard to a single object. The main goal of the present work is to propose alternative diagnostic diagrams by using distinct combinations of emission lines ratios. We present these diagrams using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With these new diagrams, it is possible to better distinguish the ionizing source in nuclei of galaxies and also to study the parameters that are relevant when considering both kinds of objects, starbursts and AGN.

Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) on their host galaxies, in the form of gas outflows capable of quenching star formation, is considered a major player in galaxy evolution. However, clear observational evidence of such major impact is still missing; uncertainties in measuring outflow properties might be partly responsible because of their critical role in comparisons with models and in constraining the impact of outflows on galaxies. Here we briefly review the challenges in measuring outflow physical properties and present an overview of outflow studies from high to low redshift. Finally, we present highlights from our MAGNUM survey of nearby AGN with VLT/MUSE, where the high intrinsic spatial resolution (down to ˜ 10 pc) allows us to accurately measure the physical and kinematic properties of ionised gas outflows.

This work focuses on understanding the formation of the first massive, passive galaxies in clusters, as a first step to the development of environmental trends seen at low redshift. Cl J1449 + 0856 is an excellent case to study this - a galaxy cluster at redshift z = 1.99 that already shows evidence of a virialised atmosphere. Here we highlight two recent results: the discovery of merger-driven star formation and highly-excited molecular gas in galaxies at the core of Cl J1449, along with the lowest-mass Sunyaev-Zel’dovich detection to date.

We imaged the galaxy NGC 7020 with Gemini and GMOS-S interference filters centered on the Hα emission line and nearby continuum in order to detect and quantify the HII regions. Among about 200 HII regions, we detected two Hα emitting plumes or arms emerging from the galactic nucleus which, together with the nuclear emission, might indicate a process of feedback from the central region.

Models for massive black holes are a key ingredient for modern cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. The necessity of efficient AGN feedback in these simulations makes it essential to model the formation, growth and evolution of massive black holes, and parameterize these complex processes in a simplified fashion. While the exact formation mechanism is secondary for most galaxy formation purposes, accretion modeling turns out to be crucial. It can be informed by the properties of the high redshift quasars, accreting close to their Eddington limit, by the quasar luminosity function at peak activity and by low-redshift scaling relations. The need for halo-wide feedback implies a feedback-induced reduction of the accretion rate towards low redshift, amplifying the cosmological trend towards lower accretion rates at low redshift.