Monday, June 25, 2012

1206.5148 (M. Mezcua et al.)

Starbursts and black hole masses in X-shaped radio galaxies: Signatures of a merger event?    [PDF]

M. Mezcua, V. H. Chavushyan, A. P. Lobanov, J. León-Tavares
We present new spectroscopic identifications of 12 X-shaped radio galaxies and use the spectral data to derive starburst histories and masses of the nuclear supermassive black holes in these galaxies. The observations were done with the 2.1-m telescope of the Observatorio Astron\'omico Nacional at San Pedro M\'artir, M\'exico. The new spectroscopic results extend the sample of X-shaped radio galaxies studied with optical spectroscopy. We show that the combined sample of the X-shaped radio galaxies has statistically higher black holes masses and older episodes of star formation than a control sample of canonical double-lobed radio sources with similar redshifts and luminosities. The data reveal enhanced star formation activity in the X-shaped sample at timescales expected in galactic mergers. We discuss the results obtained in the framework of the merger scenario.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.5148

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