The Dusty Young Universe - Infrared and Sub-millimeter Photometry of High Redshift Quasars

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Klaus Winfried Meisenheimer (†)
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2009 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 127037405

• Final Report Year: 2012

Final Report Abstract

Our Herschel Guaranteed Time Key Programme collected far-infrared and sub-millimeter photometry of more than 100 high redshift quasars using the PACS and SPIRE instruments. It aims to validate the indication from detecting many quasars at the highest redshifts (z > 5) in the mid-IR and (sub-) mm wavelength ranges that a substantial amount of dust has been synthesized already during the first billion year after the Big Bang. Complementary mid- and near-IR observations had been collected with Spitzer and from the ground. The unique data set allows us to constrain critical dust properties, such as mid- and far-IR luminosity, dust temperatures and masses. The SPP project carried out two tasks: first, use early observations during the Science Demonstration Phase to sort out the best observing strategy. Second, we analyzed two of the samples in the Key Programme: (1) all 70 z > 5 quasars known at the time of proposal submission, (2) 16 radio loud quasars and galaxies at 3.5 < z < 5. Almost half of the sample (1) is detected in the PACS 100 µm and/or 160 µm bands, while we could secure SPIRE detections at λ ≥ 250 µm only in seven cases. This indicates that the dust emission is dominated by relatively hot AGN-heated dust, whereas dust emission from violent star formation is less frequent.

Publications

• (2009). A kiloparsec-scale hyper-starburst in a quasar host less than 1 gigayear after the Big Bang. Nature, 457(7230), 699-701
  Walter, F., Riechers, D., Cox, P. et al.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07681)
• (2010). Herschel-PACS far-infrared photometry of two z> 4 quasars. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 518, L34
  Leipski, C., Meisenheimer, K., Klaas, U. et al.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201014718)
• (2012): The dust emission of high-redshift quasars. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 372 (1), S. 12037
  Leipski, C., Meisenheimer, K.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/372/1/012037)