Open AccessTwo‐dimensional modelling of optical Hubble Space Telescope and infrared tip–tilt images of quasar host galaxies
Author(s) -
McLure R. J.,
Dunlop J. S.,
Kukula M. J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03731.x
Subject(s) - physics , quasar , astrophysics , galaxy , redshift , astronomy , luminosity , luminous infrared galaxy , population , medicine , environmental health
A description is given of the method used to extract quasar host‐galaxy parameters from the deep Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) quasar images presented by McLure, Dunlop and co‐workers. We then give the results of extensive testing of this technique on a wide range of simulated quasar+host combinations spanning the redshift range of our HST study (0.1< z <0.3). These simulations demonstrate that, when applied to our deep HST images, our method of analysis can easily distinguish the morphological type of a given host galaxy, and determine its scalelength, luminosity, axial ratio and position angle to within an accuracy of a few per cent. We also present new infrared tip–tilt images of four of the most luminous quasars in our HST sample, along with the outcome of modelling these data in a similar manner. The results provide further confidence in the accuracy of the derived host‐galaxy scalelengths, and allow an accurate determination of R − K colours for this subset of sources. All four of these quasar host galaxies have very similar red colours, R − K =2.9±0.2, indicative of a well‐evolved stellar population.