We investigate the use of optical variability to identify and study Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in the GOODS-South field. A sample of 22 mid-infrared power law sources and 102 X-ray sources with optical counterparts in the HST ACS images were selected. Each object is classified with a variability significance value related to the standard deviation of its magnitude in five epochs separated by 45-day intervals. The variability significance is compared to the optical, mid-IR, and X-ray properties of the sources. We find that 26% of all AGN candidates (either X-ray- or mid-IR-selected) are optical variables. The fraction of optical variables increases to 51% when considering sources with soft X-ray band ratios. For the mid-IR AGN candidates which have multiwavelength SEDs, we find optical variability for 64% of those classified with SEDs like Broad Line AGNs. While mostly unobscured AGN appear to have the most significant optical variability, some of the more obscured AGNs are also observed as variables. In particular, we find two mid-IR power law-selected AGN candidates without X-ray emission that display optical variability, confirming their AGN nature.
We studied the X-ray variability of sources detected in the Chandra Deep Field South (Giacconi et al. 2002), nearly all of which are low to moderate z AGN (Tozzi et al. 2001). We find that 45% of the sources with >100 counts exhibit significant variability on timescales ranging from a day up to a year. The fraction of sources found to be variable increases with observed flux, suggesting that >90% of all AGNs possess intrinsic variability. We also find that the fraction of variable sources appears to decrease with increasing intrinsic absorption; a lack of variability in hard, absorbed AGNs cou…
We present angularly resolved spectra of T Tau North and South in the 3 micron water ice feature and K-band. Most of the water ice absorption lies along the line of sight toward T Tau South, confirming that it is viewed through stronger extinction. A decrease in ice-band absorption toward T Tau S between December 1998 and January 2000, significant at the 2 sigma level, was associated with an increase in its near infrared flux. Br gamma emission is detected in T Tau North and South and H_{2} (2.12 micron) emission only toward T Tau South, consistent with previous studies of infrared companions …
I present the results of time-resolved photometry of a selection of central stars of planetary nebulae. The study reveals periodic variability in two of the eight central stars observed, those of NGC 6026 and NGC 6337. The variability matches that expected from a binary system in which a hot primary irradiates a cooler secondary star.
Variability is a property shared by virtually all active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and was adopted as a criterion for their selection using data from multi epoch surveys. Low Luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs) are contaminated by the light of their host galaxies, and cannot therefore be detected by the usual colour techniques. For this reason, their evolution in cosmic time is poorly known. Consistency with the evolution derived from X-ray detected samples has not been clearly established so far, also because the low luminosity population consists of a mixture of different object types. LLAGNs can be dete…
We present the optical and X-ray properties of four clusters recently discovered by the South Pole Telescope (SPT) using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE). The four clusters are located in one of the common survey areas of the southern sky that is also being targeted by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and imaged by the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope. Based on publicly available griz optical images and XMM-Newton and ROSAT X-ray observations we analyse the physical properties of these clusters and obtain photometric redshifts, luminosities, richness and mass estimates. Each cluster contains …
A new population of faint galaxies characterized by an extremely high rate of evolution with redshift up to z~1.5 has recently been discovered by ISO. These sources are likely to contribute significantly to the cosmic far-IR extragalactic background. We have carried out near-infrared VLT-ISAAC spectroscopy of a sample of ISOCAM galaxies from the Hubble Deep Field South. The rest-frame R-band spectral properties of the ISO population resembles that of powerful dust-enshrouded active starburst galaxies.
We present results of intermediate resolution spectroscopy of 131 optical counterparts to 115 ROSAT All-Sky Survey X-ray sources south of the Taurus-Auriga dark cloud complex. These objects have been selected as candidate young stars from a total of 1084 ROSAT sources in a about 300 square degree area. We identify 30 objects as low-mass PMS stars on the basis of the Li 6708 doublet in their spectrum, a signature of their young age. All these stars have a spectral type later than F7 and show spectral characteristics typical of weak-line and post-T Tauri stars. The presence of young objects seve…
The 352 MHz Westerbork In the Southern Hemisphere (WISH) survey is the southern extension of the WENSS, covering 1.60 sr between -9 < DEC < -26 to a limiting flux density of ~18 mJy (5sigma). Due to the very low elevation of the observations, the survey has a much lower resolution in declination than in right ascension (54" x 54"cosec(DEC)). A correlation with the 1.4 GHz NVSS shows that the positional accuracy is less constrained in declination than in right ascension, but there is no significant systematic error. We present a source list containing 73570 sources. We correlate this WISH catal…
We present the first radio observations of a sample of 13 optically and IR bright southern hemisphere classical Be stars made from the Australian Telescope Compact Array at 3.5cm and 6.3cm simultaneously. One star, delta Cen was detected at 3.5cm and a second, mu Cen was also thought to have been detected; further observations of this source are required to confirm this detection. No sources were detected at 6.3cm, although delta Cen was previously detected at this wavelength by other observers at a higher flux than our detection limit. The radio observations show that the spectral energy dist…
We present a study of the intraday variability behaviour of two samples of x-ray selected BL Lac objects, the EMSS and EXOSAT samples consisting of 22 and 11 sources, respectively. In both samples we were able to detect intraday variability in less than 40% of the sources only. The duty cycle (the fraction of time, when a BL Lac object is variable) in x-ray selected BL Lac objects is 0.4 or less. The typical peak-to-peak amplitudes of the variability are 10%. Typical time-scales and an activity parameter for our variable BL Lac objects were inferred from structure function and autocorrelation …
We have obtained single-epoch optical photometry for 201 quasars, taken from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey, which span a wide range in radio loudness. Comparison with the magnitudes of these objects on the POSS-I plates provides by far the largest sample of long-term variability amplitudes for radio-selected quasars yet produced. We find the quasars to be more variable in the blue than in the red band, consistent with work on optically selected samples. The previously noted trend of decreasing variability with increasing optical luminosity applies only to radio-quiet objects. Furthermore, we …
Coordinated observations X-ray+optical observations of two southern X-ray binaries, the black hole candidate XTE J1746-321 and the neutron star accreter Cir X-1 (a `microquasar') are reported. With a photon counting optical photometer on the 1.9m telescope at Sutherland, South Africa and the PCA detector on RXTE, 4h each of simultaneous data were obtained on XTE J1746 and Cir X-1. Cir X-1 showed no X-ray variability at the 2% level, XTE J1746 was variable at 5-7% with a 5Hz QPO. Cross-correlation yielded no correlated signals on either source, to a level of 1%. A problem with a recently publis…
We present followup spectroscopic observations of quasar candidates in the Small Magellanic Cloud selected by Eyer from the OGLE database. Of twelve observed objects identified as "QSO Candidate", five are confirmed quasars, with the emission redshifts ranging from 0.28 to 2.16. Two of those quasars were also recently identified independently in the MACHO database by Geha et al. We discuss the prospects of using variability-based selection technique for quasar searches behind other dense stellar fields. An additional criterion utilizing the color-color diagram should reduce the number of stars…
We explore the nature of the radio emission of X-ray selected AGN by combining deep radio (1.4GHz; 60micro-Jy) and X-ray data with multiwavelength (optical, mid-infrared) observations in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDFS). The fraction of radio detected X-ray sources increases from 9% in the E-CDFS to 14% in the central region of this field, which has deeper X-ray coverage from the 1Ms CDFS. We find evidence that the radio emission of up to 60% of the hard X-ray/radio matched AGN is likely associated with star-formation in the host galaxy. Firstly, the mid-IR (24micron) properties …
We present the first results of the pure parallel near-UV observations with WFPC2 in the Chandra Deep Field South. The main goal is to search for the population of objects that contribute to the rise in the volume-averaged star formation rate at intermediate redshifts (z<1). A total of 34 objects, were identified in the WFPC2 images and their counterparts found in the ACS GOODS images. We use template fitting of the spectral energy distributions to classify the objects and found that 17 are starbursts, 9 are late-type, 2 are early-type galaxies, and 6 are stars; two of the late-types and one o…
We present the first results of a search for the presence of rapid optical variability in a sample of five Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. We find clear evidence of rapid variability for IRAS 13224-3809 with variations occurring on time scales of an hour. However, the results are less conclusive for the other four sources in our sample, Markarian 766, PG 1244+026, PG 1404+226 and Arakelian 564. While there are several instances among these latter objects where there is a hint that variability may be present, IRAS 13224-3809 provides the only conclusive evidence of rapid optical variability det…
We present ROSAT All-Sky Survey and ROSAT pointed observations (PSPC and HRI) of a complete sample of 113 bright soft X-ray AGN selected from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalog. We compare these observations in order to search for extreme cases of flux and spectral X-ray variability - X-ray transient AGN. Three definite transients and one transient candidate are found. The other sources show amplitude variations typically by factors of 2-3 on timescales of years. We found that the variability strength on timescales of days is a function of the steepness of the X-ray spectrum: steeper X-ray object…
The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) has been used at 1.38 and 2.38 GHz to survey seven southern Abell clusters of galaxies with high X-ray luminosities: A2746, A2837, A3126, A3216, A3230, A3827 and A3836. The clusters have also been surveyed at 0.843 GHz with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST). We have listed a complete 1.38-GHz sample of 149 radio sources within the Abell circles centred on their X-ray centroids. We compare their identification fractions, emitted 1.38-GHz and optical powers, radio spectral indices and radial variation in projected source density with…
We present a study of the intraday variability behaviour of a complete sample of radio-selected BL Lac objects taken from the 1 Jy catalogue. In 28 out of 34 BL Lac objects (82\%) we detected intraday variability. 7 objects were observed during several campaigns. None of them changed its variability behaviour. The duty cycle in radio-loud BL Lac objects is very high, i.e. at least 0.8. The typical peak-to-peak amplitudes of the variability were 30\%. By means of structure function and autocorrelation analyses we investigated the typical time-scales of the variability and determined the activit…
The Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS) is a z'-passband imaging survey, consisting of deep (z' ~ 24 AB) observations made from both hemispheres using the CFHT 3.6m and CTIO 4m telescopes. The survey was designed with the primary aim of detecting galaxy clusters at z >~ 1. In tandem with pre-existing 3.6um observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope SWIRE Legacy Survey, SpARCS detects clusters using an infrared adaptation of the two-filter red-sequence cluster technique. The total effective area of the SpARCS cluster survey is 41.9 deg^2. In this paper, we provide …
We present a high quality multiwavelength (from 0.3 to 8.0 micron) catalog of the large and deep area in the GOODS Southern Field covered by the deep near-IR observations obtained with the ESO VLT. The catalog is entirely based on public data: in our analysis, we have included the F435W, F606W, F775W and F850LP ACS images, the JHKs VLT data, the Spitzer data provided by IRAC instrument (3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0 micron), and publicly available U-band data from the 2.2ESO and VLT-VIMOS. We describe in detail the procedures adopted to obtain this multiwavelength catalog. In particular, we developed …
We present a catalogue of previously unpublished optical and infrared photometry for a sample of 162 emission-line objects and shell stars visible from the southern hemisphere. The data were obtained between 1978 and 1997 in the Walraven (WULBV), Johnson/Cousins (UBV(RI)_c) and ESO and SAAO near-infrared (JHKLM) photometric systems. Most of the observed objects are Herbig Ae/Be (HAeBe) stars or HAeBe candidates appearing in the list of HAeBe candidates of Thé et al. (1994), although several B[e] stars, LBVs and T Tauri are also included in our sample. For many of the stars the data presented h…
We have combined multi-wavelength observations of a selected sample of starforming galaxies with galaxy evolution models in order to compare the results obtained for different SFR tracers and to study the effect that the evolution of the starforming regions has on them. We also aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the corrections due to extinction and nuclear activity on the derivation of the SFR. We selected the sample from Chandra data for the well studied region Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) and chose the objects that also have UV and IR data from GALEX and GOODS-Spitzer respectiv…
We report the results of near-infrared VLT-ISAAC spectroscopy of a sample of 12 galaxies at z = 0.4-1.4, drawn from the ISOCAM survey of the Hubble Deep Field South. We find that the rest frame R-band spectra of the ISOCAM galaxies resemble those of powerful dust-enshrouded starbursts. Halpha emission is detected in 11 out of 12 objects down to a flux limit of 7x10^(-17) erg/cm^2/s, corresponding to a luminosity limit of 10^41 erg/s at z = 0.6, (for an Ho = 50 and Omega = 0.3 cosmology). From the Halpha luminosities in these galaxies we derive estimates of the star formation rate in the range …
We measure the star formation rate (SFR) as a function of redshift z up to z \~4.5, based on B, I and (I+B) selected galaxy catalogues from the FORS Deep Field (FDF) and the K-selected catalogue from the GOODS-South field. Distances are computed from spectroscopically calibrated photometric redshifts accurate to (Delta_z / (z_spec+1)) ~0.03 for the FDF and ~0.056 for the GOODS-South field. The SFRs are derived from the luminosities at 1500 Angstroem. We find that the total SFR estimates derived from B, I and I+B catalogues agree very well ($\lsim 0.1$ dex) while the SFR from the K catalogue is…
Spectra, position, magnitudes and colors are presented for 485 faint (B<20.5) emission line objects selected with the ultraviolet-excess (UVX) criterion on a area of 24.6 sq. deg in the South Galactic Pole. The objects were selected from the analysis of pixel-to-pixel stacking of COSMOS scans of UKST U, J and R plates. The candidates were observed with the Meudon-ESO Fiber Optics System (MEFOS) at the ESO 3.6m telescope. 429 type 1 AGNs have been identified (373 in the redshift range 0.3<z<2.2). This sample has allowed the measure of a difference on the QSO clustering evolution in comparison w…
We apply both a traditional `dropout' approach and a photometric redshift estimation technique to the Hubble Deep Field South data. We give a list of dropout selected z$\sim$3 objects, and show their images. We then discuss our photometric redshift estimation technique, demonstrate both its effectiveness and the role played by near-IR data, and then apply it to HDF-S to obtain an estimated redshift distribution.
We present 97 QSO candidates in 48 Galactic Bulge fields of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment II (OGLE-II) covering about 11 square degrees, which are selected via their variability. We extend light curves of variable objects which were detected in 3-year baseline in the OGLE-II variable star catalog to 4th year. We search for objects which are faint (16<I_0<18.5) and slowly variable during 4 years in this catalog by using the variogram/structure function. Finding the QSOs in such stellar-crowded and high extinction fields is challenging, but should be useful for the astrometric ref…
We present the properties of active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected by optical variability in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field (SXDF). Based on the locations of variable components and light curves, 211 optically variable AGN were reliably selected. We made three AGN samples; X-ray detected optically non-variable AGN (XA), X-ray detected optically variable AGN (XVA), and X-ray undetected optically variable AGN (VA). In the VA sample, we found a bimodal distribution of the ratio between the variable component flux and the host flux. One of these two components in the distribution, a class of AGN…
The clustering properties of faint K<24 galaxies are measured in ultradeep J, H and K near-IR images of the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S), obtained with ISAAC at the VLT. A relatively large clustering amplitude is found up to K=24, at a level comparable to the measurements at K~19. The redshift distribution of K<24 galaxies extends to z_phot~4-5, and ~40% of the galaxies are at z_phot>2.At the highest redshifts, 2<z_phot<4, galaxies selected in the rest frame optical (K-band) appear more clustered than those selected in the rest frame UV (i.e. Lyman Break Galaxies, LBGs). Galaxy clustering d…
The long-term variability of a sample of 149 optically selected QSOs in the field of the Selected Area 94 has been studied in the R-band. The relations between variability and luminosity and between variability and redshift have been investigated by means of ``robust'' statistical estimators, allowing to disentangle the effects of the measurement errors. The results are compared with the corresponding properties of the variability in the B-band for the same sample. An anti-correlation between the R-band variability and the intrinsic luminosity is found, analogously to what is observed in the B…
This is the first of two papers in which a study is made of a sample of 12 southern radio-luminous Seyfert galaxies. Our aim is to investigate possible correlations between radio morphology and nuclear/circumnuclear emission-line properties. In this paper we present radio images at 13, 6, and 3 cm taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), global far-infrared (FIR) properties for the whole sample, and optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy of an interesting subset. We find a mixture of radio morphologies, including linear, diffuse and compact sources. When the FIR colors of…
We investigate the spatial clustering of X-ray selected sources in the two deepest X-ray fields to date, namely the 2Msec Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN) and the 1Msec Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS). The projected correlation function w(r_p), measured on scales ~0.2-10 h^-1 Mpc for a sample of 240 sources with spectroscopic redshift in the CDFN and 124 sources in the CDFS at a median redshift of z~0.8, is used to constrain the amplitude and slope of the real space correlation function xi(r)=(r/r0)^-gamma. The clustering signal is detected at high confidence (>~ 7 sigma) in both fields. The am…
We present the results of a near-infrared monitoring programme of a selected sample of stars, initially suspected to be Mira variables and OH/IR stars, covering more than a decade of observations. The objects monitored cover the typical range of IRAS colours shown by O-rich stars on the Asymptotic Giant Branch and show a surprisingly large diversity of variability properties. 16 objects are confirmed as large-amplitude variables. Periods between 360 and 1800 days and typical amplitudes from 1 to 2 magnitudes could be determined for nine of them. In three light curves we find a systematic decre…
We present 47 spectroscopically-confirmed quasars discovered behind the Magellanic Clouds identified via photometric variability in the MACHO database. Thirty-eight quasars lie behind the Large Magellanic Cloud and nine behind the Small Magellanic Cloud, more than tripling the number of quasars previously known in this region. The quasars cover the redshift interval 0.2 < z < 2.8 and apparent mean magnitudes 16.6 < V < 20.1. We discuss the details of quasar candidate selection based on time variability in the MACHO database and present results of spectroscopic follow-up observations. Our follo…
We report on deep multi-color imaging (R_5-sigma = 26) of the Chandra Deep Field South, obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope on La Silla as part of the COMBO-17 survey. As a result we present a catalog of 63501 objects in a field measuring 31.5' x 30' with astrometry and BVR photometry. A sample of 37 variable objects is selected from two-epoch photometry. We try to give interpretations based on color and variation amplitude.
We analyze the counts of low-redshift quasar candidates selected using nine-epoch SDSS imaging data. The co-added catalogs are more than 1 mag deeper than single-epoch SDSS data, and allow the selection of low-redshift quasar candidates using UV-excess and also variability techniques. The counts of selected candidates are robustly determined down to g=21.5. This is about 2 magnitudes deeper than the position of a change in the slope of the counts reported by Boyle et al. (1990, 2000) for a sample selected by UV-excess, and questioned by Hawkins & Veron (1995), who utilized a variability-select…
A new polarimeter called AnyPol has been used at Limber Observatory for four years to annually monitor the broadband linear polarization of a sample of bright northern Be stars. This is the fourth report on a program started in 1985 at McDonald Observatory and the first one to come entirely from the new installation. Although no variability was detected at the 3-sigma level during the current reporting period, analysis of the full 13-year data set is beginning to reveal hints of long-term variability that may provide clues for understanding the Be phenomenon.
We present B and V CCD aperture photometry for a morphologically-selected sample of forty-nine southern, extreme late-type spiral galaxies. All objects are moderate-to-low surface brightness Local Supercluster field galaxies that were detected previously in HI surveys. Our sample features objects that have optical luminosities, optical sizes, and HI masses which are at the low end for spiral galaxies. These objects are not a new class of galaxy, but are examples of a common type of spiral galaxy that has been under-represented in nearby galaxy samples. (Abridged).
In this paper, we report results of our near-infrared (NIR) photometric variability studies of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714. NIR photometric observations spread over 7 nights during our observing run April 2-9, 2007 at 1.8 meter telescope equipped with KASINICS (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute Near Infrared Camera System) and J, H, and Ks filters at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO), South Korea. We searched for intra-day variability, short term variability and color variability in the BL Lac object. We have not detected any genuine intra-day variability in any o…
We present results of VLT/FORS2 spectroscopy of galaxies at z~3 in the Hubble Deep Field-South (HDF-S). A sample of galaxies was drawn from the photo-z catalogue based on the HST/WFPC2 optical images and the deep near-infrared images obtained with VLT/ISAAC as a part of the FIRES project. We selected galaxies with photometric redshift between 2.5 and 4. Most of the selected galaxies are bright in rest-frame UV wavelengths and satisfy color selection criteria of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z~3. The number of target galaxies with I(AB)<25.0 was 15. We identified new 5 firm and 2 probable reds…
