The Host Galaxy of the Broad Absorption Line QSO PG 1700+518 and Its Ring Galaxy Companion: NICMOS 1.6 Micron Imaging

Abstract

The 1.6 km Near Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer image of the broad absorption line QSO PG 1700]518 clearly resolves the QSO host galaxy and a ringlike companion. The companion is most likely a ring galaxy produced in a collision with the QSO galaxy D5 ] 107 yr ago. The morphology of the PG 1700]518 system is very similar to IRAS 04505 [2958[ (Boyce et al. 1996. Both objects were identiÐed in a sample of eight QSOs selected by "" warm ÏÏ far-IR colors and extreme IR luminosities (Low et al. 1988). All eight QSOs show signs of strong interaction, and the presence of two head-on colliding systems in this sample may suggest that small impact parameters favor the energizing of IRluminous QSOs. Subject headings : galaxies : peculiar È infrared : galaxies È quasars : individual (PG 1700]518)PG 1700]518 is one of the most infrared- Low et al. 1988Low et al. , 1989. It was originally identiÐed in the Palomar-Green Survey (Schmidt & Green 1983) and subsequently found to be one of only B2% of QSOs that show broad absorption lines (BALs) from low-ionization species such as Al III j1860 and Mg II j2800 (Wampler 1985 ;Pettini & Boksenberg 1985 ;Turnshek et al. 1985). Its IR luminosity, warm far-IR colors indicative of dust heated by a QSO UV continuum km) ¹ 3 : 60 Low et al. 198860 Low et al. , 1989, and its polarization properties Schmidt & Hines 1999 ;Schmidt, Hines, & Smith 1997), all suggest a strong connection with the ultra-and hyperluminous infrared galaxies (Sanders et al. 1988a ;Cutri et al. 1994 ;Hines et al. 1995).Previous ground-based optical and near-IR images of PG 1700]518 reveal a slight extension southwest and an arclike feature northeast of the bright point source B2A .5 (Hickson & Hutchings 1987 ;Hutchings, Ne †, & Gower 1992 ;Stickel et al. 1995). The "" E ] A ÏÏ optical spectrum of the arc implies an old population of stars plus an 85 Myr old starburst (Canalizo & Stockton 1997 ;Stockton, Canalizo, & Close 1998), and the small velocity o †set between the arc and the QSO (140 km s~1) suggests that the two are physically associated. Recent ground-based images using adaptive optics have shown that the arc is a discrete companion galaxy (Stockton et al. 1998), but the detailed morphology of this structure is still difficult to determine from ground-based images. In this contribution we present a deep 1.6 km image obtained with the Near Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer (NICMOS) aboard the Hubble Space T elescope (HST ). In the next section we present details of our observations and data reductions that may be useful to other NICMOS programs. We present the observed properties of the companion and QSO host galaxy in°3, and we then brieÑy discuss the signiÐcance of these results for understanding the connection between ultra-and hyperluminous infrared galaxies and QSOs. OBSERVATIONSPG 1700]518 was observed on UT 1997 October 28 through the F160W Ðlter of NICMOS camera 2 (NIC2). A four-position spiral-dither pattern with 50.5 pixel o †sets in the detector coordinate system was...

Luminous Infrared Galaxies. III. Multiple Merger, Extended Massive Star Formation, Galactic Wind, and Nuclear Inflow in NGC 3256

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The host galaxies of luminous radio-quiet quasars

“…Quasar 1700+518 is a bright BAL quasar of low redshift . Such low‐redshift BAL objects are rare and hard to discover, since the broad absorption lines are in the ultraviolet, and consequently quasar 1700+518 has received much interest: specific studies of this quasar have been undertaken in many different wavebands (Hutchings, Neff & Gower 1992; Stockton, Canalizo & Close 1998; Hines et al 1999). Because of the low redshift and the brightness of the quasar, 1700+518 has also been included in many samples of quasars imaged to obtain details of their host galaxies (Neugebauer et al 1985; McLeod & Rieke 1994b), although these have only provided upper limits for the host magnitude.…”

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Understanding the AGN‐Host Connection in Partially Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei. I. The Nature of AGN+HiiComposites

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