HST Planetary Camera images of quasar host galaxies

doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01617.x

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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

Volume 298 Issue 1, Pages 121 - 130

Published Online: 4 Apr 2002

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HST Planetary Camera images of quasar host galaxies

P. J. Boyce , M. J. Disney , J. C. Blades , A. Boksenberg , P. Crane , J. M. Deharveng , F. D. Macchetto , C. D. Mackay & W. B. Sparks

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wales Cardiff, PO Box 913, Cardiff, CF2 3YB, ² Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA, ³ University of Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, ⁴ European Southern Observatory, Karl Schwarzschild Strasse 2, D–8046 Garching, Germany, ⁵ Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale du CNRS, Traverse du Siphon, Les Trois Lucs, F–13012 Marseille, France

KEYWORDS

galaxies: active • galaxies: interactions • galaxies: nuclei — quasars: general

ABSTRACT

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of seven low-redshift quasars (six taken with the Planetary Camera, one with the Wide Field Camera). These complete the sample of 14 quasars observed by the Faint Object Camera Investigation Definition Team (FOC IDT). Following subtraction of the quasar nuclear light, host galaxies can be seen in all seven cases. A combination of the optical morphology and luminosity profiles of the residual host galaxies and the results of 2D cross-correlation model fitting implies that five of the objects have elliptical host galaxies and two have disc host galaxies. The luminosities vary from slightly fainter than L^* to about 1.3 mag brighter than L^*. We discuss the properties of the complete sample of 14 quasars. Nine of the objects appear to have elliptical host galaxies (all six of the radio-loud quasars in the sample as well as three radio-quiet quasars). Two further radio-quiet quasars appear to lie in disc galaxies. The other three objects (radio-quiet, ultraluminous infrared quasars) all lie in violently interacting systems. The sample as a whole has an average luminosity about 0.8 mag brighter than L^*, although the radio-loud objects have hosts on average 0.7 mag brighter than the radio-quiet objects. We compare our results with those from HST imaging of quasars by other authors. Taken together, our observations are in broad agreement with those of Bahcall et al. Radio-loud quasars appear to lie in luminous elliptical galaxies whereas radio-quiet quasars are found to lie in either elliptical or spiral hosts. Host galaxy luminosities (of radio-quiet and radio-loud quasars) are much brighter than would be expected if they followed a Schechter luminosity function.