TY - JOUR
T1 - Galaxy zoo
T2 - The fundamentally different co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their early- and late-type host galaxies
AU - Schawinski, K.
AU - Urry, C.M.
AU - Virani, S.
AU - Coppi, P.
AU - Cardamone, C.N.
AU - Bamford, S.P.
AU - Treister, E.
AU - Lintott, C.J.
AU - Kaviraj, S.
AU - Sarzi, M.
AU - Keel, W.C.
AU - Masters, K.L.
AU - Nichol, R.C.
AU - Thomas, D.
AU - Ross, N.P.
AU - Andreescu, D.
AU - Murray, P.
AU - Raddick, M.J.
AU - Szalay, A.S.
AU - Vandenberg, J.
AU - Slosar, A.
PY - 2010/1/1
Y1 - 2010/1/1
N2 - We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and visual classifications of morphology from the Galaxy Zoo project to study black hole growth in the nearby universe (z <0.05) and to break down the active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxy population by color, stellar mass, and morphology. We find that the black hole growth at luminosities >10erg s in early- and late-type galaxies is fundamentally different. AGN host galaxies as a population have a broad range of stellar masses (10-10 M ), reside in the green valley of the color-mass diagram and their central black holes have median masses around 10 M . However, by comparing early- and late-type AGN host galaxies to their non-active counterparts, we find several key differences: in early-type galaxies, it is preferentially the galaxies with the least massive black holes that are growing, while in late-type galaxies, it is preferentially the most massive black holes that are growing. The duty cycle of AGNs in early-type galaxies is strongly peaked in the green valley below the low-mass end (10M ) of the red sequence at stellar masses where there is a steady supply of blue cloud progenitors. The duty cycle of AGNs in late-type galaxies on the other hand peaks in massive (10 M ) green and red late-types which generally do not have a corresponding blue cloud population of similar mass. At high-Eddington ratios (L/L >0.1), the only population with a substantial fraction of AGNs are the low-mass green valley early-type galaxies. Finally, the Milky Way likely resides in the "sweet spot" on the color-mass diagram where the AGN duty cycle of late-type galaxies is highest. We discuss the implications of these results for our understanding of the role of AGNs in the evolution of galaxies.
AB - We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and visual classifications of morphology from the Galaxy Zoo project to study black hole growth in the nearby universe (z <0.05) and to break down the active galactic nucleus (AGN) host galaxy population by color, stellar mass, and morphology. We find that the black hole growth at luminosities >10erg s in early- and late-type galaxies is fundamentally different. AGN host galaxies as a population have a broad range of stellar masses (10-10 M ), reside in the green valley of the color-mass diagram and their central black holes have median masses around 10 M . However, by comparing early- and late-type AGN host galaxies to their non-active counterparts, we find several key differences: in early-type galaxies, it is preferentially the galaxies with the least massive black holes that are growing, while in late-type galaxies, it is preferentially the most massive black holes that are growing. The duty cycle of AGNs in early-type galaxies is strongly peaked in the green valley below the low-mass end (10M ) of the red sequence at stellar masses where there is a steady supply of blue cloud progenitors. The duty cycle of AGNs in late-type galaxies on the other hand peaks in massive (10 M ) green and red late-types which generally do not have a corresponding blue cloud population of similar mass. At high-Eddington ratios (L/L >0.1), the only population with a substantial fraction of AGNs are the low-mass green valley early-type galaxies. Finally, the Milky Way likely resides in the "sweet spot" on the color-mass diagram where the AGN duty cycle of late-type galaxies is highest. We discuss the implications of these results for our understanding of the role of AGNs in the evolution of galaxies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77149141785&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/0004-637X/711/1/284
DO - 10.1088/0004-637X/711/1/284
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77149141785
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 711
SP - 284
EP - 302
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
ER -