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| Paper: |
H I Imaging of Low-Redshift QSO Host Galaxies |
| Volume: |
240, Gas and Galaxy Evolution: A Conference in Honor of the 20th Anniversary of the VLA |
| Page: |
111 |
| Authors: |
Lim, J.; Ho, P. T. P.; Hua-Ting, C.; Shyang, W.; Wen-Shuo, L. |
| Abstract: |
We present some results from our on-going program to image in atomic hydrogen (HI) gas the host galaxies of all quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) visible from the VLA at redshifts z < 0.07. All the QSO host and/or their companion galaxies so far detected in HI show evidence for tidal disruptions, even when no such disturbances are readily visible in the optical. Contrary to the suggestion that QSOs are activated and/or become visible late in a merger or reside in merger remnants, our images reveal that many are triggered sometime during a close encounter before the (main optical bodies of the) galaxies actually begin to physically merge. In these cases, the tidal forces generated during the interaction presumably force gas into the nuclei of the QSO host galaxies, thereby fueling their pre-existing central supermassive black holes. |
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