Morphologies of AGN host galaxies using HST/ACS in the CDFS-GOODS field

TL;DR

This study uses HST/ACS imaging to analyze the morphologies of AGN host galaxies in the CDFS-GOODS field, revealing that most are bulge-dominated and not undergoing mergers, suggesting alternative fueling mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a detailed morphological analysis of AGN host galaxies using multi-band HST imaging, highlighting their bulge dominance and non-merger-driven fueling.

Findings

Most AGN hosts are bulge-dominated

AGN hosts are not typically merging or interacting

Fueling mechanisms are likely non-merger related

Abstract

Using HST/ACS images in four bands F435W, F606W, F775W and F850LP, we identify optical counterparts to the X-ray sources in the Chandra Deep Field South in the GOODS South field. A detailed study has been made of these sources to study their morphological types. We use methods like decomposition of galaxy luminosity profiles, color maps and visual inspection of 192 galaxies which are identified as possible optical counterparts of Chandra X-ray sources in the CDFS-GOODS field. We find that most moderate luminosity AGN hosts are bulge dominated in the redshift range (z \approx 0.4-1.3), but not merging/interacting galaxies. This implies probable fueling of the moderate luminosity AGN by mechanisms other than those merger driven.