Asymmetry measures for QSOs and companions
J.B.Hutchings, C. Proulx (HIA)
TL;DR
This paper introduces a new asymmetry index for galaxy images that highlights faint features and is less affected by redshift, revealing interactions around QSOs and their companions.
Contribution
The study develops a novel asymmetry measure and applies it to QSOs and neighboring galaxies, providing evidence of tidal disturbances and interactions.
Findings
QSO host asymmetries correlate with tidal interaction indices
Companion galaxies show higher asymmetry than control galaxies
Asymmetry is inversely related to distance from QSOs
Abstract
An asymmetry index is derived from ellipse-fitting to galaxy images, that gives weight to faint outer features and is not strongly redshift-dependent. These measures are made on a sample of 13 2MASS QSOs and their neighbour galaxies, and a control sample of field galaxies from the same wide-field imaging data. The QSO host galaxy asymmetries correlate well with visual tidal interaction indices previously published. The companion galaxies have somewhat higher asymmetry than the control galaxy sample, and their asymmetry is inversely correlated with distance from the QSO. The distribution of QSO-companion asymmetry indices is different from that for matched control field galaxies at the significance level. We present the data and discuss this evidence for tidal and other disturbances in the vicinity of QSOs.
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