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M. J. Kukula (STScI), R. J. McLure, J. S. Dunlop (U. Edinburgh), C. P. O'Dea, S. A. Baum (STScI), D. H. Hughes (U. Edinburgh)
We present the most recent results of two large HST programs to image the host galaxies of quasars at both low and high redshifts. In our low redshift (0.1 < z < 0.25) sample we find that all quasars with MR < -23.5 occur in massive elliptical galaxies, regardless of their radio luminosity, removing the possibility that radio `loudness' is directly linked to host morphology. Although evidence for mergers and interactions is a common feature in the images, in general the galaxies follow an identical surface-brightness/half-light radius relation to normal massive ellipticals, and their R-K colors are consistent with old stellar populations. We also discuss our results in the light of the black-hole/spheroid mass correlation derived for nearby inactive galaxies by Magorrian et al. (1998) and show how the inferred masses of the galaxies in our quasar sample are consistent with this result.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: kukula@stsci.edu