[6.12] Accuracy of Determination of Host Galaxy Morphologies in the GOODS Fields

AAS 201st Meeting, January, 2003
Session 6. The GOODS and Those HEROs
Poster, Monday, January 6, 2003, 9:20am-6:30pm, Exhibit Hall AB

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[6.12] Accuracy of Determination of Host Galaxy Morphologies in the GOODS Fields

E.T. Chatzichristou (Yale University), C.J. Conselice (California Institute of Technology), C.M. Urry (Yale University), A. M. Koekemoer, N. Grogin (Space Telescope Science Institute)

We present realistic simulations of galaxies in the GOODS fields, especially AGN host galaxies, to determine the accuracy with which host galaxy properties can be measured through multi-color HST ACS images. In particular, we study the effect of dilution when galaxies are observed at increasing distance. Spatial resolution might bias the detection of emission from the central source (AGN) or its surrounding star formation regions, and the accuracy with which we can measure the host morphological and structural parameters. In extreme cases, the AGN contribution may completely dominate the total emission coming from a galaxy or on the other hand, a faint/partly obscured AGN can be completely dominated by the host disk emission. We simulate host galaxies of various spectral types and luminosities, to investigate the effects of limited spatial resolution on the observed AGN/starburst/host galaxy dominance and the accuracy with which we can recover the AGN host characteristics, with various fitting routines of these synthetic images.

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