1997/01/23 by Kim K. McLeod, K. K. McLeod, McLeod, K. K.
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Optical Sensing Technologies #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9701185
6 pages, 3 eps figures, Latex+lamuphys.sty, to be published in proceedings of ESO/IAC `Quasar Hosts' conference 24-27 September 1996
arxiv created 1997/01/23 · openalex publication_date 1997/01/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We have obtained deep, near-IR images of nearly 100 host galaxies of nearby quasars and Seyferts. We find the near-IR light to be a good tracer of luminous mass in these galaxies. For the most luminous quasars there is a correlation between the maximum allowed B-band nuclear luminosity and the host galaxy mass, a ``luminosity/host-mass limit''. Comparing our images with images from HST, we find that the hosts of these very luminous quasars are likely early type galaxies, even for radio-quiet objects whose lower-luminosity counterparts traditionally live in spirals. We speculate that the luminosity/host-mass limit represents a physical limit on the size of black hole that can exist in a given galaxy spheroid mass. We discuss the promises of NICMOS for detecting the hosts of luminous quasars.