Quasar Host Galaxies in the FORS Deep Field
Abstract
(abriged)In this paper we study different properties of quasars and their host galaxies at high redshifts up to z~3.4. We compare our results to those of other authors and discuss the correlation between galaxy evolution and quasar activity. We analysed broad-band images in eight filters (from U to K) of eight quasars in the FORS Deep Field with redshifts between z=0.87 and z=3.37. A fully 2-dimensional decomposition was carried out to detect and resolve the host galaxies. We were able to resolve the host galaxies of two out of eight quasars between z=0.87 and z=2.75. Additionally, two host galaxies were possibly resolved. The resolved low-redshift quasar (z=0.9) was identified as a late type galaxy with a moderate star formation rate of 1.8 Msun/yr hosting a supermassive black hole with a mass of <108Msun. The resolved high redshift host galaxy (z=2.8) shows moderate star formation of 4.4-6.9 Msun/yr, for the black hole mass we found a lower limit of >107Msun. All quasars host supermassive black hole with masses in the range ~107-109Msun. Our findings are well consistent with those of other authors.