Characterizing the environment of the blazars PG1553+113 and 3C66A from Gemini-GMOS data in the i' and g' bands

TORRES ZAFRA, J.; CELLONE, S. A.; ANDRUCHOW, I.

Florianópolis

Congreso; XIV Latin American Regional IAU Meeting; 2013

IAU

Blazars are active galactic nuclei (AGNs) which, because of their particular orientation with respect to the observer, are characterized by beamed electromagnetic emision from a relativistic jet. It is thus challenging to detect either continuum or line radiation from the nucleus or from the host galaxy; in many cases this prevents the measurement of a spectroscopic redshift. However, the analysis of their environments may give valuable information, considering that galaxies in the blazar´s field could share physical and chemical properties with the host galaxy, besides having a similar redshift. We have thus undertaken a photometric study of the galaxies in the fields of the blazars PG1553+113 and 3C66A, based on g´ and i´ images taken with the GMOS instrument (multi-object spectrograph and camera) at Gemini North 8m telescope. Our goal is to look for concentrations of galaxies around both blazars in order to have a first knowledge of the general characteristics of their immediate environments.