The host galaxies of six nearby QSOs are studied on the basis of high resolution HST optical images and spatially resolved VLT slit spectra. The gas ionization and velocity are mapped as a function of the distance to the central QSO. In the majority of the cases, the QSO significantly contributes to the gas ionization in its whole host galaxy, and sometimes even outside.Reflection or scattering of the QSO Hα line from remote regions of the galaxy is detected in several instances. The line shifts show that, in all cases, the matter responsible for the light reflection moves away from the QSO, likely accelerated by its radiation pressure.The two faintest QSOs reside in spirals, with some signs of a past gravitational perturbation. One of the intermediate luminosity QSOs resides in a massive elliptical containing gas ionized (and probably pushed away) by the QSO radiation. The other medium-power object is found in a spiral galaxy displaying complex velocity structure, with the central QSO moving with respect to the bulge, probably as a result of a galactic collision. The two most powerful objects are involved in violent gravitational interactions and one of them has no detected host.These results suggest that (1) large-scale phenomena, such as galactic collisions, are closely related to the triggering and the feeding of the QSO and (2) once ignited, the QSO has significant influence on its large-scale neighborhood (often the whole host and sometimes further away).

Aims. For Seyfert galaxies, the AGN unification model provides a simple and well-established explanation of the type 1/type 2 dichotomy through orientation-based effects. The generalization of this unification model to the higher luminosity AGNs that quasars are remains a key question. The recent detection of type 2 radio-quiet quasars seems to support such an extension. We propose a further test of this scenario. Methods. On the basis of a compilation of quasar host-galaxy position angles consisting of previously published data and of new measurements performed using HST Archive images, we investigate the possible existence of a correlation between the linear polarization position angle and the host-galaxy/extended emission position angle of quasars. Results. We find that the orientation of the rest-frame UV/blue extended emission is correlated to the direction of the quasar polarization. For type 1 quasars, the polarization is aligned with the extended UV/blue emission, while these two quantities are perpendicular in type 2 objects. This result is independent of the quasar radio loudness. We interpret this (anti-)alignment effect in terms of scattering in a two-component polar+equatorial model that applies to both type 1 and type 2 objects. Moreover, the orientation of the polarization -and then of the UV/blue scattered light-does not appear correlated to the major axis of the stellar component of the host-galaxy measured from near-IR images.

A new method is presented for determining the point spread function (PSF) of images that lack bright and isolated stars. It is based on the same principles as the MCS image deconvolution algorithm. It uses the information contained in all stellar images to achieve the double task of reconstructing the PSFs for single or multiple exposures of the same field and to extract the photometry of all point sources in the field of view. The use of the full information available allows us to construct an accurate PSF. The possibility to simultaneously consider several exposures makes it well suited to the measurement of the light curves of blended point sources from data that would be very difficult or even impossible to analyse with traditional PSF fitting techniques. The potential of the method for the analysis of ground-based and space-based data is tested on artificial images and illustrated by several examples, including HST/NICMOS images of a lensed quasar and VLT/ISAAC images of a faint blended Mira star in the halo of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 (Cen A).

We analyse a sample of 69 quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) which have been randomly selected in a complete sample of 104 QSOs (R ≤ 18, 0.142 < z < 0.198, δ < 10 • ). 60 have been observed with the NTT/SUSI2 at La Silla, through two filters in the optical band (WB 655 and V 812), and the remaining nine are taken from archive data bases. The filter V 812 contains the redshifted Hβ and forbidden [O III] emission lines, while WB 655 covers a spectral region devoid of emission lines, thus measuring the QSO and stellar continua. The contributions of the QSO and the host are separated thanks to the MCS deconvolution algorithm, allowing a morphological classification of the host, and the computation of several parameters such as the host and nucleus absolute V magnitude, distance between the luminosity centre of the host and the QSO and colour of the host and nucleus. We define a new asymmetry coefficient, independent of any galaxy models and well suited for QSO host studies. The main results from this study are (i) 25 per cent of the total number of QSO hosts are spirals, 51 per cent are ellipticals and 60 per cent show signs of interaction, (ii) highly asymmetric systems tend to have a higher gas ionization level and (iii) elliptical hosts contain a substantial amount of ionized gas and some show off-nuclear activity. These results agree with hierarchical models merger driven evolution.

The quasi-stellar object (QSO) HE 0450−2958 was brought to the front scene by the nondetection of its host galaxy and strong upper limits on the latter's luminosity. The QSO is also a powerful infrared emitter, in gravitational interaction with a strongly distorted ultraluminous infrared companion galaxy. We investigate the properties of the companion galaxy, through new near-and mid-infrared observations of the system obtained with Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) onboard Hubble Space Telescope, Infrared Spectrometer and Array Camera (ISAAC) and Very Large Telescope Imager and Spectrometer in the Infrared (VISIR) on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. The companion galaxy is found to harbour a point source revealed only in the infrared, in what appears as a hole or dark patch in the optical images. Various hypotheses on the nature of this point source are analysed and it is found that the only plausible one is that it is a strongly reddened active galactic nucleus hidden behind a thick dust cloud. The hypothesis that the QSO supermassive black hole might have been ejected from the companion galaxy in the course of a galactic collision involving three-body black holes interaction is also reviewed, on the basis of this new insight on a definitely complex system.