NICMOS observations of low-redshift quasar host galaxies

We have obtained Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer images of 16 radio-quiet quasars observed as part of a project to investigate the "luminosity/host-mass limit." The limit results were presented in a paper b y McLeod, Rieke, & Storrie-Lombardi. In this paper, we present the images t hemselves, along with one- and two-dimensional analyses of the host galaxy properties. We find that our model-independent one-dimensional technique is reliable for use on ground-based data at low redshifts; that many radio-qu iet quasars live in de Vaucouleurs-law hosts, although some of the techniqu es used to determine host type are questionable; that complex structure is found in many of the hosts, but that there are some hosts that are very smo oth and symmetric; and that the nuclei radiate at similar to2%-20% of the E ddington rate based on the assumption that all galaxies have central black holes with a constant mass fraction of 0.6%. Despite targeting hard-to-reso lve hosts, we have failed to find any that imply super-Eddington accretion rates.