Spatially Resolved Gas Kinematics within a Ly$\alpha$ Nebula: Evidence for Large-scale Rotation

Abstract

We use spatially extended measurements of Ly$\alpha$ as well as less optically thick emission lines from an $\approx$80 kpc Ly$\alpha$ nebula at $z\approx 1.67$ to assess the role of resonant scattering and to disentangle kinematic signatures from Ly$\alpha$ radiative transfer effects. We find that the Ly$\alpha$, CIV, HeII, and CIII] emission lines all tell a similar story in this system, and that the kinematics are broadly consistent with large-scale rotation. First, the observed surface brightness profiles are similar in extent in all four lines, strongly favoring a picture in which the Ly$\alpha$ photons are produced in situ instead of being resonantly scattered from a central source. Second, we see low kinematic offsets between Ly$\alpha$ and the less optically thick HeII line ($\sim$100-200 km s${}^{-1}$), providing further support for the argument that the Ly$\alpha$ and other emission lines are all being produced within the spatially extended gas. Finally, the full velocity field of the system shows coherent velocity shear in all emission lines: $\approx$500 km s${}^{-1}$ over the central $\approx$50 kpc of the nebula. The kinematic profiles are broadly consistent with large-scale rotation in a gas disk that is at least partially stable against collapse. These observations suggest that the Ly$\alpha$ nebula represents accreting material that is illuminated by an offset, hidden AGN or distributed star formation, and that is undergoing rotation in a clumpy and turbulent gas disk. With an implied mass of M(<R=20 kpc)$\sim 3\times 10^{11}$ $M_{\odot }$, this system may represent the early formation of a large Milky Way mass galaxy or galaxy group.

arXiv commentAccepted to ApJ; 25 pages in emulateapj format; 15 figures, 4 tables

References in corpus (63)

• Atomic Data for Astrophysics. II. New Analytic Fits for Photoionization Cross Sections of Atoms and Ions
• The SINS survey: SINFONI Integral Field Spectroscopy of z ~ 2 Star-forming Galaxies
• The Structure and Kinematics of the Circum-Galactic Medium from Far-UV Spectra of z~2-3 Galaxies
• Lyman Alpha Imaging of a Proto-Cluster Region at <z>=3.09
• 3D Lyman-alpha radiation transfer. I. Understanding Lyman-alpha line profile morphologies
• Diffuse Lyman Alpha Emitting Halos: A Generic Property of High Redshift Star Forming Galaxies
• A Subaru Search for Ly-alpha Blobs in and around the Proto-cluster Region at Redshift z=3.1
• Lyman Alpha Radiation From Collapsing Protogalaxies I: Characteristics of the Emergent Spectrum
• Cooling Radiation and the Lyman-alpha Luminosity of Forming Galaxies
• Natural Downsizing in Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• Lyman Alpha Radiative Transfer in a Multi-Phase Medium
• The SINS/zC-SINF survey of z~2 galaxy kinematics: Outflow properties
• Lyman Alpha Cooling Radiation from High-Redshift Halos
• Lyman-alpha Cooling Emission from Galaxy Formation
• Extended Lyman-alpha emission from cold accretion streams
• Fluorescent Ly-alpha emission from the high-redshift intergalactic medium
• The SINS/zC-SINF survey of z~2 galaxy kinematics: evidence for gravitational quenching
• Lyman Alpha Blobs as an Observational Signature of Cold Accretion Streams into Galaxies
• Orbiting Circum-galactic Gas as a Signature of Cosmological Accretion
• Gravity-driven Lyman-alpha blobs from cold streams into galaxies
• Superwind model of extended Lyman alpha emitters at high redshift
• Angular Momentum Acquisition in Galaxy Halos
• Discovery of a Large ~200 kpc Gaseous Nebula at z=2.7 with the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Lyman-alpha Emission From Cosmic Structure I: Fluorescence
• The Chandra Deep Protocluster Survey: Ly-alpha Blobs are powered by heating, not cooling
• Large-scale Filamentary Structure around the Protocluster at Redshift z=3.1
• Gas Motion Study of Lya Emitters at z~2 Using UV and Optical Spectral Lines
• A Group of Galaxies at Redshift 2.38
• Extended Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z ~ 2.3: An Extremely Rare and Strongly Clustered Population?
• The Subaru Ly-alpha blob survey: A sample of 100 kpc Ly-alpha blobs at z=3
• First spectroscopic measurements of [OIII] emission from Lyman-alpha selected field galaxies at z ~ 3.1
• On the (non-)enhancement of the Lyman α equivalent width by a multiphase interstellar medium
• Sub-mm imaging of a proto-cluster region at z=3.09
• Central Powering of the Largest Lyman-alpha Nebula is Revealed by Polarized Radiation
• Lyman alpha Radiative Transfer in Cosmological Simulations using Adaptive Mesh Refinement
• Extended Lyman-Alpha Emission around Star-forming Galaxies
• The HETDEX Pilot Survey V: The Physical Origin of Lyman-alpha Emitters Probed by Near-infrared Spectroscopy
• Further multiwavelength observations of the SSA22 Ly_alpha emitting `blob'
• Lyman-alpha line and continuum radiative transfer in a clumpy interstellar medium
• Systematic Survey of Extended Lyman-alpha Sources over z~3-5
• The Overdense Environment of a Large Lyman-alpha Nebula at z~2.7
• Strong Field-to-Field Variation of Lyman alpha Nebulae Populations at z~2.3
• The Nature of Lya Blobs: Supernova-Dominated Primordial Galaxies
• The Discovery of a Large Lyman-alpha+HeII Nebula at z~1.67: A Candidate Low Metallicity Region?
• Probing Galaxy Formation with He II Cooling Lines
• IGM Emission Observations with the Cosmic Web Imager: II. Discovery of Extended, Kinematically-Linked Emission around SSA22 Lyman-alpha Blob 2
• Filamentary Large Scale Structure Traced by Six Ly-alpha Blobs at z=2.3
• Resolving the optical emission lines of Lya blob 'B1' at z=2.38: another hidden quasar
• X-Ray Detection of an Obscured Active Galactic Nucleus in a z=3.09 Radio-quiet Ly-alpha Nebula
• Resolving the Galaxies within a Giant Lya Nebula: Witnessing the Formation of a Galaxy Group?
• Lyman-alpha Blobs Like Company : The Discovery of A Candidate 100 kpc Lyman-alpha Blob Near to A Radio Galaxy with A Giant Lyman-alpha halo, B3 J2330+3927 at z=3.1
• Spitzer observations of extended Lyman-alpha Clouds in the SSA22 field
• On the Origin of Lyman$\alpha$ Blobs at High Redshift: Submillimetric Evidence for a Hyperwind Galaxy at z=3.1
• Nature of Lyman Alpha Blobs: Powered by Extreme Starbursts
• The Properties of Lyman Alpha Nebulae: Gas Kinematics from Non-resonant Lines
• Kinematics of Gas in Lyman Alpha Nebulae
• A Successful Broad-band Survey for Giant Lya Nebulae II: Spectroscopic Confirmation
• A Successful Broad-band Survey for Giant Lya Nebulae I: Survey Design and Candidate Selection
• Magellan/MMIRS near-infrared multi-object spectroscopy of nebular emission from star forming galaxies at 2<z<3
• Constraining Dust and Molecular Gas Properties in Lyman Alpha Blobs at z~3
• The Line Polarization Within a Giant Lyman-alpha Nebula
• Pinpointing the Molecular Gas within a Lyman Alpha Blob at z ~ 2.7
• [OIII] Emission and Gas Kinematics in a Lyman-alpha Blob at z ~ 3.1

Cited by in corpus (48)

• The Circumgalactic Medium
• The realm of the galaxy protoclusters
• Ubiquitous giant Ly $\alpha$ nebulae around the brightest quasars at $z\sim 3.5$ revealed with MUSE
• A Characteristic Scale for Cold Gas
• Quasar Quartet Embedded in Giant Nebula Reveals Rare Massive Structure in Distant Universe
• Observations of the Lyman-$\alpha$ Universe
• A massive, dead disk galaxy in the early Universe
• The large and small scale properties of the intergalactic gas in the Slug Ly-alpha nebula revealed by MUSE HeII emission observations
• Inspiraling Halo Accretion Mapped in Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission around a $z\sim 3$ Quasar
• High Angular Momentum Halo Gas: a Feedback and Code-Independent Prediction of LCDM
• Hiding in plain sight: An abundance of compact massive spheroids in the local Universe
• Deep HeII and CIV Spectroscopy of a Giant Lyman alpha Nebula: Dense Compact Gas Clumps in the Circumgalactic Medium of a z~2 Quasar
• Illuminating gas in-/outflows in the MUSE deepest fields: discovery of Ly-alpha nebulae around forming galaxies at z~3.3
• The Kinematics of Extended Lyman-alpha Emission in a Low Mass, Low Metallicity Galaxy at z = 2.3
• AGN-driven outflows and the formation of Ly$\alpha$ nebulae around high-z quasars
• SILVERRUSH. II. First Catalogs and Properties of ~2,000 Lya Emitters and Blobs at z~6-7 Identified over the 14-21 deg2 Sky
• The Lyman alpha reference sample: IV. Morphology at low and high redshift
• A Deep Narrowband Imaging Search for CIV and He II Emission from Ly$\alpha$ Blobs
• Spectral variations of Lyman-alpha emission within strongly lensed sources observed with MUSE
• Discovery of a Proto-cluster Associated with a Ly-$\alpha$ Blob Pair at z=2.3
• Gas Accretion and Giant Lyman-alpha Nebulae
• Deciphering Lyman $\alpha$ blob 1 with deep MUSE observations
• The Angular Momentum of the Circumgalactic Medium in the TNG100 Simulation
• From large-scale environment to CGM angular momentum to star forming activities -- I: star-forming galaxies
• Rivers of Gas I.: Unveiling The Properties of High Redshift Filaments
• Flows around galaxies. I. The dependency of galaxy connectivity on cosmic environments and effects on the star-formation rate
• A giant Ly$\alpha$ nebula and a small-scale clumpy outflow in the system of the exotic quasar J0952+0114 unveiled by MUSE
• The Detection of Intergalactic Halpha Emission from the Slug Nebula at z~2.3
• Probing the Inner Circumgalactic Medium and Quasar Illumination around the Reddest `Extremely Red Quasar' (ERQ)
• A Multiwavelength Study of ELAN Environments (AMUSE${}^2$). Mass budget, satellites spin alignment and gas infall in a massive $z\sim 3$ quasar host halo
• Mapping the Morphology and Kinematics of a Lyman-alpha-selected Nebula at z=3.15 with MUSE
• ALMA and MUSE observations reveal a quiescent multi-phase circumgalactic medium around the z~3.6 radio galaxy 4C 19.71
• 3D tomography of the giant Ly$\alpha$ nebulae of $z$$\approx$3--5 radio-loud AGN
• APEX at the QSO MUSEUM: molecular gas reservoirs associated with $z\sim$3 quasars and their link to the extended Ly$\alpha$ emission
• Modeling Photoionized Turbulent Material in the Circumgalactic Medium II: Effect of Turbulence within a Stratified Medium
• Gas Accretion and Angular Momentum
• Spatially resolved Lyman-$\alpha$ emission around radio bright quasars
• Circumgalactic Ly$\alpha$ emission around submillimeter-bright galaxies with different quasar contributions
• AGN feedback can produce metal enrichment on galaxy scales
• An Empirical Determination of the Dependence of the Circumgalactic Mass Cooling Rate and Feedback Mass Loading Factor on Galactic Stellar Mass
• Lyman-$\alpha$ photons through rotating outflows
• The Decoupled Kinematics of high-z QSO Host Galaxies and their Lya halos
• Observations of Ly$\alpha$ Emitters at High Redshift
• Search for extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission around 9k quasars at z=2-3
• Understanding Lyman-alpha Nebulae at Low Redshift I: The Sizes, Powering, and Kinematics of "Green Bean" Galaxies
• A Ly-alpha nebula at z~3.3
• Discovery of a Lyα blob photo-ionised by a super-cluster of massive stars associated to a z = 3.49 galaxy
• Resolving circumgalactic gas flows around a z$\approx$3.6 quasar using MUSE and ALMA