Inspiraling Halo Accretion Mapped in Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission around a $z\sim 3$ Quasar

Abstract

In an effort to search for Ly$\alpha$ emission from circum- and intergalactic gas on scales of hundreds of kpc around $z\sim 3$ quasars, and thus characterise the physical properties of the gas in emission, we have initiated an extensive fast-survey with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE): Quasar Snapshot Observations with MUse: Search for Extended Ultraviolet eMission (QSO MUSEUM). In this work, we report the discovery of an enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula (ELAN) around the quasar SDSS~J102009.99+104002.7 at $z=3.164$, which we followed-up with deeper MUSE observations. This ELAN spans $\sim 297$ projected kpc, has an average Ly$\alpha$ surface brightness ${\mathrm{SB}}_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }\sim 6.04\times 10^{-18}$ erg s${}^{-1}$ cm${}^{-2}$ arcsec${}^{-2}$ (within the $2\sigma$ isophote), and is associated with an additional four, previously unknown embedded sources: two Ly$\alpha$ emitters and two faint active galactic nuclei (one Type-1 and one Type-2 quasar). By mapping at high significance the line-of-sight velocity in the entirety of the observed structure, we unveiled a large-scale coherent rotation-like pattern spanning $\sim 300$ km s${}^{-1}$ with a velocity dispersion of $<270$ km s${}^{-1}$, which we interpret as a signature of the inspiraling accretion of substructures within the quasar's host halo. Future multiwavelength data will complement our MUSE observations, and are definitely needed to fully characterise such a complex system. None the less, our observations reveal the potential of new sensitive integral-field spectrographs to characterise the dynamical state of diffuse gas on large scales in the young Universe, and thereby witness the assembly of galaxies.

arXiv comment39 pages with 27 figures and 5 appendices. Accepted to MNRAS

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