MUSE unravels the ionisation and origin of metal enriched absorbers in the gas halo of a z = 2.92 radio galaxy

Abstract

We have used the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) to study the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of a z = 2.92 radio galaxy, MRC 0943-242 by parametrising its emitting and absorbing gas. In both Ly$\alpha$ $\lambda$1216 and He II $\lambda$1640 lines, we observe emission with velocity shifts of $\Delta v\simeq -1000$ km s${}^{-1}$ from the systemic redshift of the galaxy. These blueshifted components represent kinematically perturbed gas that is aligned with the radio axis, which we interpret as jet-driven outflows. Three of the four known Ly$\alpha$ absorbers are detected at the same velocity as C IV $\lambda \lambda 1548,1551$ and N V $\lambda \lambda 1239,1243$ absorbers, proving that the gas is metal enriched more so than previously thought. At the velocity of a strong Ly$\alpha$ absorber with an HI column of $N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}=10^{19.2}$ and velocity shift of $\Delta v\simeq -400$ km s${}^{-1},$ we also detect Si II $\lambda$1260 and Si II $\lambda$1527 absorption, which suggests that the absorbing gas is ionisation bounded. With the added sensitivity of this MUSE observation, we are more capable of adding constraints to absorber column densities and consequently determining what powers their ionisation. To do this, we obtain photoionisation grid models in \pkg{cloudy} which show that AGN radiation is capable of ionising the gas and producing the observed column densities in a gas of metallicity of Z/Z${}_{\odot }\simeq$ 0.01 with a nitrogen abundance a factor of 10 greater than that of hydrogen. This metal-enriched absorbing gas, which is also spatially extended over a projected distance of $r\gtrsim 60$ kpc, is likely to have undergone chemical enrichment through stellar winds that have swept up metals from the interstellar-medium and deposited them in the outer regions of the galaxy's halo.

arXiv comment21 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

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