THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM OF SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES. I. FIRST RESULTS FROM A RADIO-IDENTIFIED SAMPLE

Journal Article · Sun Nov 20 04:00:00 EST 2016 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/1/52· OSTI ID:22667189

Fu, Hai; Mutel, R.; Isbell, J.; Lang, C.; McGinnis, D. ^[1]; Hennawi, J. F. ^[2]; Prochaska, J. X. ^[3]; Casey, C. ^[4]; Cooray, A. ^[5]; Kereš, D. ^[6]; Zhang, Z. -Y.; Michałowski, M. J. ^[7]; Clements, D. ^[8]; Mooley, K. ^[9]; Perley, D. ^[10]; Stockton, A. ^[11]; Thompson, D. ^[12]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States)
2. Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Heidelberg (Germany)
3. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
4. Department of Astronomy, the University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway Blvd, Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712 (United States)
5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)
6. Department of Physics, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093 (United States)
7. Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
8. Astrophysics Group, Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)
9. Oxford Centre For Astrophysical Surveys, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United States)
10. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 København Ø (Denmark)
11. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
12. Large Binocular Telescope Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

We present the first results from an ongoing survey to characterize the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of massive high-redshift galaxies detected as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). We constructed a parent sample of 163 SMG–QSO pairs with separations less than ∼36″ by cross-matching far-infrared-selected galaxies from Herschel with spectroscopically confirmed QSOs. The Herschel sources were selected to match the properties of the SMGs. We determined the sub-arcsecond positions of six Herschel sources with the Very Large Array and obtained secure redshift identification for three of those with near-infrared spectroscopy. The QSO sightlines probe transverse proper distances of 112, 157, and 198 kpc at foreground redshifts of 2.043, 2.515, and 2.184, respectively, which are comparable to the virial radius of the ∼10{sup 13} M {sub ⊙} halos expected to host SMGs. High-quality absorption-line spectroscopy of the QSOs reveals systematically strong H i Ly α absorption around all three SMGs, with rest-frame equivalent widths of ∼2–3 Å. However, none of the three absorbers exhibit compelling evidence for optically thick H i gas or metal absorption, in contrast to the dominance of strong neutral absorbers in the CGM of luminous z ∼ 2 QSOs. The low covering factor of optically thick H i gas around SMGs tentatively indicates that SMGs may not have as prominent cool gas reservoirs in their halos as the coeval QSOs and that they may inhabit less massive halos than previously thought.

• OSTI ID: 22667189
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 832; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COVERINGS
GALAXIES
INFRARED SPECTRA
INTERGALACTIC SPACE
METALS
QUASARS
RED SHIFT