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Title: RESOLVING THE GALAXIES WITHIN A GIANT Ly{alpha} NEBULA: WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF A GALAXY GROUP?

Abstract

Detailed analysis of the substructure of Ly{alpha} nebulae can put important constraints on the physical mechanisms at work and the properties of galaxies forming within them. Using high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of a Ly{alpha} nebula at z Almost-Equal-To 2.656, we have taken a census of the compact galaxies in the vicinity, used optical/near-infrared colors to select system members, and put constraints on the morphology of the spatially extended emission. The system is characterized by (1) a population of compact, low-luminosity ({approx}0.1 L*) sources-17 primarily young, small (R{sub e} Almost-Equal-To 1-2 kpc), disky galaxies including an obscured active galactic nucleus-that are all substantially offset ({approx}>20 kpc) from the line-emitting nebula; (2) the lack of a central galaxy at or near the peak of the Ly{alpha} emission; and (3) several nearly coincident, spatially extended emission components-Ly{alpha}, He II, and UV continuum-that are extremely smooth. These morphological findings are difficult to reconcile with theoretical models that invoke outflows, cold flows, or resonant scattering, suggesting that while all of these physical phenomena may be occurring, they are not sufficient to explain the powering and large extent of Ly{alpha} nebulae. In addition, although the compact galaxies within the system are irrelevant as powermore » sources, the region is significantly overdense relative to the field galaxy population (by at least a factor of four). These observations provide the first estimate of the luminosity function of galaxies within an individual Ly{alpha} nebula system and suggest that large Ly{alpha} nebulae may be the seeds of galaxy groups or low-mass clusters.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3];  [4]; ;  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9]
  1. Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
  2. National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)
  3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (United States)
  5. Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, MS 220-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
  6. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, MC 169-327, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
  7. Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM, CNRS, University of Paris, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
  8. Optical and Infrared Astronomy Division, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)
  9. Department of Physics, Science Site, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22037043
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 752; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ASTRONOMY; ASTROPHYSICS; GALACTIC EVOLUTION; GALAXIES; GALAXY CLUSTERS; GALAXY NUCLEI; HELIUM IONS; LUMINOSITY; LYMAN LINES; MASS; MORPHOLOGY; NEBULAE; PHOTON EMISSION; RED SHIFT; RESOLUTION; RESONANCE SCATTERING; ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION

Citation Formats

Prescott, Moire K. M., Dey, Arjun, Jannuzi, Buell T, Brodwin, Mark, Chaffee, Frederic H, Desai, Vandana, Soifer, B T, Eisenhardt, Peter, Le Floc'h, Emeric, Kashikawa, Nobunari, and Matsuda, Yuichi. RESOLVING THE GALAXIES WITHIN A GIANT Ly{alpha} NEBULA: WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF A GALAXY GROUP?. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/86.
Prescott, Moire K. M., Dey, Arjun, Jannuzi, Buell T, Brodwin, Mark, Chaffee, Frederic H, Desai, Vandana, Soifer, B T, Eisenhardt, Peter, Le Floc'h, Emeric, Kashikawa, Nobunari, & Matsuda, Yuichi. RESOLVING THE GALAXIES WITHIN A GIANT Ly{alpha} NEBULA: WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF A GALAXY GROUP?. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/86
Prescott, Moire K. M., Dey, Arjun, Jannuzi, Buell T, Brodwin, Mark, Chaffee, Frederic H, Desai, Vandana, Soifer, B T, Eisenhardt, Peter, Le Floc'h, Emeric, Kashikawa, Nobunari, and Matsuda, Yuichi. 2012. "RESOLVING THE GALAXIES WITHIN A GIANT Ly{alpha} NEBULA: WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF A GALAXY GROUP?". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/86.
@article{osti_22037043,
title = {RESOLVING THE GALAXIES WITHIN A GIANT Ly{alpha} NEBULA: WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF A GALAXY GROUP?},
author = {Prescott, Moire K. M. and Dey, Arjun and Jannuzi, Buell T and Brodwin, Mark and Chaffee, Frederic H and Desai, Vandana and Soifer, B T and Eisenhardt, Peter and Le Floc'h, Emeric and Kashikawa, Nobunari and Matsuda, Yuichi},
abstractNote = {Detailed analysis of the substructure of Ly{alpha} nebulae can put important constraints on the physical mechanisms at work and the properties of galaxies forming within them. Using high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of a Ly{alpha} nebula at z Almost-Equal-To 2.656, we have taken a census of the compact galaxies in the vicinity, used optical/near-infrared colors to select system members, and put constraints on the morphology of the spatially extended emission. The system is characterized by (1) a population of compact, low-luminosity ({approx}0.1 L*) sources-17 primarily young, small (R{sub e} Almost-Equal-To 1-2 kpc), disky galaxies including an obscured active galactic nucleus-that are all substantially offset ({approx}>20 kpc) from the line-emitting nebula; (2) the lack of a central galaxy at or near the peak of the Ly{alpha} emission; and (3) several nearly coincident, spatially extended emission components-Ly{alpha}, He II, and UV continuum-that are extremely smooth. These morphological findings are difficult to reconcile with theoretical models that invoke outflows, cold flows, or resonant scattering, suggesting that while all of these physical phenomena may be occurring, they are not sufficient to explain the powering and large extent of Ly{alpha} nebulae. In addition, although the compact galaxies within the system are irrelevant as power sources, the region is significantly overdense relative to the field galaxy population (by at least a factor of four). These observations provide the first estimate of the luminosity function of galaxies within an individual Ly{alpha} nebula system and suggest that large Ly{alpha} nebulae may be the seeds of galaxy groups or low-mass clusters.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/86},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22037043}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 752,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Wed Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}