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Register a new userHST Detection of Extended Neutral Hydrogen in a Massive Elliptical at z = 0.4
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Fakhri S. Zahedy
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We report the first detection of extended neutral hydrogen (HI) gas in the interstellar medium (ISM) of a massive elliptical galaxy beyond z~0. The observations utilize the doubly lensed images of QSO HE 0047-1756 at z_QSO = 1.676 as absorption-line probes of the ISM in the massive (M_star ~ 10^11 M_sun) elliptical lens at z = 0.408, detecting gas at projected distances of d = 3.3 and 4.6 kpc on opposite sides of the lens. Using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), we obtain UV absorption spectra of the lensed QSO and identify a prominent flux discontinuity and associated absorption features matching the Lyman series transitions at z = 0.408 in both sightlines. The HI column density is log N(HI) = 19.6-19.7 at both locations across the lens, comparable to what is seen in 21 cm images of nearby ellipticals. The HI gas kinematics are well-matched with the kinematics of the FeII absorption complex revealed in ground-based echelle data, displaying a large velocity shear of 360 km/s across the galaxy. We estimate an ISM Fe abundance of 0.3-0.4 solar at both locations. Including likely dust depletions increases the estimated Fe abundances to solar or supersolar, similar to those of the hot ISM and stars of nearby ellipticals. Assuming 100% covering fraction of this Fe-enriched gas,we infer a total Fe mass of M_cool(Fe)~(5-8)x10^4 M_sun in the cool ISM of the massive elliptical lens, which is no more than 5% of the total Fe mass observed in the hot ISM.
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We report the first detection of multiphase gas within a quiescent galaxy beyond $zapprox0$. The observations use the brighter image of doubly lensed QSO HE 0047$-$1756 to probe the ISM of the massive ($M_{rm star}approx 10^{11} mathrm{M_odot}$) elliptical lens galaxy at $z_mathrm{gal}=0.408$. Using Hubble Space Telescopes Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), we obtain a medium-resolution FUV spectrum of the lensed QSO and identify numerous absorption features from $mathrm{H_2}$ in the lens ISM at projected distance $d=4.6$ kpc. The $mathrm{H_2}$ column density is $log N(mathrm{H_2})/mathrm{cm^{-2}}=17.8^{+0.1}_{-0.3}$ with a molecular gas fraction of $f_mathrm{H_2}=2-5%$, roughly consistent with some local quiescent galaxies. The new COS spectrum also reveals kinematically complex absorption features from highly ionized species O VI and N V with column densities log $N(mathrm{O VI})/mathrm{cm^{-2}} =15.2pm0.1$ and log $N(mathrm{N V})/mathrm{cm^{-2}} =14.6pm0.1$, among the highest known in external galaxies. Assuming the high-ionization absorption features originate in a transient warm ($Tsim10^5,$K) phase undergoing radiative cooling from a hot halo surrounding the galaxy, we infer a mass accretion rate of $sim 0.5-1.5,mathrm{M_odot,yr^{-1}}$. The lack of star formation in the lens suggests the bulk of this flow is returned to the hot halo, implying a heating rate of $sim10^{48},mathrm{erg,yr^{-1}}$. Continuous heating from evolved stellar populations (primarily SNe Ia but also winds from AGB stars) may suffice to prevent a large accumulation of cold gas in the ISM, even in the absence of strong feedback from an active nucleus.
Our current understanding of galaxy evolution still has many uncertainties associated with the details of accretion, processing, and removal of gas across cosmic time. The next generation of radio telescopes will image the neutral hydrogen (HI) in galaxies over large volumes at high redshifts, which will provide key insights into these processes. We are conducting the COSMOS HI Large Extragalactic Survey (CHILES) with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, which is the first survey to simultaneously observe HI from z=0 to z~0.5. Here, we report the highest redshift HI 21-cm detection in emission to date of the luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) COSMOS J100054.83+023126.2 at z=0.376 with the first 178 hours of CHILES data. The total HI mass is $(2.9pm1.0)times10^{10}~M_odot$, and the spatial distribution is asymmetric and extends beyond the galaxy. While optically the galaxy looks undisturbed, the HI distribution suggests an interaction with candidate a candidate companion. In addition, we present follow-up Large Millimeter Telescope CO observations that show it is rich in molecular hydrogen, with a range of possible masses of $(1.8-9.9)times10^{10}~M_odot$. This is the first study of the HI and CO in emission for a single galaxy beyond z~0.2.
We present a pipeline based on a random forest classifier for the identification of high column-density clouds of neutral hydrogen (i.e. the Lyman limit systems, LLSs) in absorption within large spectroscopic surveys of z>3 quasars. We test the performance of this method on mock quasar spectra that reproduce the expected data quality of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the WHT Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE) surveys, finding >90% completeness and purity for N(HI)> 10^17.2 cm^-2 LLSs against quasars of g < 23 mag at z~3.5-3.7. After training and applying our method on 10,000 quasar spectra at z~3.5-4.0 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 16), we identify ~6600 LLSs with N(HI)>10^17.5 cm^-2 between z~3.1-4.0 with a completeness and purity of >90% for the classification of LLSs. Using this sample, we measure a number of LLSs per unit redshift of 2.32 +/- 0.08 at z=[3.3,3.6]. We also present results on the performance of random forest for the measurement of the LLS redshifts and HI column densities, and for the identification of broad absorption line quasars.
Lyman- and Werner-band absorption of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) is detected in $sim$50% of low redshift ($z<1$) DLAs/sub-DLAs with $N$(H$_2$) > 10$^{14.4}$ cm$^{-2}$. However the true origin(s) of the H$_2$ bearing gas remain elusive. Here we report a new detection of an H$_{2}$ absorber at $z=$ 0.4298 in the HST/COS spectra of quasar PKS 2128-123. The total $N$(HI) of 10$^{19.50pm0.15}$ cm$^{-2}$ classifies the absorber as a sub-DLA. H$_{2}$ absorption is detected up to the $J=3$ rotational level with a total $log N$(H$_{2}$) = 16.36$pm$0.08 corresponding to a molecular fraction of log $f$(H$_{2}$) = $-$2.84$pm$0.17. The excitation temperature of $T_{ex}$ = 206$pm$6K indicates the presence of cold gas. Using detailed ionization modelling we obtain a near-solar metallicity (i.e., [O/H]= $-$0.26$pm$0.19) and a dust-to-gas ratio of $log kappa sim -0.45$ for the H$_{2}$ absorbing gas. The host-galaxy of the sub-DLA is detected at an impact parameter of $rho sim$ 48 kpc with an inclination angle of $i sim$ 48 degree and an azimuthal angle of $Phi sim$ 15 degree with respect to the QSO sightline. We show that co-rotating gas in an extended disk cannot explain the observed kinematics of Mg II absorption. Moreover, the inferred high metallicity is not consistent with the scenario of gas accretion. An outflow from the central region of the host-galaxy, on the other hand, would require a large opening angle (i.e., 2$theta>$150 degree), much larger than the observed outflow opening angles in Seyfert galaxies, in order to intercept the QSO sightline. We thus favor a scenario in which the H$_2$ bearing gas is stemming from a dwarf-satellite galaxy, presumably via tidal and/or ram-pressure stripping. Detection of a dwarf galaxy candidate in the HST/WFPC2 image at an impact parameter of $sim$12 kpc reinforces such an idea.
We use observations made with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to probe the neutral hydrogen (HI) gas content of field galaxies in the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) 14h field at $z approx 0.32$. Because the HI emission from individual galaxies is too faint to detect at this redshift, we use an HI spectral stacking technique using the known optical positions and redshifts of the 165 galaxies in our sample to co-add their HI spectra and thus obtain the average HI mass of the galaxies. Stacked HI measurements of 165 galaxies show that 95 per cent of the neutral gas is found in blue, star-forming galaxies. Among these galaxies, those having lower stellar mass are more gas-rich than more massive ones. We apply a volume correction to our HI measurement to evaluate the HI gas density at $z approx 0.32$ as $Omega_{HI}=(0.50pm0.18) times 10^{-3}$ in units of the cosmic critical density. This value is in good agreement with previous results at z < 0.4, suggesting no evolution in the neutral hydrogen gas density over the last $sim 4$ Gyr. However the $z approx 0.32$ gas density is lower than that at $z sim 5$ by at least a factor of two.
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