No Arabic abstract
We present results of MUSE-ALMA Halos, an ongoing study of the Circumgalactic Medium (CGM) of galaxies ($z leq$ 1.4). Using multi-phase observations we probe the neutral, ionised and molecular gas in a sub-sample containing six absorbers and nine associated galaxies in the redshift range $z sim 0.3-0.75$. Here, we give an in-depth analysis of the newly CO-detected galaxy Q2131-G1 ($z=0.42974$), while providing stringent mass and depletion time limits for the non-detected galaxies. Q2131-G1 is associated with an absorber with column densities of $textrm{log}(N_textrm{HI}/textrm{cm}^{-2}) sim 19.5$ and $textrm{log}(N_{textrm{H}_2}/textrm{cm}^{-2}) sim 16.5$, has a star formation rate of $textrm{SFR} = 2.00 pm 0.20 ; textrm{M}_{odot} textrm{yr}^{-1}$, a dark matter fraction of $f_textrm{DM}(r_{1/2}) = 0.24 - 0.54$ and a molecular gas mass of $M_textrm{mol} = 3.52 ^{+3.95}_{-0.31} times 10^9 ; textrm{M}_{odot}$ resulting in a depletion time of $tau_textrm{dep} < 4.15 ; textrm{Gyr}$. Kinematic modelling of both the CO (3--2) and [OIII] $lambda 5008$ emission lines of Q2131-G1 shows that the molecular and ionised gas phases are well aligned directionally and that the maximum rotation velocities closely match. These two gas phases within the disk are strongly coupled. The metallicity, kinematics and orientation of the atomic and molecular gas traced by a two-component absorption feature is consistent with being part of the extended rotating disk with a well-separated additional component associated with infalling gas. Compared to emission-selected samples, we find that HI-selected galaxies have high molecular gas masses given their low star formation rate. We consequently derive high depletion times for these objects.
We present the analysis of the molecular gas in the nuclear regions of NGC 4968, NGC 4845, and MCG-06-30-15, with the help of ALMA observations of the CO(2-1) emission line. The aim is to determine the kinematics of the gas in the central (~ 1 kpc) region. We use the 3D-Based Analysis of Rotating Object via Line Observations ($^{3D}$BAROLO) and DiskFit softwares. Circular motions dominate the kinematics of the gas in the central discs, mainly in NGC 4845 and MCG-06-30-15, however there is a clear evidence of non-circular motions in the central ($sim$ 1 kpc) region of NGC 4845 and NGC 4968. The strongest non-circular motion is detected in the inner disc of NGC 4968 with velocity $sim 115, rm{km,s^{-1}}$. The bisymmetric model is found to give the best-fit for NGC 4968 and NGC 4845. If the dynamics of NGC 4968 is modeled as a corotation pattern just outside of the bar, the bar pattern speed turns out to be at $Omega_b$ = $52, rm{km,s^{-1},kpc^{-1}}$ the corotation is set at 3.5 kpc and the inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) ring at R = 300pc corresponding to the CO emission ring. The 1.2 mm ALMA continuum is peaked and compact in NGC 4968 and MCG-06-30-15, but their CO(2-1) has an extended distribution. Allowing the CO-to-H$_{2}$ conversion factor $alpha_{CO}$ between 0.8 and 3.2, typical of nearby galaxies of the same type, the molecular mass M(H$_{2}$) is estimated to be $sim 3-12times 10^{7} ~{rm M_odot}$ (NGC 4968), $sim 9-36times 10^{7}~ {rm M_odot}$ (NGC 4845), and $sim 1-4times 10^{7}~ {rm M_odot}$ (MCG-06-30-15). We conclude that the observed non-circular motions in the disc of NGC 4968 and likely that seen in NGC 4845 is due to the presence of the bar in the nuclear region. At the current spectral and spatial resolution and sensitivity we cannot claim any strong evidence in these sources of the long sought feedback/feeding effect due to the AGN presence.
Studying the flow of baryons into and out of galaxies is an important part of understanding the evolution of galaxies over time. We present a detailed case study of the environment around an intervening Ly $alpha$ absorption line system at $z_{rm abs} = 0.633$, seen towards the quasar J0423$-$0130 ($z_{rm QSO} = 0.915$). We detect with ALMA the $^{12}$CO(2--1), $^{12}$CO(3--2) and $1.2$~mm continuum emission from a galaxy at the redshift of the Ly $alpha$ absorber at a projected distance of $135$ kpc. From the ALMA detections, we infer ISM conditions similar to those in low redshift Luminous Infrared Galaxies. DDT MUSE integral field unit observations reveal the optical counterpart of the $^{12}$CO emission line source and three additional emission line galaxies at the absorber redshift, which together form a galaxy group. The $^{12}$CO emission line detections originate from the most massive galaxy in this group. While we cannot exclude that we miss a fainter host, we reach a dust-uncorrected star-formation rate (SFR) limit of > $0.3 text{M}_{odot} text{ yr}^{-1}$ within $100$ kpc from the sightline to the background quasar. We measure the dust-corrected SFR (ranging from $3$ to $50$ M$_{odot}$ yr$^{-1}$), the morpho-kinematics and the metallicities of the four group galaxies to understand the relation between the group and the neutral gas probed in absorption. We find that the Ly $alpha$ absorber traces either an outflow from the most massive galaxy or intra-group gas. This case study illustrates the power of combining ALMA and MUSE to obtain a census of the cool baryons in a bounded structure at intermediate redshift.
We perform a joint-analysis of high spatial resolution molecular gas and star-formation rate (SFR) maps in main-sequence star-forming galaxies experiencing galactic-scale outflows of ionised gas. Our aim is to understand the mechanism that determines which galaxies are able to launch these intense winds. We observed CO(1-0) at 1 resolution with ALMA in 16 edge-on galaxies, which also have 2 spatial resolution optical integral field observations from the SAMI Galaxy Survey. Half the galaxies in the sample were previously identified as harbouring intense and large-scale outflows of ionised gas (outflow-types), the rest serve as control galaxies. The dataset is complemented by integrated CO(1-0) observations from the IRAM 30-m telescope to probe the total molecular gas reservoirs. We find that the galaxies powering outflows do not possess significantly different global gas fractions or star-formation efficiencies when compared with a control sample. However, the ALMA maps reveal that the molecular gas in the outflow-type galaxies is distributed more centrally than in the control galaxies. For our outflow-type objects, molecular gas and star-formation is largely confined within their inner effective radius ($rm r_{eff}$), whereas in the control sample the distribution is more diffuse, extending far beyond $rm r_{eff}$. We infer that outflows in normal star-forming galaxies may be caused by dynamical mechanisms that drive molecular gas into their central regions, which can result in locally-enhanced gas surface density and star-formation.
The detailed distribution and kinematics of the atomic and the CO-bright molecular hydrogen in the disc of the Milky Way inside the Solar circle are derived under the assumptions of axisymmetry and pure circular motions. We divide the Galactic disc into a series of rings, and assume that the gas in each ring is described by four parameters: its rotation velocity, velocity dispersion, midplane density and its scale height. We fit these parameters to the Galactic HI and CO (J=1-0) data by producing artificial HI and CO line-profiles and comparing them with the observations. Our approach allows us to fit all parameters to the data simultaneously without assuming a-priori a radial profile for one of the parameters. We present the distribution and kinematics of the HI and H2 in both the approaching (QIV) and the receding (QI) regions of the Galaxy. Our best-fit models reproduces remarkably well the observed HI and CO longitude-velocity diagrams up to a few degrees of distance from the midplane. With the exception of the innermost 2.5 kpc, QI and QIV show very similar kinematics. The rotation curves traced by the HI and H2 follow closely each other, flattening beyond R=6.5 kpc. Both the HI and the H2 surface densities show a) a deep depression at 0.5<R<2.5 kpc, analogous to that shown by some nearby barred galaxies, b) local overdensities that can be interpreted in terms of spiral arms or ring-like features in the disk. The HI (H2) properties are fairly constant in the region outside the depression, with typical velocity dispersion of 8.9+/-1.1 (4.4+/-1.2) km/s, density of 0.43+/-0.11 (0.42+/-0.22) cm-3 and HWHM scale height of 202+/-28 (64+/-12) pc. We also show that the HI opacity in the LAB data can be accounted for by using an `effective spin temperature of about 150 K: assuming an optically thin regime leads to underestimate the HI mass by about 30%.
Using the MEGAFLOW survey, which consists of a combination of MUSE and UVES observations of 22 quasar fields selected to contain strong MgII absorbers, we measure covering fractions of CIV and MgII as a function of impact parameter $b$ using a novel Bayesian logistic regression method on unbinned data, appropriate for small samples. We also analyse how the CIV and MgII covering fractions evolve with redshift. In the MUSE data, we found 215 $z=1-1.5$ [OII] emitters with fluxes $>10^{-17}$ erg,s$^{-1}$,cm$^{-2}$ and within 250 kpc of quasar sight-lines. Over this redshift path $z=1-1.5$, we have 19 (32) CIV (MgII) absorption systems with rest-frame equivalent width (REW) $W_r>$0.05AA associated with at least one [OII] emitter. The covering fractions of $zapprox1.2$ CIV (MgII) absorbers with mean $W_rapprox$0.7AA (1.0AA), exceeds 50% within 23$^{+62}_{-16}$ (46$^{+18}_{-13}$) kpc. Together with published studies, our results suggest that the covering fraction of CIV (MgII) becomes larger (smaller) with time, respectively. For absorption systems that have CIV but not MgII, we find in 73% of the cases no [OII] counterpart. This may indicate that the CIV comes from the intergalactic medium (IGM), i.e. beyond 250 kpc, or that it is associated with lower-mass or quiescent galaxies.