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Register a new userIntegral Field Spectroscopy of Extended Emission-Line Regions around QSOs
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Luminous extended emission-line regions (EELRs) on kpc scales surround a substantial fraction of steep-spectrum radio-loud QSOs. Although their existence has been known for over three decades, there are still major uncertainties on the physical processes responsible for their complex morphology and kinematics. We are obtaining deep integral field spectroscopy for a sample of EELRs around QSOs at z<0.5 with the Integral Field Unit (IFU) of the GMOS on the Gemini North telescope, aiming at extracting accurate kinematics of the EELRs, measuring important physical parameters (e.g., density, temperature, metallicity) and reliable intensity ratios of diagnostic emission lines from individual clouds that comprise an EELR. Here we present results from the observations of the EELR of quasar 4C 37.43. We show maps of gas kinematics measured from the [O III] 5007 line and line-ratio diagnostic diagrams comparing the data with predictions from ionization models. We find that the ionized gas shows rather complex global kinematics, while linear velocity gradients are often seen in individual clouds. Pure photoionization by the QSO continuum is the most likely ionization mechanism for most of the EELR clouds.
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We present the results of spectroscopic and imaging observations of the FRII radio galaxies PKS2250-41 and PKS1932-46. Both sources display very extensive emission line regions, and appear to be undergoing interactions with companion bodies. In addition to disturbed gas kinematics associated with interactions with the radio source, the more distant emitting material displays simple, narrow emission line profiles, often at significant velocity offsets from the system rest-frame, and may be associated with tidal debris.
We present Gemini integral field spectroscopy and Keck II longslit spectroscopy of the extended emission-line region (EELR) around the quasar 4C 37.43. The velocity structure of the ionized gas is complex and cannot be explained globally by a simple dynamical model. The spectra from the clouds are inconsistent with shock or ``shock + precursor ionization models, but they are consistent with photoionization by the quasar nucleus. The best-fit photoionization model requires a low-metallicity (12+log(O/H) < 8.7) two-phase medium, consisting of a matter-bounded diffuse component with a unity filling-factor (N ~ 1 cc, T ~ 15000 K), in which are embedded small, dense clouds (N ~ 400 cc, T ~ 10^4 K). The high-density clouds are transient and can be re-generated through compressing the diffuse medium by low-speed shocks (V_S lesssim 100 kms). Our photoionization model gives a total mass for the ionized gas of about 3x10^{10} M_sun, and the total kinetic energy implied by this mass and the observed velocity field is ~2x10^{58} ergs. The fact that luminous EELRs are confined to steep-spectrum radio-loud quasars, yet show no morphological correspondence to the radio jets, suggests that the driving force producing the 4C 37.43 EELR was a roughly spherical blast wave initiated by the production of the jet. That such a mechanism seems capable of ejecting a mass comparable to that of the total interstellar medium of the Milky Way suggests that ``quasar-mode feedback may indeed be an efficient means of regulating star formation in the early universe.
We present Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph integral field spectroscopy of the extended emission-line region associated with quasar 3C 249.1. The kinematics of the ionized gas measured from the [O III] $lambda$5007 line is rather complex and cannot be explained globally by a simple dynamical model, but some clouds can be modeled individually as having locally linear velocity gradients. The temperatures of the ionized gas appear uniform (varying from ~12000 to 15000 K), while the densities vary from a few tens to a few hundreds cm^{-3}. The emission mechanism of all of the emission clouds, as indicated by the line-ratio diagnostics, is consistent both with shock + precursor and pure photoionization models. The total mass of the ionized gas is on the order of 10^9 M_Sun. We estimate the bulk kinetic energy and momentum of the extended emission-line region of 2.5*10^{57} ergs and 10^{50} dyne s, and a dynamical timescale of ~10 Myr. By comparing the injection rates of kinetic energy and momentum of different galactic wind models with the observation, we argue that the emission-line clouds are most likely a direct result from the feedback of the quasar. We also discuss the nature of the extended X-ray emission surrounding the quasar.
We give an overview of our recent integral-field-unit spectroscopy of luminous extended emission-line regions (EELRs) around low-redshift quasars, including new observations of 5 fields. Previous work has shown that the most luminous EELRs are found almost exclusively around steep-spectrum radio-loud quasars, with apparently disordered global velocity fields, and little, if any, morphological correlation with either the host-galaxy or the radio structure. Our new observations confirm and expand these results. The EELRs often show some clouds with velocities exceeding 500 km/s, ranging up to 1100 km/s, but the velocity dispersions, with few exceptions, are in the 30-100 km/s range. Emission-line ratios show that the EELRs are clearly photoionized by the quasars. Masses of the EELRs range up to >10^10 Msun. Essentially all of the EELRs show relatively low metallicities, and they are associated with quasars that, in contrast to most, show similarly low metallicities in their broad-line regions. The two objects in our sample that do not have classical double-lobed radio morphologies (3C48, with a compact-steep-spectrum source; Mrk1014, radio-quiet, but with a weak compact-steep-spectrum source) are the only ones that appear to have recent star formation. While some of the less-luminous EELRs may have other origins, the most likely explanation for the ones in our sample is that they are examples of gas swept out of the host galaxy by a large-solid-angle blast wave accompanying the production of the radio jets. The triggering of the quasar activity is almost certainly the result of the merger of a gas-rich galaxy with a massive, gas-poor galaxy hosting the supermassive black hole.
We present the pilot study component of the Fluorescent Lyman-Alpha Structures in High-z Environments (FLASHES) Survey; the largest integral-field spectroscopy survey to date of the circumgalactic medium at $z=2.3-3.1$. We observed 48 quasar fields between 2015 and 2018 with the Palomar Cosmic Web Imager (Matuszewski et al. 2010). Extended HI Lyman-$mathrm{alpha}$ emission is discovered around 42/48 of the observed quasars, ranging in projected, flux-weighted radius from 21-71 proper kiloparsecs (pkpc), with 26 nebulae exceeding $100mathrm{~pkpc}$ in effective diameter. The circularly averaged surface brightness radial profile peaks at a maximum of $mathrm{1times 10^{-17}~erg~s^{-1}~cm^{-2}~arcsec^{-2}}$ ($2times10^{-15}~mathrm{erg~s^{-1}~cm^{-2}~arcsec^{-2}}$ adjusted for cosmological dimming) and luminosities range from $1.9times10^{43}~mathrm{erg~s^{-1}}$ to $-14.1times10^{43}~mathrm{erg~s^{-1}}$. The emission appears to have a highly eccentric morphology and a maximum covering factor of $50%$ ($60%$ for giant nebulae). On average, the nebular spectra are red-shifted with respect to both the systemic redshift and Ly$alpha$ peak of the quasar spectrum. The integrated spectra of the nebulae mostly have single or double-peaked line shapes with global dispersions ranging from $167~mathrm{km~s^{-1}}$ to $690~mathrm{km~s^{-1}}$, though the individual (Gaussian) components of lines with complex shapes mostly appear to have dispersions $leq 400$ $mathrm{km~s^{-1}}$, and the flux-weighted velocity centroids of the lines vary by thousands of $ mathrm{km~s^{-1}}$ with respect to the systemic QSO redshifts. Finally, the root-mean-square velocities of the nebulae are found to be consistent with gravitational motions expected in dark matter halos of mass $mathrm{M_h simeq10^{12.5} M_odot}$. We compare these results to existing surveys at both higher and lower redshift.
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