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Register a new userThe KBSS-KCWI Survey: The connection between extended Ly$alpha$ halos and galaxy azimuthal angle at $zsim 2-3$
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We present the first statistical analysis of kinematically-resolved, spatially-extended Ly$alpha$ emission around $z = 2-3$ galaxies in the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS) using the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI). Our sample of 59 star-forming galaxies ($z_mathrm{med} = 2.29$) comprises the subset with typical KCWI integration times of ~5 hours and with existing imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope and/or adaptive optics-assisted integral field spectroscopy. The high resolution images were used to evaluate the azimuthal dependence of the diffuse Ly$alpha$ emission with respect to the stellar continuum within projected galactocentric distances of $lesssim 30$ proper kpc. We introduce cylindrically-projected 2D spectra (CP2D) that map the averaged Ly$alpha$ spectral profile over a specified range of azimuthal angle, as a function of impact parameter around galaxies. The averaged CP2D spectrum of all galaxies shows clear signatures of Ly$alpha$ resonant scattering by outflowing gas. We stacked the CP2D spectra of individual galaxies over ranges of azimuthal angle with respect to their major axes. The extended Ly$alpha$ emission along the galaxy principal axes are statistically indistinguishable, with residual asymmetry of $le$ 2% ($sim 2 sigma$) of the integrated Ly$alpha$ emission. The symmetry implies that the Ly$alpha$ scattering medium is dominated by outflows in all directions within 30 kpc. Meanwhile, we find that the blueshifted component of Ly$alpha$ emission is marginally stronger along galaxy minor axes for galaxies with relatively weak Ly$alpha$ emission. We speculate that this weak directional dependence of Ly$alpha$ emission becomes discernible only when the Ly$alpha$ escape fraction is low. These discoveries highlight the need for similar analyses in simulations with Ly$alpha$ radiative transfer modeling.
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We present deep MUSE observations of five quasars within the first Gyr of the Universe ($zgtrsim6$), four of which display extended Ly$alpha$ halos. After PSF-subtraction, we reveal halos surrounding two quasars for the first time, as well as confirming the presence of two more halos for which tentative detections exist in long-slit spectroscopic observations and narrow-band imaging. The four Ly$alpha$ halos presented here are diverse in morphology and size, they each display spatial asymmetry, and none are centred on the position of the quasar. Spectra of the diffuse halos demonstrate that none are dramatically offset in velocity from the systemic redshift of the quasars ($Delta$ v $< 200$ kms$^{-1}$), however each halo shows a broad Ly$alpha$ line, with a velocity width of order $sim1000$ kms$^{-1}$. Total Ly$alpha$ luminosities range between $sim$ $2 times 10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and $sim$ $2 times 10^{44}$ erg s$^{-1}$, reaching maximum radial extents of $13 - 30$ pkpc from the quasar positions. We find larger sizes and higher Ly$alpha$ luminosities than previous literature results at this redshift, but find no correlation between the quasar properties and the Ly$alpha$ halo, suggesting that the detected emission is most closely related to the physical properties of the circum-galactic medium
We present results of a survey for giant Ly-alpha nebulae (LABs) at z=3 with Subaru/Suprime-Cam. We obtained Ly-alpha imaging at z=3.09+-0.03 around the SSA22 protocluster and in several blank fields. The total survey area is 2.1 square degrees, corresponding to a comoving volume of 1.6 x 10^6 Mpc^3. Using a uniform detection threshold of 1.4 x 10^{-18} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2} arcsec^{-2} for the Ly-alpha images, we construct a sample of 14 LAB candidates with major-axis diameters larger than 100 kpc, including five previously known blobs and two known quasars. This survey triples the number of known LABs over 100 kpc. The giant LAB sample shows a possible morphology-density relation: filamentary LABs reside in average density environments as derived from compact Ly-alpha emitters, while circular LABs reside in both average density and overdense environments. Although it is hard to examine the formation mechanisms of LABs only from the Ly-alpha morphologies, more filamentary LABs may relate to cold gas accretion from the surrounding inter-galactic medium (IGM) and more circular LABs may relate to large-scale gas outflows, which are driven by intense starbursts and/or by AGN activities. Our survey highlights the potential usefulness of giant LABs to investigate the interactions between galaxies and the surrounding IGM from the field to overdense environments at high-redshift.
The Lyman-$alpha$ (Ly$alpha$) emission line has been ubiquitously used to confirm and study high redshift galaxies. We report on the line morphology as seen in the 2D spectra from the VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey in a sample of 914 Ly$alpha$ emitters from a parent sample of 4192 star-forming galaxies at $2<z_mathrm{spec}lesssim6$. The study of the spatial extent of Ly$alpha$ emission provides insight into the escape of Ly$alpha$ photons from galaxies. We classify the line emission as either non-existent, coincident, projected spatial offset, or extended with respect to the observed 2D UV continuum emission. The line emitters in our sample are classified as ~45% coincident, ~24% extended and ~11% offset emitters. For galaxies with detected UV continuum, we show that extended Ly$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) correspond to the highest equivalent width galaxies (with an average $W_mathrm{Lyalpha}sim-22${AA}). This means that this class of objects is the most common in narrow-band selected samples, which usually select high equivalent width LAEs, $<-20${AA}. Extended Ly$alpha$ emitters are found to be less massive, less star-forming, with lower dust content, and smaller UV continuum sizes ($r_{50}sim0.9$kpc) of all the classes considered here. We also find that galaxies with larger UV-sizes have lower fractions of Ly$alpha$ emitters. By stacking the spectra per emitter class we find that the weaker Ly$alpha$ emitters have stronger low ionization inter-stellar medium (ISM) absorption lines. Interestingly, we find that galaxies with Ly$alpha$ offset emission (median separation of $1.1_{-0.8}^{+1.3}$kpc from UV continuum) show similar velocity offsets in the ISM as those with no visible emission (and different from other Ly$alpha$ emitting classes). This class of objects may hint at episodes of gas accretion, bright offset clumps, or on-going merging activity into the larger galaxies.
The origin of dust in galaxy halos or in the circum-galactic medium (CGM) is still a mystery. We investigate if the radiation pressure in high-redshift ($zsim 10$) galaxies can efficiently transport dust to halos. To clarify the first dust enrichment of galaxy halos in the early Universe, we solve the motion of a dust grain considering radiation pressure, gas drag, and gravity in the vertical direction of the galactic disc. Radiation pressure is estimated in a consistent manner with the stellar spectra and dust extinction. As a consequence, we find that dust grains with radii $asim 0.1~mu$m successfully escape from the galactic disc if the ongoing star formation episode converts more than 15 per cent of the baryon content into stars and lasts $gtrsim 30$ Myr, while larger and smaller grains are trapped in the disc because of gravity and gas drag, respectively. We also show that grain charge significantly enhances gas drag at a few--10 scale heights of the galactic disc, where the grain velocities are suppressed to $sim 1$ km s$^{-1}$. There is an optimum dust-to-gas ratio ($sim 10^{-3}$) in the galactic disc and an optimum virial mass $sim 10^{10}$--$10^{11}$ M$_{odot}$ for the transport of $asim 0.1~mu$m grains to the halo. We conclude that early dust enrichment of galaxy halos at $zgtrsim 10$ is important for the origin of dust in the CGM.
In our modern understanding of galaxy formation, every galaxy forms within a dark matter halo. The formation and growth of galaxies over time is connected to the growth of the halos in which they form. The advent of large galaxy surveys as well as high-resolution cosmological simulations has provided a new window into the statistical relationship between galaxies and halos and its evolution. Here we define this galaxy-halo connection as the multi-variate distribution of galaxy and halo properties that can be derived from observations and simulations. This connection provides a key test of physical galaxy formation models; it also plays an essential role in constraints of cosmological models using galaxy surveys and in elucidating the properties of dark matter using galaxies. We review techniques for inferring the galaxy-halo connection and the insights that have arisen from these approaches. Some things we have learned are that galaxy formation efficiency is a strong function of halo mass; at its peak in halos around a pivot halo mass of 10^12 Msun, less than 20% of the available baryons have turned into stars by the present day; the intrinsic scatter in galaxy stellar mass is small, less than 0.2 dex at a given halo mass above this pivot mass; below this pivot mass galaxy stellar mass is a strong function of halo mass; the majority of stars over cosmic time were formed in a narrow region around this pivot mass. We also highlight key open questions about how galaxies and halos are connected, including understanding the correlations with secondary properties and the connection of these properties to galaxy clustering.
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