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Spatially Resolved Metal Gas Clouds

Spatially Resolved Metal Gas Clouds Abstract We now have mounting evidences that the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxies is polluted with metals processed through stars. The fate of these metals is however still an open question and several findings indicate that they remain poorly mixed. A powerful tool to study the low-density gas of the CGM is offered by absorption lines in quasar spectra, although the information retrieved is limited to 1D along the sightline. We report the serendipitous discovery of two close-by bright zgal=1.148 extended galaxies with a fortuitous intervening zabs=1.067 foreground absorber. MUSE IFU observations spatially probes kpc-scales in absorption in the plane of the sky over a total area spanning ∼30 kpc−2. We identify two [O ii] emitters at zabs down to 21 kpc with SFR∼2 M⊙/yr. We measure small fractional variations (<30%) in the equivalent widths of Fe ii and Mg ii cold gas absorbers on coherence scales of 8kpc but stronger variation on larger scales (25kpc). We compute the corresponding cloud gas mass <2 × 109M⊙. Our results indicate a good efficiency of the metal mixing on kpc-scales in the CGM of a typical z∼1 galaxy. This study show-cases new prospects for mapping the distribution and sizes of metal clouds observed in absorption against extended background sources with 3D spectroscopy. galaxies: ISM, quasars: absorption lines, intergalactic medium © 2018 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/about_us/legal/notices) http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Oxford University Press

Spatially Resolved Metal Gas Clouds

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 2018 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
ISSN
1745-3925
eISSN
1745-3933
DOI
10.1093/mnrasl/sly090
Publisher site
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Abstract

Abstract We now have mounting evidences that the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxies is polluted with metals processed through stars. The fate of these metals is however still an open question and several findings indicate that they remain poorly mixed. A powerful tool to study the low-density gas of the CGM is offered by absorption lines in quasar spectra, although the information retrieved is limited to 1D along the sightline. We report the serendipitous discovery of two close-by bright zgal=1.148 extended galaxies with a fortuitous intervening zabs=1.067 foreground absorber. MUSE IFU observations spatially probes kpc-scales in absorption in the plane of the sky over a total area spanning ∼30 kpc−2. We identify two [O ii] emitters at zabs down to 21 kpc with SFR∼2 M⊙/yr. We measure small fractional variations (<30%) in the equivalent widths of Fe ii and Mg ii cold gas absorbers on coherence scales of 8kpc but stronger variation on larger scales (25kpc). We compute the corresponding cloud gas mass <2 × 109M⊙. Our results indicate a good efficiency of the metal mixing on kpc-scales in the CGM of a typical z∼1 galaxy. This study show-cases new prospects for mapping the distribution and sizes of metal clouds observed in absorption against extended background sources with 3D spectroscopy. galaxies: ISM, quasars: absorption lines, intergalactic medium © 2018 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/about_us/legal/notices)

Journal

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters – Oxford University Press

Published: May 25, 2018

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