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A population of faint extended line emitters and the host galaxies of optically thick QSO absorption systems

Rauch, M.; Haehnelt, M.; Bunker, A.; Becker, G.; Marleau, F.; Graham, James; Cristiani, Stefano; Jarvis, M.; Lacey, C.; Morris, S.; Peroux, C.; Röttgering, H.; Theuns, T.

A population of faint extended line emitters and the host galaxies of optically thick QSO absorption systems Thumbnail


Authors

M. Rauch

M. Haehnelt

A. Bunker

G. Becker

F. Marleau

James Graham

Stefano Cristiani

M. Jarvis

C. Peroux

H. Röttgering



Abstract

We have conducted a long-slit search for low surface brightness Lyα emitters at redshift 2.67 < z < 3.75. A 92 hr long exposure with the ESO VLT FORS2 instrument down to a 1 σ surface brightness detection limit of 8 × 10−20 erg cm−2 s−1 arcsec−2 per arcsec2 aperture yielded a sample of 27 single line emitters with fluxes of a few × 10−18 erg s−1 cm−2. We present arguments that most objects are indeed Lyα. The large comoving number density, 3 × 10−2 h370 Mpc−3, the large covering factor, dN/dz ~ 0.2–1, and the often extended Lyα emission suggest that the emitters can be identified with the elusive host population of damped Lyα systems (DLAS) and high column density Lyman limit systems (LLS). A small inferred star formation rate, perhaps supplemented by cooling radiation, appears to energetically dominate the Lyα emission, and is consistent with the low metallicity, low dust content, and theoretically inferred low masses of DLAS, and with the relative lack of success of earlier searches for their optical counterparts. Some of the line profiles show evidence for radiative transfer in galactic outflows. Stacking surface brightness profiles, we find emission out to at least 4''. The centrally concentrated emission of most objects appears to light up the outskirts of the emitters (where LLS arise) down to a column density where the conversion from UV to Lyα photon becomes inefficient. DLAS, high column density LLS, and the emitter population discovered in this survey appear to be different observational manifestations of the same low-mass, protogalactic building blocks of present-day L* galaxies.

Citation

Rauch, M., Haehnelt, M., Bunker, A., Becker, G., Marleau, F., Graham, J., …Theuns, T. (2008). A population of faint extended line emitters and the host galaxies of optically thick QSO absorption systems. Astrophysical Journal, 681(2), 856-880. https://doi.org/10.1086/525846

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jul 10, 2008
Deposit Date Feb 16, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-637X
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 681
Issue 2
Article Number 856
Pages 856-880
DOI https://doi.org/10.1086/525846
Keywords Diffuse radiation, Galaxies: formation, Intergalactic medium, Quasars: individual ([HGO96] DMS 2139.0–0405).

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Copyright Statement
© 2008. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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