MUSE analysis of gas around galaxies (MAGG) – III. The gas and galaxy environment of z = 3–4.5 quasars

Fossati, M; Fumagalli, M; Lofthouse, EK; Dutta, R; Cantalupo, S; Arrigoni Battaia, F; Fynbo, JPU; Lusso, E; Murphy, MT; Prochaska, JX; Theuns, T; Cooke, RJ

doi:10.1093/mnras/stab660

MUSE analysis of gas around galaxies (MAGG) – III. The gas and galaxy environment of z = 3–4.5 quasars

Fossati, M; Fumagalli, M; Lofthouse, EK; Dutta, R; Cantalupo, S; Arrigoni Battaia, F; Fynbo, JPU; Lusso, E; Murphy, MT; Prochaska, JX; Theuns, T; Cooke, RJ

Authors

M Fossati

M Fumagalli

EK Lofthouse

R Dutta

S Cantalupo

F Arrigoni Battaia

JPU Fynbo

E Lusso

MT Murphy

JX Prochaska

Professor Tom Theuns tom.theuns@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Dr Ryan Cooke ryan.j.cooke@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

We present a study of the environment of 27 z = 3–4.5 bright quasars from the MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) survey. With medium-depth Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations (4 h on target per field), we characterize the effects of quasars on their surroundings by studying simultaneously the properties of extended gas nebulae and Ly α emitters (LAEs) in the quasar host haloes. We detect extended (up to ≈100 kpc) Ly α emission around all MAGG quasars, finding a very weak redshift evolution between z = 3 and z = 6. By stacking the MUSE datacubes, we confidently detect extended emission of C IV and only marginally detect extended He II up to ≈40 kpc, implying that the gas is metal enriched. Moreover, our observations show a significant overdensity of LAEs within 300 km s−1 from the quasar systemic redshifts estimated from the nebular emission. The luminosity functions and equivalent width distributions of these LAEs show similar shapes with respect to LAEs away from quasars suggesting that the Ly α emission of the majority of these sources is not significantly boosted by the quasar radiation or other processes related to the quasar environment. Within this framework, the observed LAE overdensities and our kinematic measurements imply that bright quasars at z = 3–4.5 are hosted by haloes in the mass range ≈1012.0−−1012.5 M⊙⁠.

Citation

Fossati, M., Fumagalli, M., Lofthouse, E., Dutta, R., Cantalupo, S., Arrigoni Battaia, F., …Cooke, R. (2021). MUSE analysis of gas around galaxies (MAGG) – III. The gas and galaxy environment of z = 3–4.5 quasars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 503(2), 3044-3064. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab660

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 1, 2021
Online Publication Date	Mar 8, 2021
Publication Date	2021-05
Deposit Date	Jul 14, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Jul 14, 2021
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN	0035-8711
Electronic ISSN	1365-2966
Publisher	Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	503
Issue	2
Pages	3044-3064
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab660

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This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2021 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.