Published September 10, 2021 | Version Published + Accepted Version
Journal Article Open

ALMA Observations of Lyα Blob 1: Multiple Major Mergers and Widely Distributed Interstellar Media

  • 1. ROR icon RIKEN
  • 2. ROR icon University of Tokyo
  • 3. ROR icon Durham University
  • 4. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 5. ROR icon Stockholm University
  • 6. ROR icon University of British Columbia
  • 7. ROR icon European Southern Observatory
  • 8. ROR icon Ehime University
  • 9. ROR icon National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
  • 10. ROR icon The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI
  • 11. ROR icon Nagoya University
  • 12. ROR icon University of Hertfordshire

Abstract

We present observations of a giant Lyα blob (LAB) in the SSA22 protocluster at z = 3.1, SSA22-LAB1, taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Dust continuum, along with [C ii] 158 μm and CO(4–3) line emission have been detected in LAB1, showing complex morphology and kinematics across a ∼100 kpc central region. Seven galaxies at z = 3.0987–3.1016 in the surroundings are identified in [C ii] and dust continuum emission, with two of them potential companions or tidal structures associated with the most massive galaxies. Spatially resolved [C ii] and infrared luminosity ratios for the widely distributed media (L_[Cɪɪ]/L_(IR) ≈ 10⁻²−10⁻³) suggest that the observed extended interstellar media are likely to have originated from star formation activity and the contribution from shocked gas is probably not dominant. LAB1 is found to harbor a total molecular gas mass M_(mol) = (8.7 ± 2.0) × 10¹⁰ M_⊙, concentrated in the core region of the Lyα-emitting area. While (primarily obscured) star formation activity in the LAB1 core is one of the most plausible power sources for the Lyα emission, multiple major mergers found in the core may also play a role in making LAB1 exceptionally bright and extended in Lyα as a result of cooling radiation induced by gravitational interactions.

Additional Information

© 2021. The American Astronomical Society. Received 2021 April 12; revised 2021 June 22; accepted 2021 July 1; published 2021 September 9. We wish to thank the anonymous referee for constructive comments that improved this paper. We acknowledges valuable discussion with Hidenobu Yajima. We thank Scott Chapman and Ken Mawatari for sharing calibrated optical-to-near-infrared images with us. H.U., Y.M. and K.N. acknowledge support from JSPS KAKENHI grant (17KK0098, 20H01953, 19K03937). I.R.S. acknowledges STFC through grant number ST/T000244/1. R.J.I. is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy—EXC-2094 –390783311. This paper makes use of the following ALMA data: ADS/JAO.ALMA #2013.1.00704.S, #2013.1.00922.S, #2016.1.00485.S, #2016.1.01134.S, #2017.1.01209.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA), and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO, and NAOJ. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. Our data are based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. This research is based on data collected at Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. We are honored and grateful for the opportunity of observing the universe from Maunakea, which is cultural, historical, and natural significance in Hawaii. This research is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5–26555. Facilities: ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array, Subaru - , VLT(MUSE) - , HST(STIS). - Software: astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013); casa (McMullin et al. 2007); MUSE pipeline (Weilbacher et al. 2016); mpdaf (Piqueras et al. 2017); (Bacon et al. 2016).

Attached Files

Published - Umehata_2021_ApJ_918_69.pdf

Accepted Version - 2107.01162.pdf

Files

2107.01162.pdf

Files (15.8 MB)

Name Size
md5:069a944ce8ac93bc41638a94114a7f8b
12.8 MB Preview Download
md5:2a7103247eba638e8ba77602199bd07a
3.0 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Additional titles

Alternative title
ALMA Observations of Lyman-alpha Blob 1: Multiple major-mergers and widely distributed interstellar media

Identifiers

Eprint ID
110903
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20210914-225410693

Related works

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
17KK0098
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
20H01953
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
19K03937
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
ST/T000244/1
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
EXC-2094 -390783311
NASA
NAS 5-26555

Dates

Created
2021-09-15
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-09-15
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Astronomy Department