%0 Generic %1 battaia2017inspiraling %A Battaia, Fabrizio Arrigoni %A Prochaska, J. Xavier %A Hennawi, Joseph F. %A Obreja, Aura %A Buck, Tobias %A Cantalupo, Sebastiano %A Dutton, Aaron A. %A Macciò, Andrea V. %D 2017 %K Lya emission nebulae quasar sources %T Inspiraling Halo Accretion Mapped in Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission around a $z\sim3$ Quasar %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1709.08228 %X In an effort to search for Ly$\alpha$ emission from circum- and intergalactic gas on scales of hundreds of kpc around $z\sim3$ quasars, and thus characterise the physical properties of the gas in emission, we have initiated an extensive fast-survey with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE): Quasar Snapshot Observations with MUse: Search for Extended Ultraviolet eMission (QSO MUSEUM). In this work, we report the discovery of an enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula (ELAN) around the quasar SDSS~J102009.99+104002.7 at $z=3.164$, which we followed-up with deeper MUSE observations. This ELAN spans $\sim297$ projected kpc, has an average Ly$\alpha$ surface brightness $SB_Ly\alpha\sim 6.04\times10^-18$ erg s$^-1$ cm$^-2$ arcsec$^-2$ (within the $2\sigma$ isophote), and is associated with an additional four, previously unknown embedded sources: two Ly$\alpha$ emitters and two faint active galactic nuclei (one Type-1 and one Type-2 quasar). By mapping at high significance the line-of-sight velocity in the entirety of the observed structure, we unveiled a large-scale coherent rotation-like pattern spanning $\sim300$ km s$^-1$ with a velocity dispersion of $<270$ km s$^-1$, which we interpret as a signature of the inspiraling accretion of substructures within the quasar's host halo. Future multiwavelength data will complement our MUSE observations, and are definitely needed to fully characterise such a complex system. None the less, our observations reveal the potential of new sensitive integral-field spectrographs to characterise the dynamical state of diffuse gas on large scales in the young Universe, and thereby witness the assembly of galaxies.

@misc{battaia2017inspiraling, abstract = {In an effort to search for Ly$\alpha$ emission from circum- and intergalactic gas on scales of hundreds of kpc around $z\sim3$ quasars, and thus characterise the physical properties of the gas in emission, we have initiated an extensive fast-survey with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE): Quasar Snapshot Observations with MUse: Search for Extended Ultraviolet eMission (QSO MUSEUM). In this work, we report the discovery of an enormous Ly$\alpha$ nebula (ELAN) around the quasar SDSS~J102009.99+104002.7 at $z=3.164$, which we followed-up with deeper MUSE observations. This ELAN spans $\sim297$ projected kpc, has an average Ly$\alpha$ surface brightness ${\rm SB}_{\rm Ly\alpha}\sim 6.04\times10^{-18}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ arcsec$^{-2}$ (within the $2\sigma$ isophote), and is associated with an additional four, previously unknown embedded sources: two Ly$\alpha$ emitters and two faint active galactic nuclei (one Type-1 and one Type-2 quasar). By mapping at high significance the line-of-sight velocity in the entirety of the observed structure, we unveiled a large-scale coherent rotation-like pattern spanning $\sim300$ km s$^{-1}$ with a velocity dispersion of $<270$ km s$^{-1}$, which we interpret as a signature of the inspiraling accretion of substructures within the quasar's host halo. Future multiwavelength data will complement our MUSE observations, and are definitely needed to fully characterise such a complex system. None the less, our observations reveal the potential of new sensitive integral-field spectrographs to characterise the dynamical state of diffuse gas on large scales in the young Universe, and thereby witness the assembly of galaxies.}, added-at = {2017-09-26T09:36:40.000+0200}, author = {Battaia, Fabrizio Arrigoni and Prochaska, J. Xavier and Hennawi, Joseph F. and Obreja, Aura and Buck, Tobias and Cantalupo, Sebastiano and Dutton, Aaron A. and Macciò, Andrea V.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d7db32231ee81418719f0c678c098b2e/miki}, description = {[1709.08228] Inspiraling Halo Accretion Mapped in Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission around a $z\sim3$ Quasar}, interhash = {c3fd35e45a6009d19609d0c4410d3da3}, intrahash = {d7db32231ee81418719f0c678c098b2e}, keywords = {Lya emission nebulae quasar sources}, note = {cite arxiv:1709.08228Comment: 39 pages with 27 figures and 5 appendices. Accepted to MNRAS}, timestamp = {2017-09-26T09:36:40.000+0200}, title = {Inspiraling Halo Accretion Mapped in Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission around a $z\sim3$ Quasar}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1709.08228}, year = 2017 }