A Multiwavelength Study of ELAN Environments (AMUSE2). Detection of a Dusty Star-forming Galaxy within the Enormous Lyα Nebula at z=2.3 Sheds Light on its Origin

We present ALMA observations on and around the radio-quiet quasar UM 287 at z = 2.28. Together with a companion quasar, UM 287 is believed to play a major role in powering the surrounding enormous Lyα nebula (ELAN), dubbed the Slug ELAN, that has an end-to-end size of 450 physical kpc. In addition to the quasars, we detect a new dusty star-forming galaxy (DSFG), dubbed the Slug-DSFG, in 2 mm continuum with a single emission line consistent with CO(4−3). The Slug-DSFG sits at a projected distance of 100 kpc southeast from UM 287, with a systemic velocity difference of −360 ± 30 km s−1 with respect to UM 287, suggesting it is a possible contributor to the powering of the Slug ELAN. With careful modeling of the SED and dynamical analyses, it is found that the Slug-DSFG and UM 287 appear low in both gas fraction and gas-to-dust ratio, suggesting environmental effects due to the host’s massive halo. In addition, our Keck long-slit spectra reveal significant Lyα emissions from the Slug-DSFG, as well as a Lyα tail that starts at the location and velocity of the Slug-DSFG and extends toward the south, with a projected length of about 100 kpc. Supported by various analytical estimates we propose that the Lyα tail is a result of the Slug-DSFG experiencing ram pressure stripping. The gas mass stripped is estimated to be about 109 M ⊙, contributing to the dense warm/cool gas reservoir that is believed to help power the exceptional Lyα luminosity.

Tracing the Ionization Structure of the Shocked Filaments of NGC 6240

We study the ionization and excitation structure of the interstellar medium in the late-stage gas-rich galaxy merger NGC 6240 using a suite of emission-line maps at ∼25 pc resolution from the Hubble Space Telescope, Keck/NIRC2 with Adaptive Optics, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). NGC 6240 hosts a superwind driven by intense star formation and/or one or both of two active nuclei; the outflows produce bubbles and filaments seen in shock tracers from warm molecular gas (H2 2.12 μm) to optical ionized gas ([O iii], [N ii], [S ii], and [O i]) and hot plasma (Fe XXV). In the most distinct bubble, we see a clear shock front traced by high [O iii]/Hβ and [O iii]/[O i]. Cool molecular gas (CO(2−1)) is only present near the base of the bubble, toward the nuclei launching the outflow. We interpret the lack of molecular gas outside the bubble to mean that the shock front is not responsible for dissociating molecular gas, and conclude that the molecular clouds are partly shielded and either entrained briefly in the outflow, or left undisturbed while the hot wind flows around them. Elsewhere in the galaxy, shock-excited H2 extends at least ∼4 kpc from the nuclei, tracing molecular gas even warmer than that between the nuclei, where the two galaxies’ interstellar media are colliding. A ridgeline of high [O iii]/Hβ emission along the eastern arm aligns with the southern nucleus’ stellar disk minor axis; optical integral field spectroscopy from WiFeS suggests this highly ionized gas is centered at systemic velocity and likely photoionized by direct line of sight to the southern active galactic nucleus.

Feedback from γ Cassiopeiae: Large Expanding Cavity, Accelerating Cometary Globules, and Peculiar X-Ray Emission

We present wide-field multiwavelength observations of γ Cassiopeiae (or γ Cas for short) in order to study its feedback toward the interstellar environment. A large expanding cavity is discovered toward γ Cas in the neutral hydrogen (H i) images at a systemic velocity of about −10 km s−1. The measured dimension of the cavity is roughly 2.°0 × 1.°4 (or 6.0 pc × 4.2 pc at a distance of 168 pc), while the expansion velocity is ∼5.0 ± 0.5 km s−1. The CO observations reveal systematic velocity gradients in IC 63 (∼20 km s−1 pc−1) and IC 59 (∼30 km s−1 pc−1), two cometary globules illuminated by γ Cas, proving fast acceleration of the globules under stellar radiation pressure. The gas kinematics indicate that the cavity is opened by strong stellar wind, which has high potential to lead to the peculiar X-ray emission observed in γ Cas. Our result favors a new scenario that emphasizes the roles of stellar wind and binarity in the X-ray emission of the γ Cas stars.

Discovery of a Highly Collimated Flow from the High-mass Protostar ISOSS J23053+5953 SMM2

We present Very Large Array C-, X-, and Q-band continuum observations, as well as 1.3 mm continuum and CO(2-1) observations with the Submillimeter Array toward the high-mass protostellar candidate ISOSS J23053+5953 SMM2. Compact centimeter continuum emission was detected near the center of the SMM2 core with a spectral index of 0.24(± 0.15) between 6 and 3.6 cm, and a radio luminosity of 1.3(±0.4) mJy kpc2. The 1.3 mm thermal dust emission indicates a mass of the SMM2 core of 45.8 (±13.4) M ⊙, and a density of 7.1 (±1.2)× 106 cm−3. The CO(2-1) observations reveal a large, massive molecular outflow centered on the SMM2 core. This fast outflow (>50 km s−1 from the cloud systemic velocity) is highly collimated, with a broader, lower-velocity component. The large values for outflow mass (45.2 ± 12.6 M ⊙) and momentum rate (6 ± 2 × 10−3 M ⊙ km s−1yr−1) derived from the CO emission are consistent with those of flows driven by high-mass YSOs. The dynamical timescale of the flow is between 1.5 and 7.2 × 104 yr. We also found from the C18O to thermal dust emission ratio that CO is depleted by a factor of about 20, possibly due to freeze-out of CO molecules on dust grains. Our data are consistent with previous findings that ISOSS J23053 + 5953 SMM2 is an emerging high-mass protostar in an early phase of evolution, with an ionized jet and a fast, highly collimated, and massive outflow.

Discovery of tidal debris stars from G1/Mayall-II in M31

The object Mayall II or G1 is the brightest globular cluster belonging to M31. Because of its extreme properties for a globular cluster, it has been speculated that G1 is the remnant nucleus of a dwarf galaxy that has been stripped by the tidal field of M31. Using the Keck DEIMOS spectrograph, we have conducted a survey for tidally stripped stars from G1, obtaining a sample of 351 stellar velocities over ∼ 320 sq. arcminutes of sky centered on G1. Thirteen are within $25~{\, \rm km\, s^{-1}\, }$ of the systemic velocity of G1, and exhibit spatial and velocity correlations consistent with being dynamically associated with G1, and all thirteen are well outside the tidal radius of the cluster. These thirteen stars could be either (i) the remnants of an almost completely evaporated stellar envelope, or (ii) G1 member stars lost through tidal interaction with M31. Estimates of the implied mass loss rate based on our data suggest a short dissolution time-scale for G1, thus favouring the stellar envelope hypothesis for the origin of the tidal tail stars, or, at the very least, an advanced stage of cluster dissolution. In either case, G1, and by extension compact stellar systems in general, have likely played a significant role in building the halo of M31.

The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey

Context. The Lyman-α line in the ultraviolet (UV) and the [CII] line in the far-infrared (FIR) are widely used tools to identify galaxies in the early Universe and to obtain insights into interstellar medium (ISM) properties in high-redshift galaxies. By combining data obtained with ALMA in band 7 at ∼320 GHz as part of the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early Times (ALPINE) with spectroscopic data from DEIMOS at the Keck Observatory, VIMOS and FORS2 at the Very Large Telescope, we assembled a unique sample of 53 main-sequence star-forming galaxies at 4.4 < z < 6 in which we detect both the Lyman-α line in the UV and the [CII] line in the FIR. Aims. The goal of this paper is to constrain the properties of the Lyα emission in these galaxies in relation to other properties of the ISM. Methods. We used [CII], observed with ALMA, as a tracer of the systemic velocity of the galaxies, and we exploited the available optical spectroscopy to obtain the Lyα-[CII] and ISM-[CII] velocity offsets. Results. We find that 90% of the selected objects have Lyα-[CII] velocity offsets in the range 0 < ΔvLyα − [CII] < 400 km s−1, in line with the few measurements available so far in the early Universe, and significantly smaller than those observed at lower redshifts. At the same time, we observe ISM-[CII] offsets in the range −500 < ΔvISM−[CII] < 0 km s−1, in line with values at all redshifts, which we interpret as evidence for outflows in these galaxies. We find significant anticorrelations between ΔvLyα−[CII] and the Lyα rest-frame equivalent width EW0(Lyα) (or equivalently, the Lyα escape fraction fesc(Lyα)): galaxies that show smaller ΔvLyα−[CII] have larger EW0(Lyα) and fesc(Lyα). Conclusions. We interpret these results in the framework of available models for the radiative transfer of Lyα photons. According to the models, the escape of Lyα photons would be favored in galaxies with high outflow velocities, producing large EW0(Lyα) and small ΔvLyα-[CII], in agreement with our observations. The uniform shell model would also predict that the Lyα escape in galaxies with slow outflows (0 < vout < 300 km s−1) is mainly determined by the neutral hydrogen column density (NHI) along the line of sight, while the alternative model by Steidel et al. (2010, ApJ, 717, 289) would more highly favor a combination of NHI at the systemic velocity and covering fraction as driver of the Lyα escape. We suggest that the increase in Lyα escape that is observed in the literature between z ∼ 2 and z ∼ 6 is not due to a higher incidence of fast outflows at high redshift, but rather to a decrease in average NHI along the line of sight, or alternatively, a decrease in HI covering fraction.

Ionized outflows in local luminous AGN: what are the real densities and outflow rates?

ABSTRACT We report on the determination of electron densities, and their impact on the outflow masses and rates, measured in the central few hundred parsecs of 11 local luminous active galaxies. We show that the peak of the integrated line emission in the active galactic nuclei (AGN) is significantly offset from the systemic velocity as traced by the stellar absorption features, indicating that the profiles are dominated by outflow. In contrast, matched inactive galaxies are characterized by a systemic peak and weaker outflow wing. We present three independent estimates of the electron density in these AGN, discussing the merits of the different methods. The electron density derived from the [S ii] doublet is significantly lower than that found with a method developed in the last decade using auroral and transauroral lines, as well as a recently introduced method based on the ionization parameter. The reason is that, for gas photoionized by an AGN, much of the [S ii] emission arises in an extended partially ionized zone where the implicit assumption that the electron density traces the hydrogen density is invalid. We propose ways to deal with this situation and we derive the associated outflow rates for ionized gas, which are in the range 0.001–0.5 M⊙ yr−1 for our AGN sample. We compare these outflow rates to the relation between $\dot{M}_{\rm out}$ and LAGN in the literature, and argue that it may need to be modified and rescaled towards lower mass outflow rates.

First 3D morpho-kinematic model of supernova remnants. The case of VRO 42.05.01 (G166.0+4.3)

ABSTRACT We present the first three-dimensional (3D) morpho-kinematic (MK) model of a supernova remnant (SNR), using as a case study the Galactic SNR VRO 42.05.01. We employed the astrophysical code SHAPE in which wide field imaging and high-resolution spectroscopic data were utilized, to reconstruct its 3D morphology and kinematics. We found that the remnant consists of three basic distinctive components that we call: a ‘shell’, a ‘wing’, and a ‘hat’. With respect to their kinematical behaviour, we found that the ‘wing’ and the ‘shell’ have similar expansion velocities (Vexp = 115 ± 5 km s−1). The ‘hat’ presents the lowest expansion velocity of the remnant (Vexp = 90 ± 20 km s−1), while the upper part of the ‘shell’ presents the highest velocity with respect to the rest of the remnant (Vexp = 155 ± 15 km s−1). Furthermore, the whole nebula has an inclination of ∼3°–5° with respect to the plane of the sky and a systemic velocity of Vsys = −17 ± 3 km s−1. We discuss the interpretation of our model results regarding the origin and evolution of the SNR and we suggest that VRO 42.05.01 had an interaction history with an inhomogeneous ambient medium most likely shaped by the mass outflows of its progenitor star.

Spectroscopic study of MATLAS-2019 with MUSE: An ultra-diffuse galaxy with an excess of old globular clusters

The MATLAS deep imaging survey has uncovered a plethora of dwarf galaxies in the low density environment it has mapped. A fraction of them are unusually extended and have low surface brightness. Among these so-called ultra-diffuse galaxies, a few seem to host an excess of globular clusters (GCs). With the integral field unit spectrograph MUSE we have observed one of these galaxies – MATLAS J15052031+0148447 (MATLAS-2019) – located toward the nearby group NGC 5846 and measured its systemic velocity, age, and metallicity, and that of its GC candidates. For the stellar body of MATLAS-2019 we derive a metallicity of −1.33−0.01+0.19 dex and an age of 11.2−0.8+1.8 Gyr. For some of the individual GCs and the stacked GC population, we derive consistent ages and metallicities. From the 11 confirmed GCs and using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach we derived a dynamical mass-to-light ratio of 4.2−3.4+8.6 M⊙/L⊙. This is at the lower end of the luminosity-mass scaling relation defined by the Local Group dwarf galaxies. Furthermore, we could not confirm or reject the possibility of a rotational component in the GC system. If present, this would further modify the inferred mass. Follow-up observations of the GC population and of the stellar body of the galaxy are needed to assess whether this galaxy lacks dark matter, as was suggested for the pair of dwarf galaxies in the field of NGC 1052, or if this is a misinterpretation arising from systematic uncertainties of the method commonly used for these systems and the large uncertainties of the individual GC velocities.

FLASHING: New high-velocity H2O masers in IRAS 18286−0959

We discovered new high-velocity components of H2O maser emission in one of the “water fountain” sources, IRAS 18286−0959, which has been monitored using the Nobeyama 45 m telescope in the FLASHING (Finest Legacy Acquisitions of SiO- and H2O-maser Ignitions by Nobeyama Generation) project since 2018 December. The maser spectra show new components with extremely high expansion velocities (&gt;200 km s−1 projected in the line of sight), some of which are located symmetrically in the spectrum with respect to the systemic velocity. They were also mapped with KaVA (KVN and VERA Combined Array) in 2019 March. We located some of these maser components closer to the central stellar system than other high-velocity components (50–200 km s−1) that have been confirmed to be associated with the known bipolar outflow. The new components would have flashed in the fast collimated jet at a speed of over 300 km s−1 (soon) after 2011 when they had not been detected. The fastest of the new components seem to indicate rapid deceleration in these spectra; however, our present monitoring is still too sparse to unambiguously confirm it (up to 50 km s−1 yr−1) and too short to reveal their terminal expansion velocity, which will be equal to the expansion velocity that has been observed ($v$exp ∼ 120 km s−1). Future occurrences of such extreme-velocity components may provide a good opportunity to investigate possible recurrent outflow ignitions. Thus, the sculpture of the parental envelope will be traced by the dense gas that is entrained by the fast jet and exhibits spectacular distributions of the relatively stable maser features.