1. A giant Ly$\alpha$ nebula and a small-scale clumpy outflow in the system of the exotic quasar J0952+0114 unveiled by MUSE
- Author
-
Sean D. Johnson, Sebastiano Cantalupo, Sowgat Muzahid, Ruari Mackenzie, Sofia G. Gallego, Gabriele Pezzulli, Nicolas Bouché, Themiya Nanayakkara, Jarle Brinchmann, Ilane Schroetter, Simon J. Lilly, Jorryt Matthee, Anna Feltre, Raffaella Anna Marino, Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie (IRAP), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (CRAL), École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation (GEPI), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Marino, R, Cantalupo, S, Pezzulli, G, Lilly, S, Gallego, S, Mackenzie, R, Matthee, J, Brinchmann, J, Bouche, N, Feltre, A, Muzahid, S, Schroetter, I, Johnson, S, Nanayakkara, T, Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL)
- Subjects
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) ,Scale (ratio) ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,010305 fluids & plasmas ,quasars: general ,0103 physical sciences ,Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics ,Physics ,emission lines ,quasars: individual (SDSS J095253.83+011421.9) ,techniques: imaging spectroscopy [intergalactic medium ,quasars] ,Nebula ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Quasar ,Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies ,techniques: imaging spectroscopy ,13. Climate action ,Space and Planetary Science ,Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) ,Intergalactic medium ,Outflow ,intergalactic medium ,[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,quasars: emission line ,Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics - Abstract
The well-known quasar SDSS J095253.83+011421.9 (J0952+0114) at z=3.02 has one of the most peculiar spectra discovered so far, showing the presence of narrow Ly$\alpha$ and broad metal emission lines. Although recent studies have suggested that a Proximate Damped Ly$\alpha$ system (PDLA) causes this peculiar spectrum, the origin of the gas associated with the PDLA is unknown. Here we report the results of MUSE observations that reveal a new giant ($\approx$ 100 physical kpc) Lyman $\alpha$ nebula. The detailed analysis of the Ly$\alpha$ velocity, velocity dispersion, and surface brightness profiles suggests that the J0952+0114 Ly$\alpha$ nebula shares similar properties of other QSO nebulae previously detected with MUSE, implying that the PDLA in J0952+0144 is covering only a small fraction of the QSO emission solid angle. We also detected bright and spectrally narrow CIV$\lambda$1550 and HeII$\lambda$1640 extended emission around J0952+0114 with velocity centroids similar to the peak of the extended and central narrow Ly$\alpha$ emission. The presence of a peculiarly bright, unresolved, and relatively broad HeII$\lambda$1640 emission in the central region at exactly the same PDLA redshift hints at the possibility that the PDLA originates in a clumpy outflow with a bulk velocity of about 500 km/s. The smaller velocity dispersion of the large scale Ly$\alpha$ emission suggests that the high-speed outflow is confined to the central region. Lastly, the derived spatially resolved HeII/Ly$\alpha$ and CIV/Ly$\alpha$ maps show a positive gradient with the distance to the QSO hinting at a non-homogeneous ionization parameter distribution., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures and 2 tables; Accepted for publication in ApJ
- Published
- 2019