%0 Generic %1 farina2017mapping %A Farina, Emanuele P. %A Venemans, Bram P. %A Decarli, Roberto %A Hennawi, Joseph F. %A Walter, Fabian %A Bañados, Eduardo %A Mazzucchelli, Chiara %A Cantalupo, Sebastiano %A Arrigoni-Battaia, Fabrizio %A McGreer, Ian D. %D 2017 %K high-z nebula quasar %T Mapping the Lyman-Alpha Emission Around a z~6.6 QSO with MUSE: Extended Emission and a Companion at Close Separation %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1709.06096 %X We utilize the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to search for extended Lyman-Alpha emission around the z~6.6 QSO J0305-3150. After carefully subtracting the point-spread-function, we reach a nominal 5-sigma surface brightness limit of SB = 1.9x10$^-18$ erg/s/cm$^2$/arcsec$^2$ over a 1 arcsec$^2$ aperture, collapsing 5 wavelength slices centered at the expected location of the redshifted Lyman-Alpha emission (i.e. at 9256 Ang.). Current data suggest the presence (5-sigma, accounting for systematics) of a Lyman-Alpha nebula that extends for 9 kpc around the QSO. This emission is displaced and redshifted by 155 km/s with respect to the location of the QSO host galaxy traced by the CII emission line. The total luminosity is L = 3.0x10$^42$ erg/s. Our analysis suggests that this emission is unlikely to rise from optically thick clouds illuminated by the ionizing radiation of the QSO. It is more plausible that the Lyman-Alpha emission is due to fluorescence of the highly ionized optically thin gas. This scenario implies a high hydrogen volume density of n$_H$ ~ 6 cm$^-3$. In addition, we detect a Lyman-Alpha emitter (LAE) in the immediate vicinity of the QSO: i.e., with a projected separation of 12.5 kpc and a line-of-sight velocity difference of 560 km/s. The luminosity of the LAE is L = 2.1x10$^42$ erg/s and its inferred star-formation-rate is SFR ~ 1.3 M$_ødot$/yr. The probability of finding such a close LAE is one order of magnitude above the expectations based on the QSO-galaxy cross-correlation function. This discovery is in agreement with a scenario where dissipative interactions favour the rapid build-up of super-massive black holes at early Cosmic times.

@misc{farina2017mapping, abstract = {We utilize the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to search for extended Lyman-Alpha emission around the z~6.6 QSO J0305-3150. After carefully subtracting the point-spread-function, we reach a nominal 5-sigma surface brightness limit of SB = 1.9x10$^{-18}$ erg/s/cm$^2$/arcsec$^2$ over a 1 arcsec$^2$ aperture, collapsing 5 wavelength slices centered at the expected location of the redshifted Lyman-Alpha emission (i.e. at 9256 Ang.). Current data suggest the presence (5-sigma, accounting for systematics) of a Lyman-Alpha nebula that extends for 9 kpc around the QSO. This emission is displaced and redshifted by 155 km/s with respect to the location of the QSO host galaxy traced by the [CII] emission line. The total luminosity is L = 3.0x10$^{42}$ erg/s. Our analysis suggests that this emission is unlikely to rise from optically thick clouds illuminated by the ionizing radiation of the QSO. It is more plausible that the Lyman-Alpha emission is due to fluorescence of the highly ionized optically thin gas. This scenario implies a high hydrogen volume density of n$_H$ ~ 6 cm$^{-3}$. In addition, we detect a Lyman-Alpha emitter (LAE) in the immediate vicinity of the QSO: i.e., with a projected separation of 12.5 kpc and a line-of-sight velocity difference of 560 km/s. The luminosity of the LAE is L = 2.1x10$^{42}$ erg/s and its inferred star-formation-rate is SFR ~ 1.3 M$_\odot$/yr. The probability of finding such a close LAE is one order of magnitude above the expectations based on the QSO-galaxy cross-correlation function. This discovery is in agreement with a scenario where dissipative interactions favour the rapid build-up of super-massive black holes at early Cosmic times.}, added-at = {2017-09-20T11:54:20.000+0200}, author = {Farina, Emanuele P. and Venemans, Bram P. and Decarli, Roberto and Hennawi, Joseph F. and Walter, Fabian and Bañados, Eduardo and Mazzucchelli, Chiara and Cantalupo, Sebastiano and Arrigoni-Battaia, Fabrizio and McGreer, Ian D.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d61561e3db524713fbf372cb792db125/miki}, description = {[1709.06096] Mapping the Lyman-Alpha Emission Around a z~6.6 QSO with MUSE: Extended Emission and a Companion at Close Separation}, interhash = {9e46139df3d2b56a961858bdfc46a22e}, intrahash = {d61561e3db524713fbf372cb792db125}, keywords = {high-z nebula quasar}, note = {cite arxiv:1709.06096Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ}, timestamp = {2017-09-20T11:54:20.000+0200}, title = {Mapping the Lyman-Alpha Emission Around a z~6.6 QSO with MUSE: Extended Emission and a Companion at Close Separation}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1709.06096}, year = 2017 }