Spatially extended absorption around the z= 2.63 radio galaxy MRC 2025−218: outflow or infall?
Corresponding Author
A. Humphrey
Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. 70-264, 04510 México, DF, Mexico
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 61-1 Hwaam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-348, Korea
E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorM. Villar-Martín
Instituto de Astrofí sica de Andalucía (CSIC), Aptdo. 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain
Search for more papers by this authorS. F. Sánchez
Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, Calar Alto, CSIC-MPG, C/Jesús Durbán Remón 2-2, 04004 Almeria, Spain
Search for more papers by this authorS. Di Serego Alighieri
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorC. De Breuck
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarschild Strasse, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorL. Binette
Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. 70-264, 04510 México, DF, Mexico
Département de Physique, de Génie Physique et d'Optique, Université Laval, Québec, G1K 7P4 QC, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorC. Tadhunter
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH
Search for more papers by this authorJ. Vernet
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarschild Strasse, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorR. Fosbury
Space Telescope – European Coordination Facility, Karl-Schwarzschild Strasse 2, 85748 Garching-bei-München, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorJ. Stasielak
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 61-1 Hwaam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-348, Korea
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
A. Humphrey
Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. 70-264, 04510 México, DF, Mexico
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 61-1 Hwaam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-348, Korea
E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorM. Villar-Martín
Instituto de Astrofí sica de Andalucía (CSIC), Aptdo. 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain
Search for more papers by this authorS. F. Sánchez
Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, Calar Alto, CSIC-MPG, C/Jesús Durbán Remón 2-2, 04004 Almeria, Spain
Search for more papers by this authorS. Di Serego Alighieri
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorC. De Breuck
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarschild Strasse, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorL. Binette
Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. 70-264, 04510 México, DF, Mexico
Département de Physique, de Génie Physique et d'Optique, Université Laval, Québec, G1K 7P4 QC, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorC. Tadhunter
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH
Search for more papers by this authorJ. Vernet
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarschild Strasse, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorR. Fosbury
Space Telescope – European Coordination Facility, Karl-Schwarzschild Strasse 2, 85748 Garching-bei-München, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorJ. Stasielak
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, 61-1 Hwaam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-348, Korea
Search for more papers by this authorABSTRACT
We present an investigation into the absorber in front of the z= 2.63 radio galaxy MRC 2025−218, using integral field spectroscopy obtained at the Very Large Telescope, and long-slit spectroscopy obtained at the Keck II telescope. The properties of MRC 2025−218 are particularly conducive to study the nature of the absorbing gas, i.e. this galaxy shows bright and spatially extended Lyα emission, along with bright continuum emission from the active nucleus.
Lyα absorption is detected across ∼40 × 30 kpc2, has a covering factor of ∼1, and shows remarkably little variation in its properties across its entire spatial extent. This absorber is kinematically detached from the extended emission line region (EELR). Its properties suggest that the absorber is outside of the EELR. We derive lower limits to the H i, H ii and H column densities for this absorber of 3 × 1016, 7 × 1017 and 2 × 1018 cm−2, respectively. Moreover, the relatively bright emission from the active nucleus has allowed us to measure a number of metal absorption lines: C i, C ii, C iv, N v, O i, Si ii, Si iv, Al ii and Al iii. The column density ratios are most naturally explained using photoionization by a hard continuum, with an ionization parameter U∼ 0.0005–0.005. Shocks or photoionization by young stars cannot reproduce satisfactorily the measured column ratios. Using the ratio between the Si ii* and Si ii column densities, we derive a lower limit of ≥10 cm−3 for the electron density of the absorber. The data do not allow useful constraints to be placed on the metallicity of the absorber.
We consider two possibilities for the nature of this absorber: the cosmological infall of gas, and an outflow driven by supernovae or the radio jets. We find it plausible that the absorber around 2025−218 is in outflow. We also find good agreement between the observed properties of the H i absorber and the properties of the H i absorption expected from the cosmological infall model of Barkana & Loeb.
REFERENCES
- Anders E., Grevesse N., 1989, GeCoA, 53, 197
- Barkana R., 2004, MNRAS, 347, 59
- Barkana R., Loeb A., 2003, Nat, 421, 341
- Benson A. J., Bower R. G., Frenk C. S., Lacey C. G., Baugh C. M., Cole S., 2003, ApJ, 599, 38
- Binette L., Dopita M. A., Tuohy I. R., 1985, ApJ, 297, 476
- Binette L., Kurk J. D., Villar-Martín M., Röttgering H. J. A., 2000, A&A, 356, 23
- Binette L., Wilman R. J., Villar-Martín M., Fosbury R. A. E., Jarvis M. J., Röttgering H. J. A., 2006, A&A, 459, 31
- Carilli C. L., Roettgering H. J. A., Van Ojik R., Miley G. K., Van Breugel W. J. M., 1997, ApJS, 109, 1
- Cimatti A., Di Serego Alighieri S., Field G. B., Fosbury R. A. E., 1994, ApJ, 422, 562
- Cimatti A., Di Serego Alighieri S., Vernet J., Cohen M., Fosbury R. A. E., 1998, ApJ, 499, L21
- Conti P. S., Leitherer C., Vacca W. D., 1996, ApJ, 461, L87
- Cooke A. J., Espey B., Carswell R. F., 1997, MNRAS, 284, 552
- Crenshaw D. M., Kraemer S. B., Boggess A., Maran S. P., Mushotzky R. F., Wu C.-C., 1999, ApJ, 516, 750
- Daltabuit E., Cox D., 1972, ApJ, 173, L13
- De Breuck C. et al., 2003, A&A, 401, 911
- Dopita M. A., Sutherland R. S., 1995, ApJ, 455, 468
- Dopita M. A., Sutherland R. S., 1996, ApJS, 102, 161 (DS96)
- Dopita M. A., Binette L., Schwartz R. D., 1982, ApJ, 261, 183
- Fardal M. A., Giroux M. L., Shull J. M., 1998, AJ, 115, 2206
- Ferruit P., Binette L., Sutherland R. S., Pecontal E., 1997, A&A, 322, 73
- Fosbury R. A. E. et al., 2003, ApJ, 596, 797
- Goodrich R. W., Cohen M. H., Putney A., 1995, PASP, 107, 179
- Haiman Z., Spaans M., Quataert E., 2000, ApJ, 537, L5
- Hamann F., Ferland G., 1999, ARA&A, 37, 487
- Humphrey A., Villar-Martín M., Fosbury R., Vernet J., Di Serego Alighieri S., 2006, MNRAS, 369, 1103
- Humphrey A., Villar-Martín M., Fosbury R., Binette L., Vernet J., De Breuck C., Di Serego Alighieri S., 2007, MNRAS, 375, 705
- Humphrey A., Villar-Martín M., Vernet J., Fosbury R., Di Serego Alighieri S., Binette L., 2008, MNRAS, 383, 11
- Jarvis M. J., Wilman R. J., Röttgering H. J. A., Binette L., 2003, MNRAS, 338, 263
-
Keenan F. P.,
Johnson C. T.,
Kingston A. E.,
Dufton P. L., 1985, MNRAS, 214, 37
p
10.1093/mnras/214.1.37P Google Scholar
- Keshet U., Waxman E., Loeb A., Springel V., Hernquist L., 2003, ApJ, 585, 128
- Korista K., Ferland G., Baldwin J., 1997, ApJ, 487, 555
- Krause M., 2002, A&A, 386, L1
- Kurk J. D. et al., 2000, A&A, 358, L1
- Larkin J. E. et al., 2000, ApJ, 533, L61
- LeFevre O. et al., 2003, in M. Iye, A. F. M. Moorwood, eds, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4841, Instrument design and performance for Optical/Infrared Ground-based Telescopes. SPIE, Bellingham , p. 1670
- McCarthy P. J., Spinrad H., Djorgovski S., Strauss M. A., Van Breugel W., Liebert J., 1987, ApJ, 319, L39
- McCarthy P. J., Persson S. E., West S. C., 1992, ApJ, 386, 52
- McCarthy P. J., Kapahi V. K., Van Breugel W., Persson S. E., Athreya R., Subrahmanya C. R., 1996, ApJS, 107, 19
- Nesvadba N. P. H., Lehnert M. D., Eisenhauer F., Gilbert A., Tecza M., Abuter R., 2006, ApJ, 650, 693
- Oke J. B. et al., 1995, PASP, 107, 375
- Pentericci L., Röttgering H. J. A., Miley G. K., McCarthy P., Spinrad H., Van Breugel W. J. M., Macchetto F., 1999, A&A, 341, 329
- Pentericci L., McCarthy P. J., Röttgering H. J. A., Miley G. K., Van Breugel W. J. M., Fosbury R., 2001, ApJS, 135, 63
- Pettini M., Steidel C. C., Adelberger K. L., Dickinson M., Giavalisco M., 2000, ApJ, 528, 96
- Reuland M., Rottgering H., Van Breugel W., De Breuck C., 2004, MNRAS, 353, 377
- Rocca-Volmerange B., Le Borgne D., De Breuck C., Fioc M., Moy E., 2004, A&A, 415, 931
- Röttgering H. J. A., Hunstead R. W., Miley G. K., Van Ojik R., Wieringa M. H., 1995, MNRAS, 277, 389
- Röttgering H. J. A., Van Ojik R., Miley G. K., Chambers K. C., Van Breugel W. J. M., De Koff S., 1997, A&A, 326, 505
- Sánchez S. F., 2006, Astron. Nachr., 327, 850
- Schaye J., Aguirre A., Kim T.-S., Theuns T., Rauch M., Sargent W. L. W., 2003, ApJ, 596, 768
- Seymour N. et al., 2007, ApJS, 171, 353
- Spitzer L., 1978, Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium. Wiley, New York
- Van Ojik R., Röttgering H. J. A., Miley G. K., Hunstead R. W., 1997, A&A, 317, 358
- Vernet J., Fosbury R. A. E., Villar-Martín M., Cohen M. H., Cimatti A., Di Serego Alighieri S., Goodrich R. W., 2001, A&A, 366, 7
- Villar-Martín M., Fosbury R. A. E., Binette L., Tadhunter C. N., Rocca-Volmerange B., 1999, A&A, 351, 47
- Villar-Martín M., Vernet J., Di Serego Alighieri S., Fosbury R., Humphrey A., Pentericci L., 2003, MNRAS, 346, 273
- Villar-Martín M., Sánchez S. F., Humphrey A., Dijkstra M., Di Serego Alighieri S., De Breuck C., González Delgado R., 2007, MNRAS, 378, 416 (Paper I)
- Weidinger M., Møller P., Fynbo J. P. U., 2004, Nat, 430, 999
- Wilman R. J., Jarvis M. J., Röttgering H. J. A., Binette L., 2004, MNRAS, 351, 1109
- Wilman R. J., Gerssen J., Bower R. G., Morris S. L., Bacon R., De Zeeuw P. T., Davies R. L., 2005, Nat, 436, 227
- Wilman R. J., Edge A. C., Swimbank A. M., 2006, MNRAS, 371, 93
- Zirm A. W. et al., 2005, ApJ, 630, 68
