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Directly Tracing Cool Filamentary Accretion over >100 kpc into the Interstellar Medium of a Quasar Host at z = 1

Johnson, Sean D. and Schaye, Joop and Walth, Gregory L. and Li, Jennifer I-Hsiu and Rudie, Gwen C. and Chen, Hsiao-Wen and Chen, Mandy C. and Epinat, Benoît and Gaspari, Massimo and Cantalupo, Sebastiano and Kollatschny, Wolfram and Liu, Zhuoqi (Will) and Muzahid, Sowgat (2022) Directly Tracing Cool Filamentary Accretion over >100 kpc into the Interstellar Medium of a Quasar Host at z = 1. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 940 (2). Art. No. L40. ISSN 2041-8205. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aca28e. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20221212-796287200.21

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Abstract

We report the discovery of giant (50−100 kpc) [O ɪɪ] emitting nebulae with MUSE in the field of TXS 0206−048, a luminous quasar at z = 1.13. “Down-the-barrel” UV spectra of the quasar show absorption at velocities coincident with those of the extended nebulae, enabling new insights into inflows and outflows around the quasar host. One nebula exhibits a filamentary morphology extending over 120 kpc from the halo toward the quasar and intersecting with another nebula surrounding the quasar host with a radius of 50 kpc. This is the longest cool filament observed to date and arises at higher redshift and in a less massive system than those in cool-core clusters. The filamentary nebula has line-of-sight velocities >300 km s⁻¹ from nearby galaxies but matches that of the nebula surrounding the quasar host where they intersect, consistent with accretion of cool intergalactic or circumgalactic medium or cooling hot halo gas. The kinematics of the nebulae surrounding the quasar host are unusual and complex, with redshifted and blueshifted spiral-like structures. The emission velocities at 5−10 kpc from the quasar match those of inflowing absorbing gas observed in UV spectra of the quasar. Together, the extended nebulae and associated redshifted absorption represent a compelling case of cool, filamentary gas accretion from halo scales into the extended interstellar medium and toward the nucleus of a massive quasar host. The inflow rate implied by the combined emission and absorption constraints is well below levels required to sustain the quasar’s radiative luminosity, suggesting anisotropic or variable accretion.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aca28eDOIArticle
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Johnson, Sean D.0000-0001-9487-8583
Schaye, Joop0000-0002-0668-5560
Walth, Gregory L.0000-0002-6313-6808
Li, Jennifer I-Hsiu0000-0002-0311-2812
Rudie, Gwen C.0000-0002-8459-5413
Chen, Hsiao-Wen0000-0001-8813-4182
Chen, Mandy C.0000-0002-8739-3163
Epinat, Benoît0000-0002-2470-5756
Gaspari, Massimo0000-0003-2754-9258
Cantalupo, Sebastiano0000-0001-5804-1428
Kollatschny, Wolfram0000-0002-0417-1494
Liu, Zhuoqi (Will)0000-0002-2662-9363
Muzahid, Sowgat0000-0003-3938-8762
Additional Information:The authors are grateful for the efforts of the anonymous referee whose thorough feedback strengthened the paper. S.D.J. gratefully acknowledges partial support from HST-GO-15280.009-A, HST-GO-15298.007-A, HST-GO-15655.018-A, and HST-GO-15935.021-A. M.G. acknowledges partial support by HST-GO-15890.020/023-A, the BlackHoleWeather program, and NASA HEC Pleiades (SMD-2359). S.C. gratefully acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation program grant agreement No. 864361. G.L.W. acknowledges partial support from HST-GO-15655.006-A and HST-GO-16016.002. Based on observations from the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO (PI: Schaye, PID: 094.A-0131) and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (PI: Abraham, PID: 9760; PI: Morris, 12264; PI: van der Marel, PID: 12564; PI: L. Straka; PID: 14660). The COS spectra and ACS images analyzed in this paper can be accessed via COS doi:10.17909/4dnz-y880 and ACS doi:10.17909/tekk-dx10, respectively. This Letter includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. The paper made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, the NASA Astrophysics Data System, Astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2018), and Aplpy (Robitaille & Bressert 2012).
Group:Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
NASAHST-GO-15280.009-A
NASAHST-GO-15298.007-A
NASAHST-GO-15655.018-A
NASAHST-GO-15935.021-A
NASAHST-GO-15890.020/023-A
NASASMD-2359
European Research Council (ERC)864361
NASAHST-GO-15655.006-A
NASAHST-GO-16016.002
Issue or Number:2
DOI:10.3847/2041-8213/aca28e
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20221212-796287200.21
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20221212-796287200.21
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:118311
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Research Services Depository
Deposited On:14 Jan 2023 21:08
Last Modified:17 Jan 2023 17:02

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