MusE GAs FLOw and Wind (MEGAFLOW) VIII. Discovery of a Mgii emission halo probed by a quasar sightline

J Zabl, NF Bouché, L Wisotzki, J Schaye… - Monthly Notices of …, 2021 - academic.oup.com
J Zabl, NF Bouché, L Wisotzki, J Schaye, F Leclercq, T Garel, M Wendt, I Schroetter…
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2021•academic.oup.com
Using deep () VLT/MUSE data from the MEGAFLOW survey, we report the first detection of
extended emission from a galaxy's halo that is probed by a quasar sightline. The emission
around the z= 0.702 galaxy () is detected out to from the central galaxy and covers above a
surface brightness of (; integrated over and averaged over). The emission around this highly
inclined galaxy (i≃ 75 deg) is strongest along the galaxy's projected minor axis, consistent
with the gas having been ejected from the galaxy into a bi-conical structure. The quasar …
Abstract
Using deep () VLT/MUSE data from the MEGAFLOW survey, we report the first detection of extended $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ emission from a galaxy’s halo that is probed by a quasar sightline. The $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}\, \lambda \lambda \, 2796, 2803$ emission around the z = 0.702 galaxy () is detected out to from the central galaxy and covers above a surface brightness of (; integrated over $1200\, \rm{km\, s}^{-1}= 19\mathring{\rm A}$ and averaged over ). The $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ emission around this highly inclined galaxy (i ≃ 75 deg) is strongest along the galaxy’s projected minor axis, consistent with the $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ gas having been ejected from the galaxy into a bi-conical structure. The quasar sightline, which is aligned with the galaxy’s minor axis, shows strong $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ absorption ($\hbox{$) at an impact parameter of from the galaxy. Comparing the kinematics of both the emission and the absorption − probed with VLT/UVES − to the expectation from a simple toy model of a bi-conical outflow, we find good consistency when assuming a relatively slow outflow ($v_\rm{out}=130{}\, \rm{km\, s}^{-1}$). We investigate potential origins of the extended $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ emission using simple toy models. With continuum scattering models we encounter serious difficulties in explaining the luminosity of the $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ halo and in reconciling density estimates from emission and absorption. Instead, we find that shocks might be a more viable source to power the extended $\rm{Mg\, \small {II}}$ (and non-resonant $[\rm{O\, \small {II}}]$) emission.
Oxford University Press