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Galaxy and quasar fueling caught in the act from the intragroup to the interstellar medium

  • We report the discovery of six spatially extended (10-100 kpc) line-emitting nebulae in the z approximate to 0.57 galaxy group hosting PKS 0405-123, one of the most luminous quasars at z < 1. The discovery is enabled by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer and provides tantalizing evidence connecting large-scale gas streams with nuclear activity on scales of <10 proper kpc (pkpc). One of the nebulae exhibits a narrow, filamentary morphology extending over 50 pkpc toward the quasar with narrow internal velocity dispersion (50 km s(-1)) and is not associated with any detected galaxies, consistent with a cool intragroup medium filament. Two of the nebulae are 10 pkpc north and south of the quasar with tidal-arm-like morphologies. These two nebulae, along with a continuum-emitting arm extending 60 pkpc from the quasar, are signatures of interactions that are expected to redistribute angular momentum in the host interstellar medium (ISM) to facilitate star formation and quasar fueling in the nucleus. The three remaining nebulae are amongWe report the discovery of six spatially extended (10-100 kpc) line-emitting nebulae in the z approximate to 0.57 galaxy group hosting PKS 0405-123, one of the most luminous quasars at z < 1. The discovery is enabled by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer and provides tantalizing evidence connecting large-scale gas streams with nuclear activity on scales of <10 proper kpc (pkpc). One of the nebulae exhibits a narrow, filamentary morphology extending over 50 pkpc toward the quasar with narrow internal velocity dispersion (50 km s(-1)) and is not associated with any detected galaxies, consistent with a cool intragroup medium filament. Two of the nebulae are 10 pkpc north and south of the quasar with tidal-arm-like morphologies. These two nebulae, along with a continuum-emitting arm extending 60 pkpc from the quasar, are signatures of interactions that are expected to redistribute angular momentum in the host interstellar medium (ISM) to facilitate star formation and quasar fueling in the nucleus. The three remaining nebulae are among the largest and most luminous [O III] emitting "blobs" known (1400-2400 pkpc(2)) and correspond both kinematically and morphologically to interacting galaxy pairs in the quasar host group, consistent with arising from stripped ISM rather than large-scale quasar outflows. The presence of these large- and small-scale nebulae in the vicinity of a luminous quasar bears significantly on the effect of large-scale environment on galaxy and black hole fueling, providing a natural explanation for the previously known correlation between quasar luminosity and cool circumgalactic medium.show moreshow less

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Author details:Sean D. JohnsonORCiD, Hsiao-Wen ChenORCiD, Lorrie StrakaORCiD, Joop SchayeORCiD, Sebastiano CantalupoORCiDGND, Martin WendtORCiDGND, Sowgat MuzahidORCiD, Nicolas BouchéORCiD, Edmund Christian HerenzORCiD, Wolfram KollatschnyORCiDGND, John S. MulchaeyGND, Raffaella A. MarinoORCiD, Michael MasedaORCiD, Lutz WisotzkiORCiDGND
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aaf1cf
ISSN:2041-8205
ISSN:2041-8213
Title of parent work (English):The astrophysical journal : Part 2, Letters
Publisher:IOP Publishing Ltd. (Bristol)
Place of publishing:Bristol
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Date of first publication:2018/12/04
Publication year:2018
Release date:2021/07/30
Tag:galaxies: interactions; intergalactic medium; quasars: general; quasars: individual (PKS 0405-123)
Volume:869
Issue:1
Number of pages:7
Funding institution:NASA Hubble FellowshipNational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [HST-HF2-51375.001-A]; Swiss National Science FoundationSwiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) [PP00P2_163824]
Organizational units:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie
DDC classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 52 Astronomie / 520 Astronomie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften
Peer review:Referiert
Publishing method:Open Access / Green Open-Access
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