Possible Detection of Lyα Fluorescence from a Damped Lyα System at Redshift<i>z</i>∼ 2.8

Adelberger, Kurt L.; Steidel, Charles C.; Kollmeier, Juna A.; Reddy, Naveen A.

doi:10.1086/497896

Cited by 54 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Recently, Adelberger et al (2006) reported a detection of fluorescence from a serendipitously discovered DLA (log N HI = 20.4) situated 49 ′′ away from a luminous quasar at z = 2.84. Fluorescent Lyα emission from absorbers illuminated by quasars offers a new window to study physical properties of absorbers, as well as a second transverse sightline to observe the ionizing flux of a quasar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prochaska (1999) estimated an absorbing path length of ∼ 2h −1 kpc for a super-LLS with log N HI = 19.1, by comparing the column density to the total volume density, which was determined from the collisionally excited C II * λ1335 transition. Adelberger et al (2006) constrained the size of a DLA with log N HI = 20.4 to be 8 h −1 kpc, based on their detection of fluorescent Lyα emission from the edge of a DLA-galaxy situated ∼ 8 h −1 kpc from the location of DLA absorption. Lopez et al (2005) measured identical column densities of N HI = 10 20.5 cm −2 for both DLAs at (z = 0.9313) detected in the individual images of the gravitational lens HE 0512 − 3329, allowing them to constrain the size of the DLA to be 4h −1 kpc Smette et al (see also 1995).…”

Section: Anisotropic Clustering Of Absorbers Around Quasarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Quasars Probing Quasars. II. The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars

Prochaska

2007

ApJ

134

180

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With close pairs of quasars at different redshifts, a background quasar sightline can be used to study a foreground quasar's environment in absorption. We used a sample of 17 Lyman limit systems with column density N HI > 10 19 cm −2 selected from 149 projected quasar pair sightlines, to investigate the clustering pattern of optically thick absorbers around luminous quasars at z ∼ 2.5. Specifically, we measured the quasar-absorber correlation function in the transverse direction, and found a comoving correlation length of r 0 = 9.2 +1.5 −1.7 h −1 Mpc (comoving) assuming a power law correlation function, ξ ∝ r −γ , with γ = 1.6. Applying this transverse clustering strength to the line-of-sight, would predict that ∼ 15 − 50% of all quasars should show a N HI > 10 19 cm −2 absorber within a velocity window of ∆v < 3000 km s −1 . This overpredicts the number of absorbers along the line-of-sight by a large factor, providing compelling evidence that the clustering pattern of optically thick absorbers around quasars is highly anisotropic. The most plausible explanation for the anisotropy is that the transverse direction is less likely to be illuminated by ionizing photons than the line-of-sight, and that absorbers along the line-of-sight are being photoevaporated. A simple model for the photoevaporation of absorbers subject to the ionizing flux of a quasar is presented, and it is shown that absorbers with volume densities n H 0.1 cm −3 will be photoevaporated if they lie within ∼ 1 Mpc (proper) of a luminous quasar. Using this simple model, we illustrate how comparisons of the transverse and line-of-sight clustering around quasars can ultimately be used to constrain the distribution of gas in optically thick absorption line systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Anisotropic Clustering Of Absorbers Around Quasarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quasars Probing Quasars. II. The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars

Prochaska

2007

ApJ

134

180

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“…These expectations clearly lie at or below the current SB thresholds of any survey completed to date. The difficulty of detecting the fluorescent signal from the metagalactic UV field has instead inspired several searches for fluorescence near bright sources of ionizing photons, such as QSOs (Francis & Bland-Hawthorn 2004;Cantalupo et al 2005;Adelberger et al 2006;Hennawi et al 2009). The results from such studies have been mixed.…”

Section: Has the Whole Iceberg Been Detected?mentioning

confidence: 99%

DIFFUSE Lyα EMITTING HALOS: A GENERIC PROPERTY OF HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

Steidel

Bogosavljević

Shapley

et al. 2011

ApJ

Self Cite

369

588

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Using a sample of 92 UV continuum-selected, spectroscopically identified galaxies with z = 2.65, all of which have been imaged in the Lyα line with extremely deep narrow-band imaging, we examine galaxy Lyα emission profiles to very faint surface brightness limits. The galaxy sample is representative of spectroscopic samples of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at similar redshifts in terms of apparent magnitude, UV luminosity, inferred extinction, and star formation rate and was assembled without regard to Lyα emission properties. Approximately 45% (55%) of the galaxy spectra have Lyα appearing in net absorption (emission), with 20% satisfying commonly used criteria for the identification of "Lyα emitters" (LAEs; W 0 (Lyα) 20 Å). We use extremely deep stacks of rest-UV continuum and continuum-subtracted Lyα images to show that all sub-samples exhibit diffuse Lyα emission to radii of at least 10 (∼80 physical kpc). The characteristic exponential scale lengths for Lyα line emission exceed that of the λ 0 = 1220 Å UV continuum light by factors of ∼5-10. The surface brightness profiles of Lyα emission are strongly suppressed relative to the UV continuum light in the inner few kpc, by amounts that are tightly correlated with the galaxies' observed spectral morphology; however, all galaxy sub-subsamples, including that of galaxies for which Lyα appears in net absorption in the spectra, exhibit qualitatively similar diffuse Lyα emission halos. Accounting for the extended Lyα emission halos, which generally would not be detected in the slit spectra of individual objects or with typical narrow-band Lyα imaging, increases the total Lyα flux (and rest equivalent width W 0 (Lyα)) by an average factor of ∼5, and by a much larger factor for the 80% of LBGs not classified as LAEs. We argue that most, if not all, of the observed Lyα emission in the diffuse halos originates in the galaxy H ii regions but is scattered in our direction by H i gas in the galaxy's circum-galactic medium. The overall intensity of Lyα halos, but not the surface brightness distribution, is strongly correlated with the emission observed in the central ∼1 -more luminous halos are observed for galaxies with stronger central Lyα emission. We show that whether or not a galaxy is classified as a giant "Lyα blob" (LAB) depends sensitively on the Lyα surface brightness threshold reached by an observation. Accounting for diffuse Lyα halos, all LBGs would be LABs if surveys were sensitive to 10 times lower Lyα surface brightness thresholds; similarly, essentially all LBGs would qualify as LAEs.

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“…Thus, given the quasar ionizing luminosity and the size of the cloud one can predict its Lyα luminosity (e.g. Francis & Bland-Hawthorn 2004;Adelberger et al 2006;Kollmeier et al 2010;Hennawi & Prochaska 2013). Since the cloud is unresolved, we adopt as an upper limit of its size the extent of one PMAS spaxel.…”

Section: Small-scale Lyα Fuzz Near Um 247mentioning

confidence: 99%

Where is the fuzz? Undetected Lymanαnebulae around quasars atz~ 2.3

Herenz

Wisotzki

Roth

et al. 2015

A&A

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Possible Detection of Lyα Fluorescence from a Damped Lyα System at Redshiftz∼ 2.8

Cited by 54 publications

References 28 publications

Quasars Probing Quasars. II. The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars

Quasars Probing Quasars. II. The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars

DIFFUSE Lyα EMITTING HALOS: A GENERIC PROPERTY OF HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

Where is the fuzz? Undetected Lymanαnebulae around quasars atz~ 2.3

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