The relationship between gas and galaxies at z < 1 using the Q0107 quasar triplet

Beckett, Alexander; Morris, Simon L; Fumagalli, Michele; Bielby, Rich; Tejos, Nicolas; Schaye, Joop; Jannuzi, Buell; Cantalupo, Sebastiano

Abstract

We study the distribution and dynamics of the circumgalactic and intergalactic medium using a dense galaxy survey covering the field around the Q0107 system, a unique z ≈ 1 projected quasar triplet. With full Ly α coverage along all three lines-of-sight from z = 0.18 to z = 0.73, more than 1200 galaxy spectra, and two MUSE fields, we examine the structure of the gas around galaxies on 100–1000 kpc scales. We search for H I absorption systems occurring at the same redshift (within 500 km s−1) in multiple sightlines, finding with >99.9 per cent significance that these systems are more frequent in the observed quasar spectra than in a randomly distributed population of absorbers. This is driven primarily by absorption with column densities N(H I) > 1014 cm−2, whilst multi-sightline absorbers with lower column densities are consistent with a random distribution. Star-forming galaxies are more likely to be associated with multi-sightline absorption than quiescent galaxies. HST imaging provides inclinations and position angles for a subset of these galaxies. We observe a bimodality in the position angle of detected galaxy-absorber pairs, again driven mostly by high-column-density absorbers, with absorption preferentially along the major and minor axes of galaxies out to impact parameters of several hundred kpc. We find some evidence supporting a disc/outflow dichotomy, as H I absorbers near the projected major axis of a galaxy show line-of-sight velocities that tend to align with the rotation of that galaxy, whilst minor-axis absorbers are twice as likely to exhibit O VI at the same redshift.

Citation

Beckett, A., Morris, S. L., Fumagalli, M., Bielby, R., Tejos, N., Schaye, J., …Cantalupo, S. (2021). The relationship between gas and galaxies at z < 1 using the Q0107 quasar triplet. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 506(2), 2574-2602. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1630

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 26, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jun 10, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 23, 2021
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Royal Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 506
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 2574-2602
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1630
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1243357