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arXiv · 1806.01715

ALMA observations of a metal-rich damped Ly{\alpha} absorber at z = 2.5832: evidence for strong galactic winds in a galaxy group

J. P. U. Fynbo·K. E. Heintz·M. Neeleman·L. Christensen·M. Dessauges-Zavadsky·N. Kanekar·P. Moller·J. X. Prochaska·N. H. P. Rhodin·M. Zwaan
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Abstract

We report on the results of a search for CO(3-2) emission from the galaxy counterpart of a high-metallicity Damped Ly-alpha Absorber (DLA) at z=2.5832 towards the quasar Q0918+1636. We do not detect CO emission from the previously identified DLA galaxy counterpart. The limit we infer on M_gas / M_star is in the low end of the range found for DLA galaxies, but is still consistent with what is found for other star-forming galaxies at similar redshifts. Instead we detect CO(3-2) emission from another intensely star-forming galaxy at an impact parameter of 117 kpc from the line-of-sight to the quasar and 131 km s^-1 redshifted relative to the velocity centroid of the DLA in the quasar spectrum. In the velocity profile of the low- and high-ionisation absorption lines of the DLA there is an absorption component consistent with the redshift of this CO-emitting galaxy. It is plausible that this component is physically associated with a strong outflow in the plane of the sky from the CO-emitting galaxy. If true, this would be further evidence, in addition to what is already known from studies of Lyman-break galaxies, that galactic outflows can be traced beyond 100 kpc from star-forming galaxies. The case of this z=2.583 structure is an illustration of this in a group environment.

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J. P. U. Fynbo, K. E. Heintz, M. Neeleman, L. Christensen, M. Dessauges-Zavadsky, N. Kanekar, P. Moller, J. X. Prochaska, N. H. P. Rhodin, M. Zwaan. 2018-06-05. ALMA observations of a metal-rich damped Ly{\alpha} absorber at z = 2.5832: evidence for strong galactic winds in a galaxy group. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras%2Fsty1520

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