arXiv subjects

Tanya Urrutia

Publications and source records attributed to Tanya Urrutia.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

A new discovery space opened by eROSITA: Ionised AGN outflows from X-ray selected samples

In the context of an evolutionary model, the outflow phase of an Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) occurs at the peak of its activity, once the central SMBH is massive enough to generate sufficient power to counterbalance the potential well of the host galaxy. This phase plays a vital role in galaxy evolution. We aim to apply various selection methods to isolate powerful AGNs in the feedback phase, trace and characterise their outflows, and explore the link between AGN luminosity and outflow properties. We applied a combination of methods to the eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth survey (eFEDS) catalogue and isolated ~1400 candidates at z>0.5 out of ~11750 AGNs (~12\%). We tested the robustness of our selection on the small subsample of 50 sources with available good quality SDSS spectra at 0.5 1\%. We find that the majority of the outflows have momentum flux ratios lower than 20 which rules out an energy-conserving nature. Our present work points to the unequivocal existence of a rather short AGN outflow phase, paving the way towards a new avenue to dissect AGN outflows in large samples within eROSITA and beyond.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

JWST/NIRSpec Measurements of Extremely Low Metallicities in High Equivalent Width Lyman-$α$ Emitters

Deep VLT/MUSE optical integral field spectroscopy has recently revealed an abundant population of ultra-faint galaxies ($M_{UV} \approx -15$; 0.01 $L_{\star}$) at $z=$2.9$-$6.7 due to their strong Lyman-$α$ emission with no detectable continuum. The implied Lyman-$α$ equivalent widths can be in excess of 100-200 Angstrom, challenging existing models of normal star formation and indicating extremely young ages, small stellar masses, and a very low amount of metal enrichment. We use JWST/NIRSpec's microshutter array to follow-up 45 of these galaxies (11h in G235M/F170LP and 7h in G395M/F290LP), as well as 45 lower-equivalent width Lyman-$α$ emitters. Our spectroscopy covers the range 1.7$-$5.1 micron in order to target strong optical emission lines: H$α$, [N II], [O III], and H$β$. Individual measurements as well as stacks reveal line ratios consistent with a metal poor nature (2$-$40% $Z_{\odot}$, depending on the calibration). The galaxies with the highest equivalent widths of Lyman-$α$, in excess of 90 Angstrom, have lower [N II]/H$α$ (1.9-$σ$) and [O III]/H$β$ (2.2-$σ$) ratios than those with lower equivalent widths, implying lower gas-phase metallicities at a combined significance of 2.4-$σ$. This implies a selection based on Lyman-$α$ equivalent width is an efficient technique for identifying younger, less chemically enriched systems.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

HETDEX Public Source Catalog 1: 220K Sources Including Over 50K Lyman Alpha Emitters from an Untargeted Wide-area Spectroscopic Survey

We present the first publicly released catalog of sources obtained from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). HETDEX is an integral field spectroscopic survey designed to measure the Hubble expansion parameter and angular diameter distance at 1.88<z<3.52 by using the spatial distribution of more than a million Ly-alpha-emitting galaxies over a total target area of 540 deg^2. The catalog comes from contiguous fiber spectra coverage of 25 deg^2 of sky from January 2017 through June 2020, where object detection is performed through two complementary detection methods: one designed to search for line emission and the other a search for continuum emission. The HETDEX public release catalog is dominated by emission-line galaxies and includes 51,863 Lyα-emitting galaxy (LAE) identifications and 123,891 OII-emitting galaxies at z<0.5. Also included in the catalog are 37,916 stars, 5274 low-redshift (z<0.5) galaxies without emission lines, and 4976 active galactic nuclei. The catalog provides sky coordinates, redshifts, line identifications, classification information, line fluxes, OII and Ly-alpha line luminosities where applicable, and spectra for all identified sources processed by the HETDEX detection pipeline. Extensive testing demonstrates that HETDEX redshifts agree to within deltaz < 0.02, 96.1% of the time to those in external spectroscopic catalogs. We measure the photometric counterpart fraction in deep ancillary Hyper Suprime-Cam imaging and find that only 55.5% of the LAE sample has an r-band continuum counterpart down to a limiting magnitude of r~26.2 mag (AB) indicating that an LAE search of similar sensitivity with photometric pre-selection would miss nearly half of the HETDEX LAE catalog sample. Data access and details about the catalog can be found online at http://hetdex.org/.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field surveys: Data release II

We present the second data release of the MUSE Hubble UDF surveys, which includes the deepest spectroscopic survey ever performed. The MUSE data, with their 3D content, amazing depth, wide spectral range, and excellent spatial and medium spectral resolution, are rich in information. This update of the first release incorporates a new 141-hour adaptive-optics-assisted MXDF field (1' diameter FoV) in addition to the reprocessed 10-hour mosaic (3'x3') and the single 31-hour deep field (1'x1'). We have securely identified and measured the redshift of 2221 sources, an increase of 41% compared to the first release. With the exception of 8 stars, the collected sample consists of 25 nearby galaxies (z < 0.25), 677 OII emitters (z=0.25-1.5), 201 galaxies in the MUSE redshift desert range (z=1.5-2.8), and 1308 LAEs (z=2.8-6.7). This represents an order of magnitude more redshifts than the collection of all spectroscopic redshifts obtained before MUSE in the Hubble UDF area (2221 vs 292). At z > 3, the difference is even more striking, with a factor of 65 increase (1308 vs 20). We compared the measured redshifts against three published photometric redshift catalogs and find the photo-z accuracy to be lower than the constraints provided by photo-z fitting codes. 80% of the galaxies have an HST counterpart. They are on average faint, with a median magnitude of 25.7 and 28.7 for the OII and Ly-alpha emitters, respectively. SED fits show that these galaxies tend to be low-mass star-forming galaxies, with a median stellar mass of 6.2 10**8 M and a median SFR of 0.4 M/yr. 20% of our catalog, or 424 galaxies, have no HST counterpart. The vast majority of these new sources are high EQW z>2.8 LAEs that are detected by MUSE thanks to their bright and asymmetric broad Ly-alpha line. We release advanced data products, specific software, and a web interface to select and download data sets.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

X-ray emission from a rapidly accreting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy at z=6.56

This study aims at identifying luminous quasars at $z>5.7$ among X-ray-selected sources in the eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS) in order to place a lower limit on black hole accretion well into the epoch of re-ionisation. We confirm the low significance detection with eROSITA of a previously known, optically faint $z=6.56$ quasar from the Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs) survey. We obtained a pointed follow-up observation of the source with the Chandra X-ray telescope in order to confirm the eROSITA detection. Using new near-infrared spectroscopy, we derived the physical properties of the super-massive black hole. Finally, we used this detection to infer a lower limit on the black hole accretion density rate at $z>6$. The Chandra observation confirms the eFEDS source as the most distant blind X-ray detection to date. The derived X-ray luminosity is high with respect to the rest-frame optical emission of the quasar. With a narrow MgII line, low derived black hole mass, and high Eddington ratio, as well as its steep photon index, the source shows properties that are similar to local narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, which are thought to be powered by young super-massive black holes. In combination with a previous high-redshift quasar detection in the field, we show that quasars with $L_{2-10 \, \mathrm{keV}} >10^{45} \, \mathrm{erg \, s^{-1}}$ dominate accretion onto super-massive black holes at $z\sim 6$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

A Highly Magnified Gravitationally Lensed Red QSO at z = 2.5 with a Significant Flux Ratio Anomaly

We present the discovery of a gravitationally lensed dust-reddened QSO at z = 2.517, identified in a survey for QSOs by infrared selection. Hubble Space Telescope imaging reveals a quadruply lensed system in a cusp configuration, with a maximum image separation of ~1.8\arcsec. We find that compared to the central image of the cusp, the neighboring brightest image is anomalous by a factor of ~ 7 - 10, which is the largest flux anomaly measured to date in a lensed QSO. Incorporating high-resolution Jansky Very Large Array radio imaging and sub-mm imaging with the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimetre Array, we conclude that a low-mass perturber is the most likely explanation for the anomaly. The optical through near-infrared spectrum reveals that the QSO is moderately reddened with E(B - V) = 0.7 - 0.9. We see an upturn in the ultraviolet spectrum due to ~ 1% of the intrinsic emission being leaked back into the line of sight, which suggests that the reddening is intrinsic and not due to the lens. The QSO may have an Eddington ratio as high as L/L_Edd ~ 0.2. Consistent with previous red QSO samples, this source exhibits outflows in its spectrum as well as morphological properties suggestive of it being in a merger-driven transitional phase. We find a host-galaxy stellar mass of log M_*/M_Sun = 11.4, which is higher than the local M_BH vs. M_* relation, but consistent with other high redshift QSOs. When de-magnified, this QSO is at the knee of the luminosity function, allowing for the detailed study of a more typical moderate-luminosity infrared-selected QSO at high redshift.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The Active Galactic Nuclei in the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Survey (HETDEX) III. A red quasar with extremely high equivalent widths showing powerful outflows

We report an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) with extremely high equivalent width (EW), EW(LyA+NV,rest)>921 AA in the rest-frame, at z~2.24 in the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Survey (HETDEX) as a representative case of the high EW AGN population. The continuum level is a non-detection in the HETDEX spectrum, thus the measured EW is a lower limit. The source is detected with significant emission lines (>7sigma) at LyA+NV, CIV, and moderate emission line (~4sigma) at HeII within the wavelength coverage of HETDEX (3500 AA - 5500 AA). The r-band magnitude is 24.57 from the Hyper Suprime-Cam-HETDEX joint survey with a detection limit of r=25.12 at 5sigma. The LyA emission line spans a clearly resolved region of ~10 arcsec (85 kpc) in diameter. The LyA line profile is strongly double peaked. The spectral decomposed blue gas and red gas Ly$α$ emission are separated by ~1.2 arcsec (10.1 kpc) with a line-of-sight velocity offset of ~1100 km/s. This source is probably an obscured AGN with powerful winds.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The MUSE eXtremely Deep Field: Individual detections of Lyα haloes around rest-frame UV-selected galaxies at z~2.9-4.4

Hydrogen Ly$α$ haloes (LAHs) are commonly used as a tracer of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) at high redshifts. In this work, we aim to explore the existence of Ly$α$ haloes around individual UV-selected galaxies, rather than around Ly$α$ emitters (LAEs), at high redshifts. Our sample was continuum-selected with F775W<=27.5, and spectroscopic redshifts were assigned or constrained for all the sources thanks to the deepest (100- to 140-hour) existing Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) data with adaptive optics. The final sample includes 21 galaxies that are purely F775W-magnitude selected within the redshift range z=2.9-4.4 and within a UV magnitude range -20<=M1500<= -18, thus avoiding any bias toward LAEs. We tested whether galaxy's Ly$α$ emission is significantly more extended than the MUSE PSF-convolved continuum component. We find 17 LAHs and four non-LAHs. We report the first individual detections of extended Ly$α$ emission around non-LAEs. The Ly$α$ halo fraction is thus as high as $81.0^{+10.3}_{-11.2}$%, which is close to that for LAEs at z=3-6 in the literature. This implies that UV-selected galaxies generally have a large amount of hydrogen in their CGM. We derived the mean surface brightness (SB) profile for our LAHs with cosmic dimming corrections and find that Ly$α$ emission extends to 5.4 arcsec (~40 physical kpc at the midpoint redshift z=3.6) above the typical 1$σ$ SB limit. The incidence rate of surrounding gas detected in Ly$α$ per one-dimensional line of sight per unit redshift, dn/dz, is estimated to be $0.76^{+0.09}_{-0.09}$ for galaxies with M1500<= -18 mag at z~3.7. Assuming that Ly$α$ emission and absorption arise in the same gas, this suggests, based on abundance matching, that LAHs trace the same gas as damped Ly$α$ systems (DLAs) and sub-DLAs.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The MUSE Extremely Deep Field: a first panoramic view of an Mg II emitting intragroup medium

Using the exquisite MUSE eXtremely Deep Field data, we report the discovery of an MgII emission nebula with an area above a 2$σ$ significance level of 1000 proper kpc$^2$, providing the first panoramic view of the spatial distribution of magnesium in the intragroup medium of a low mass group of five star-forming galaxies at z=1.31. The galaxy group members are separated by less than 50 physical kpc in projection and $\approx$120 km/s in velocity space. The most massive galaxy has a stellar mass of 10$^{9.35}$ M$_\odot$ and shows an MgII P-Cygni line profile indicating the presence of an outflow, which is consistent with the spatially resolved spectral analysis showing $\approx+$120 km/s shift of the MgII emission lines with respect to the systemic redshift. The other galaxies are less massive and only show MgII in emission. The detected MgII nebula has a maximal projected extent of $\approx$70 kpc including a low surface brightness (2 $\times$ 10$^{-19}$ erg/s/cm$^{2}$/arcsec$^{2}$) gaseous bridge between two subgroups of galaxies. The presence of absorption features in the spectrum of a background galaxy located at an impact parameter of 19 kpc from the closest galaxy of the group indicates the presence of gas enriched in magnesium even beyond the detected nebula seen in emission, suggesting that we are observing the tip of a larger intragroup medium. The observed MgII velocity gradient suggests an overall rotation of the structure along the major axis of the most massive galaxy. Our MUSE data also reveal extended Fe II* emission in the vicinity of the most massive galaxy, aligned with its minor axis. Extended [OII] emission is found around the galaxy group members and at the location of the MgII bridge. Our results suggest that both tidal stripping effects from galaxy interactions and outflows are enriching the intragroup medium of this system.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Deciphering stellar metallicities in the early Universe: Case study of a young galaxy at z = 4.77 in the MUSE eXtremely Deep Field

Directly characterising the first generations of stars in distant galaxies is a key quest of observational cosmology. We present a case study of ID53 at z=4.77, the UV-brightest (but L*) star-forming galaxy at z>3 in the MUSE eXtremely Deep Field with a mass of $10^9$ M$_{\odot}$. In addition to very strong Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) emission, we clearly detect the (stellar) continuum and an NV P-Cygni feature, interstellar absorption, fine-structure emission and nebular CIV emission lines in the 140 hr spectrum. Continuum emission from two spatially resolved components in Hubble Space Telescope data are blended in the MUSE data, but we show that the nebular CIV emission originates from a subcomponent of the galaxy. The UV spectrum can be fit with recent BPASS stellar population models combined with single-burst or continuous star formation histories (SFHs), a standard initial mass function, and an attenuation law. Models with a young age and low metallicity (log10(age/yr)=6.5-7.6 and [Z/H]=-2.15 to -1.15) are preferred. The intrinsic H$α$ luminosity of the best-fit models is an order of magnitude higher than the H$α$ luminosity inferred from Spitzer/IRAC data, which either suggests a high escape fraction of ionising photons, a high relative attenuation of nebular to stellar dust, or a complex SFH. The metallicity appears lower than the metallicity in more massive galaxies at z=3-5, consistent with the scenario according to which younger galaxies have lower metallicities. This chemical immaturity likely facilitates Ly$α$ escape, explaining why the Ly$α$ equivalent width is anti-correlated with stellar metallicity. Finally, we stress that uncertainties in SFHs impose a challenge for future inferences of the stellar metallicity of young galaxies. This highlights the need for joint (spatially resolved) analyses of stellar spectra and photo-ionisation models.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

BlueMUSE: Project Overview and Science Cases

We present the concept of BlueMUSE, a blue-optimised, medium spectral resolution, panoramic integral field spectrograph based on the MUSE concept and proposed for the Very Large Telescope. With an optimised transmission down to 350 nm, a larger FoV (1.4 x 1.4 arcmin$^2$) and a higher spectral resolution compared to MUSE, BlueMUSE will open up a new range of galactic and extragalactic science cases allowed by its specific capabilities, beyond those possible with MUSE. For example a survey of massive stars in our galaxy and the Local Group will increase the known population of massive stars by a factor $>$100, to answer key questions about their evolution. Deep field observations with BlueMUSE will also significantly increase samples of Lyman-alpha emitters, spanning the era of Cosmic Noon. This will revolutionise the study of the distant Universe: allowing the intergalactic medium to be detected unambiguously in emission, enabling the study of the exchange of baryons between galaxies and their surroundings. By 2030, at a time when the focus of most of the new large facilities (ELT, JWST) will be on the infra-red, BlueMUSE will be a unique facility, outperforming any ELT instrument in the Blue/UV. It will have a strong synergy with ELT, JWST as well as ALMA, SKA, Euclid and Athena.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) Survey Design, Reductions, and Detections

We describe the survey design, calibration, commissioning, and emission-line detection algorithms for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). The goal of HETDEX is to measure the redshifts of over a million Ly$α$ emitting galaxies between 1.88<z<3.52, in a 540 deg^2 area encompassing a co-moving volume of 10.9 Gpc^3. No pre-selection of targets is involved; instead the HETDEX measurements are accomplished via a spectroscopic survey using a suite of wide-field integral field units distributed over the focal plane of the telescope. This survey measures the Hubble expansion parameter and angular diameter distance, with a final expected accuracy of better than 1%. We detail the project's observational strategy, reduction pipeline, source detection, and catalog generation, and present initial results for science verification in the COSMOS, Extended Groth Strip, and GOODS-N fields. We demonstrate that our data reach the required specifications in throughput, astrometric accuracy, flux limit, and object detection, with the end products being a catalog of emission-line sources, their object classifications, and flux-calibrated spectra.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

The eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS): A multiwavelength view of WISE mid-infrared galaxies/active galactic nuclei

We investigate the physical properties--such as the stellar mass, SFR, IR luminosity, X-ray luminosity, and hydrogen column density--of MIR galaxies and AGN at $z < 4$ in the 140 deg$^2$ field observed by SRG/eROSITA through the eFEDS survey. By cross-matching the WISE 22 $μ$m (W4)-detected sample and the eFEDS X-ray point-source catalog, we find that 692 extragalactic objects are detected by eROSITA. We have compiled a multiwavelength dataset. We have also performed (i) an X-ray spectral analysis, (ii) SED fitting using X-CIGALE, (iii) 2D image-decomposition analysis using Subaru HSC images, and (iv) optical spectral fitting with QSFit to investigate the AGN and host-galaxy properties. For 7,088 WISE W4 objects that are undetected by eROSITA, we have performed an X-ray stacking analysis to examine the typical physical properties of these X-ray faint and/or probably obscured objects. We find that (i) 82% of the eFEDS-W4 sources are classified as X-ray AGN with $\log\,L_{\rm X} >$ 42 erg s$^{-1}$; (ii) 67% and 24% of the objects have $\log\,(L_{\rm IR}/L_{\odot}) > 12$ and 13, respectively; (iii) the relationship between $L_{\rm X}$ and the 6 $μ$m luminosity is consistent with that reported in previous works; and (iv) the relationship between the Eddington ratio and $N_{\rm H}$ for the eFEDS-W4 sample and a comparison with a model prediction from a galaxy-merger simulation indicates that approximately 5% of the eFEDS-W4 sources in our sample are likely to be in an AGN-feedback phase, in which strong radiation pressure from the AGN blows out the surrounding material from the nuclear region. Thanks to the wide area coverage of eFEDS, we have been able to constrain the ranges of the physical properties of the WISE W4 sample of AGNs at $z < 4$, providing a benchmark for forthcoming studies on a complete census of MIR galaxies selected from the full-depth eROSITA all-sky survey.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

The eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS): The AGN Catalogue and its X-ray Spectral Properties

Context: After the successful launch of the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission in July 2019, eROSITA, the soft X-ray instrument aboard SRG, performed scanning observations of a large contiguous field, namely the eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS), ahead of the planned four-year all-sky survey. eFEDS yielded a large sample of X-ray sources with very rich multi-band photometric and spectroscopic coverage. Aims: We present here the eFEDS Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) catalog and the eROSITA X-ray spectral properties of the eFEDS sources. Methods: Using a Bayesian method, we perform a systematic X-ray spectral analysis for all eFEDS sources. The appropriate model is chosen based on the source classification and the spectral quality, and, in the case of AGN, including the possibility of intrinsic (rest-frame) absorption and/or soft excess emission. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling (HBM) is used to estimate the spectral parameter distribution of the sample. Results: X-ray spectral properties are presented for all eFEDS X-ray sources. There are 21952 candidate AGN, which comprise 79% of the eFEDS sample. Despite a large number of faint sources with low photon counts, our spectral fitting provides meaningful measurements of fluxes, luminosities, and spectral shapes for a majority of the sources. This AGN catalog is dominated by X-ray unobscured sources, with an obscured (logNH>21.5) fraction of 10% derived by HBM. The power-law slope of the catalog can be described by a Gaussian distribution of 1.94+-0.22. Above a photon counts threshold of 500, nine out of 50 AGN have soft excess detected. For the sources with blue UV to optical color (type-I AGN), the X-ray emission is well correlated with the UV emission with the usual anti-correlation between the X-ray to UV spectral slope α_{OX} and the UV luminosity.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

The eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS): An X-ray bright, extremely luminous infrared galaxy at z = 1.87

In this study, we investigate the X-ray properties of WISE J090924.01+000211.1 (WISEJ0909+0002), an extremely luminous infrared (IR) galaxy (ELIRG) at $z_{\rm spec}$= 1.871 in the eROSITA final equatorial depth survey (eFEDS). WISEJ0909+0002 is a WISE 22 $μ$m source, located in the GAMA-09 field, detected by eROSITA during the performance and verification phase. The corresponding optical spectrum indicates that this object is a type-1 active galactic nucleus (AGN). Observations from eROSITA combined with Chandra and XMM-Newton archival data indicate a very luminous ($L$ (2--10 keV) = ($2.1 \pm 0.2) \times 10^{45}$ erg s$^{-1}$) unobscured AGN with a power-law photon index of $Γ$ = 1.73$_{-0.15}^{+0.16}$, and an absorption hydrogen column density of $\log\,(N_{\rm H}/{\rm cm}^{-2}) < 21.0$. The IR luminosity was estimated to be $L_{\rm IR}$ = (1.79 $\pm$ 0.09) $\times 10^{14}\, L_{\odot}$ from spectral energy distribution modeling based on 22 photometric data (X-ray to far-IR) with X-CIGALE, which confirmed that WISEJ0909+0002 is an ELIRG. A remarkably high $L_{\rm IR}$ despite very low $N_{\rm H}$ would indicate that we are witnessing a short-lived phase in which hydrogen gas along the line of sight is blown outwards, whereas warm and hot dust heated by AGNs still exist. As a consequence of eROSITA all-sky survey, $6.8_{-5.6}^{+16}\times 10^2$ such X-ray bright ELIRGs are expected to be discovered in the entire extragalactic sky ($|b| > 10^\circ$). This can potentially be the key population to constrain the bright-end of IR luminosity functions.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

The MUSE Extremely Deep Field: the Cosmic Web in Emission at High Redshift

We report the discovery of diffuse extended Ly-alpha emission from redshift 3.1 to 4.5, tracing cosmic web filaments on scales of 2.5-4 comoving Mpc. These structures have been observed in overdensities of Ly-alpha emitters in the MUSE Extremely Deep Field, a 140 hour deep MUSE observation located in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Among the 22 overdense regions identified, 5 are likely to harbor very extended Ly-alpha emission at high significance with an average surface brightness of $\mathrm{5 \times 10^{-20} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2} arcsec^{-2}}$. Remarkably, 70% of the total Ly-alpha luminosity from these filaments comes from beyond the circumgalactic medium of any identified Ly-alpha emitters. Fluorescent Ly-alpha emission powered by the cosmic UV background can only account for less than 34% of this emission at z$\approx$3 and for not more than 10% at higher redshift. We find that the bulk of this diffuse emission can be reproduced by the unresolved Ly-alpha emission of a large population of ultra low luminosity Ly-alpha emitters ($\mathrm{<10^{40} erg s^{-1}}$), provided that the faint end of the Ly-alpha luminosity function is steep ($α\lessapprox -1.8$), it extends down to luminosities lower than $\mathrm{10^{38} - 10^{37} erg s^{-1}}$ and the clustering of these Ly-alpha emitters is significant (filling factor $< 1/6$). If these Ly-alpha emitters are powered by star formation, then this implies their luminosity function needs to extend down to star formation rates $\mathrm{< 10^{-4} M_\odot yr^{-1}}$. These observations provide the first detection of the cosmic web in Ly-alpha emission in typical filamentary environments and the first observational clue for the existence of a large population of ultra low luminosity Ly-alpha emitters at high redshift.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

First constraints on the AGN X-ray luminosity function at $z \sim 6$ from an eROSITA-detected quasar

We searched for high-z quasars within the X-ray source population detected in the contiguous $\sim 140^2$ eFEDS field observed by eROSITA during the performance verification phase. We collected the available spectroscopic information in the field, including the sample of all currently known optically selected z>5.5 quasars and cross-matched secure Legacy DR8 counterparts of eROSITA-detected X-ray point-like sources with this spectroscopic sample. We report the X-ray detection of an eROSITA source securely matched to the well-known quasar SDSS J083643.85+005453.3 (z=5.81). The soft X-ray flux of the source derived from eROSITA is consistent with previous Chandra observations. In addition, we report the detection of the quasar with LOFAR at 145 MHz and ASKAP at 888 MHz. The reported flux densities confirm a spectral flattening at lower frequencies in the emission of the radio core, indicating that the quasar could be a (sub-) gigahertz peaked spectrum source. The inferred spectral shape and the parsec-scale radio morphology of SDSS J083643.85+005453.3 suggest that it is in an early stage of its evolution into a large-scale radio source or confined in a dense environment. We find no indications for a strong jet contribution to the X-ray emission of the quasar, which is therefore likely to be linked to accretion processes. The detection of this source allows us to place the first constraints on the XLF at z>5.5 based on a secure spectroscopic redshift. Compared to extrapolations from lower-redshift observations, this favours a relatively flat slope for the XLF at $z\sim 6$ beyond $L_*$. The population of X-ray luminous AGNs at high redshift may be larger than previously thought. From our XLF constraints, we make the conservative prediction that eROSITA will detect $\sim 90$ X-ray luminous AGNs at redshifts 5.7<z<6.4 in the full-sky survey (De+RU).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Wide Field Spectral Imaging with Shifted Excitation Raman Difference Spectroscopy Using the Nod and Shuffle Technique

Wide field Raman imaging using the integral field spectroscopy approach was used as a fast, one shot imaging method for the simultaneous collection of all spectra composing a Raman image. For the suppression of autofluorescence and background signals such as room light, shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) was applied to remove background artifacts in Raman spectra. To reduce acquisition times in wide field SERDS imaging, we adapted the nod and shuffle technique from astrophysics and implemented it into a wide field SERDS imaging setup. In our adapted version, the nod corresponds to the change in excitation wavelength, whereas the shuffle corresponds to the shifting of charges up and down on a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) chip synchronous to the change in excitation wavelength. We coupled this improved wide field SERDS imaging setup to diode lasers with 784.4/785.5 and 457.7/458.9 nm excitation and applied it to samples such as paracetamol and aspirin tablets, polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate beads, as well as pork meat using multiple accumulations with acquisition times in the range of 50 to 200 ms. The results tackle two main challenges of SERDS imaging: gradual photobleaching changes the autofluorescence background, and multiple readouts of CCD detector prolong the acquisition time.

physics.ins-det↗