The observed properties of the Lyman-α (Ly α) emission line are a powerful probe of neutral gas in and around galaxies. We present spatially resolved Ly α spectroscopy with VLT/MUSE targeting VR7, a UV-luminous galaxy at z = 6.532 with moderate Ly α equivalent width (EW0 ≈ 38 Å). These data are combined with deep resolved [CII]158μm spectroscopy obtained with ALMA and UV imaging from HST and we also detect UV continuum with MUSE. Ly α emission is clearly detected with S/N ≈ 40 and FWHM of 374 km s−1. Ly α and [C ii] are similarly extended beyond the UV, with effective radius reff = 2.1 ± 0.2 kpc for a single exponential model or r$_{\rm eff, Ly\alpha , halo} = 3.45^{+1.08}_{-0.87}$ kpc when measured jointly with the UV continuum. The Ly α profile is broader and redshifted with respect to the [C ii] line (by 213 km s−1), but there are spatial variations that are qualitatively similar in both lines and coincide with resolved UV components. This suggests that the emission originates from two components with plausibly different H i column densities. We place VR7 in the context of other galaxies at similar and lower redshift. The Ly α halo scale length is similar at different redshifts and velocity shifts with respect to the systemic are typically smaller. Overall, we find little indications of a more neutral vicinity at higher redshift. This means that the local (∼10 kpc) neutral gas conditions that determine the observed Ly α properties in VR7 resemble the conditions in post-reionization galaxies.
Recent work has shown that UV-luminous reionization-era galaxies often exhibit strong Lyman-alpha emission despite being situated at redshifts where the IGM is thought to be substantially neutral. It has been argued that this enhanced Ly α transmission reflects the presence of massive galaxies in overdense regions which power large ionized bubbles. An alternative explanation is that massive galaxies shift more of their Ly α profile to large velocities (relative to the systemic redshift) where the IGM damping wing absorption is reduced. Such a mass-dependent trend is seen at lower redshifts, but whether one exists at z ∼ 7 remains unclear owing to the small number of existing systemic redshift measurements in the reionization era. This is now changing with the emergence of [C ii]-based redshifts from ALMA. Here, we report MMT/Binospec Ly α spectroscopy of eight UV-bright (MUV ∼ −22) galaxies at z ≃ 7 selected from the ALMA REBELS survey. We detect Ly α in four of eight galaxies and use the [C ii] systemic redshifts to investigate the Ly α velocity profiles. The Ly α lines are significantly redshifted from systemic (average velocity offset = 223 km s–1) and broad (FWHM ≈ 300–650 km s−1), with two sources showing emission extending to ≈750 km s−1. We find that the broadest Ly α profiles are associated with the largest [C ii] line widths, suggesting a potential link between the Ly α FWHM and the dynamical mass. Since Ly α photons at high velocities transmit efficiently through the z = 7 IGM, our data suggest that velocity profiles play a significant role in boosting the Ly α visibility of the most UV-luminous reionization-era galaxies.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10379753
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 517
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 5642-5659
- Size(s):
- ["p. 5642-5659"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ABSTRACT -
Context. The Lyman- α line in the ultraviolet (UV) and the [CII] line in the far-infrared (FIR) are widely used tools to identify galaxies in the early Universe and to obtain insights into interstellar medium (ISM) properties in high-redshift galaxies. By combining data obtained with ALMA in band 7 at ∼320 GHz as part of the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early Times (ALPINE) with spectroscopic data from DEIMOS at the Keck Observatory, VIMOS and FORS2 at the Very Large Telescope, we assembled a unique sample of 53 main-sequence star-forming galaxies at 4.4 < z < 6 in which we detect both the Lyman- α line in the UV and the [CII] line in the FIR. Aims. The goal of this paper is to constrain the properties of the Ly α emission in these galaxies in relation to other properties of the ISM. Methods. We used [CII], observed with ALMA, as a tracer of the systemic velocity of the galaxies, and we exploited the available optical spectroscopy to obtain the Ly α -[CII] and ISM-[CII] velocity offsets. Results. We find that 90% of the selected objects have Ly α -[CII] velocity offsets in the range 0 < Δ v Ly α − [CII] < 400 km s −1 , in line with the few measurements available so far in the early Universe, and significantly smaller than those observed at lower redshifts. At the same time, we observe ISM-[CII] offsets in the range −500 < Δ v ISM−[CII] < 0 km s −1 , in line with values at all redshifts, which we interpret as evidence for outflows in these galaxies. We find significant anticorrelations between Δ v Ly α −[CII] and the Ly α rest-frame equivalent width EW 0 (Ly α ) (or equivalently, the Ly α escape fraction f esc (Ly α )): galaxies that show smaller Δ v Ly α −[CII] have larger EW 0 (Ly α ) and f esc (Ly α ). Conclusions. We interpret these results in the framework of available models for the radiative transfer of Ly α photons. According to the models, the escape of Ly α photons would be favored in galaxies with high outflow velocities, producing large EW 0 (Ly α ) and small Δ v Ly α -[CII] , in agreement with our observations. The uniform shell model would also predict that the Ly α escape in galaxies with slow outflows (0 < v out < 300 km s −1 ) is mainly determined by the neutral hydrogen column density (NHI) along the line of sight, while the alternative model by Steidel et al. (2010, ApJ, 717, 289) would more highly favor a combination of NHI at the systemic velocity and covering fraction as driver of the Ly α escape. We suggest that the increase in Ly α escape that is observed in the literature between z ∼ 2 and z ∼ 6 is not due to a higher incidence of fast outflows at high redshift, but rather to a decrease in average NHI along the line of sight, or alternatively, a decrease in HI covering fraction.more » « less
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