TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence for extended gaseous reser v oirs around AGN at cosmic noon from ALMA CO(3 -2) obser v ations
AU - Jones, G. C.
AU - Maiolino, R.
AU - Circosta, C.
AU - Scholtz, J.
AU - Carniani, S.
AU - Fudamoto, Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the referee for constructive feedback that has strengthened this work. This paper is based on data obtained with the ALMA Observatory, under programs 2016.1.00798.S, 2017.1.00893.S, and 2021.1.00327.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA), and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO, and NAOJ. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology. GCJ acknowledges funding from ERC Advanced Grant 789056 ‘First Galaxies’. RM and JS acknowledge funding from ERC Advanced Grant 695671 ‘QUENCH’ under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, as well as support by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). R. M. additionally acknowledges the support from a Royal Society Research Professorship. SC was supported by European Union’s HE ERC Starting grant no. 101040227 - WINGS. YF acknowledge support from NAOJ ALMA Scientific Research grant number 2020-16B.
Funding Information:
We thank the referee for constructive feedback that has strengthened this work. This paper is based on data obtained with the ALMA Observatory, under programs 2016.1.00798.S, 2017.1.00893.S, and 2021.1.00327.S. ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA), and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, A UI/NRA O, and NA OJ. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- tration and operated by the California Institute of Technology. GCJ acknowledges funding from ERC Advanced Grant 789056 'First Galaxies'. RM and JS acknowledge funding from ERC Advanced Grant 695671 'QUENCH' under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, as well as support by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). R. M. addi- tionally acknowledges the support from a Royal Society Research Professorship. SC was supported by European Union's HE ERC Starting grant no. 101040227 - WINGS. YF acknowledge support from NAOJ ALMA Scientific Research grant number 2020-16B.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s).
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Gaseous outflows are key phenomena in the evolution of galaxies, as they affect star formation (either positively or ne gativ ely), eject gas from the core or disc, and directly cause mixing of pristine and processed material. Active outflows may be detected through searches for broad spectral line emission or high-velocity gas, but it is also possible to determine the presence of past outflows by searching for extended reservoirs of chemically enriched molecular gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies. In this work, we examine the CO(3 -2) emission of a set of seven z ~2.0-2.5 active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxies, as observed with ALMA. Through a 3D stacking analysis, we find evidence for extended CO emission of radius r ~13 kpc. We extend this analysis to the HST /ACS i -band images of the sample galaxies, finding a complex small-scale (r < 10 kpc) morphology but no robust evidence for extended emission. In addition, the dust emission (traced by rest-frame FIR emission) shows no evidence for significant spatial extension. This indicates that the diffuse CO emission revealed by ALMA is morphologically distinct from the stellar component, and thus traces an extended reservoir of enriched gas. The presence of a diffuse, enriched molecular reservoir around this sample of AGN host galaxies at cosmic noon hints at a history of AGN-driven outflows that likely had strong effects on the star formation history of these objects.
AB - Gaseous outflows are key phenomena in the evolution of galaxies, as they affect star formation (either positively or ne gativ ely), eject gas from the core or disc, and directly cause mixing of pristine and processed material. Active outflows may be detected through searches for broad spectral line emission or high-velocity gas, but it is also possible to determine the presence of past outflows by searching for extended reservoirs of chemically enriched molecular gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies. In this work, we examine the CO(3 -2) emission of a set of seven z ~2.0-2.5 active galactic nuclei (AGN) host galaxies, as observed with ALMA. Through a 3D stacking analysis, we find evidence for extended CO emission of radius r ~13 kpc. We extend this analysis to the HST /ACS i -band images of the sample galaxies, finding a complex small-scale (r < 10 kpc) morphology but no robust evidence for extended emission. In addition, the dust emission (traced by rest-frame FIR emission) shows no evidence for significant spatial extension. This indicates that the diffuse CO emission revealed by ALMA is morphologically distinct from the stellar component, and thus traces an extended reservoir of enriched gas. The presence of a diffuse, enriched molecular reservoir around this sample of AGN host galaxies at cosmic noon hints at a history of AGN-driven outflows that likely had strong effects on the star formation history of these objects.
KW - galaxies: evolution
KW - galaxies: high-redshift
KW - ISM: jets and outflows
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U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stac3088
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stac3088
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85145436315
VL - 518
SP - 691
EP - 708
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
IS - 1
ER -