Mapping the Kinematics of the Cosmic Web at z 3.2
Abstract
The Nilsson et al. (2006) Lyman-alpha nebula (LAN) at z∼3.157 has often been offered as the best example of a LAN powered by the gravitational cooling of infalling gas because of its surface brightness profile and apparent lack of associated galaxies. Recently, Prescott et al. (2015) brought together more extensive ultraviolet, optical, and infrared data to re-evaluate the status of this object and determined that there is likely to be obscured AGN in the vicinity of the nebula. In order to revisit the question of the powering mechanism for this source, we proposed for deep VLT MUSE integral field spectrograph observations to better characterize the kinematics of the emitting gas and search for the presence of AGN emission lines. In this paper, we report the initial results of these observations. We find the kinematics and spatial distribution of the nebula to be tentatively consistent with the presence of an AGN, although the peak surface brightness is lower than typically seen for AGN powered nebulae at this redshift.
- Publication:
-
The 35th Annual New Mexico Symposium
- Pub Date:
- February 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020anms.confQ...8S