Discovery of a Protocluster Core Associated with an Enormous Lya Nebula at z = 2.3

Li, Qiong; Wang, Ran; Dannerbauer, Helmut; Cai, Zheng; Emonts, Bjorn; Prochaska, Jason Xavier; Battaia, Fabrizio Arrigoni; Neri, Roberto; Zhang, Chengpeng; Fan, Xiaohui; Jin, Shuowen; Yoon, Ilsang; Bechtel, Shane
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal

Advertised on:
12
2021
Number of authors
13
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
11
Refereed citations
9
Description
The MAMMOTH-1 nebula at z = 2.317 is an enormous Lyα nebula (ELAN) extending to a ~440 kpc scale at the center of the extreme galaxy overdensity BOSS 1441. In this paper, we present observations of the CO(3 - 2) and 250 GHz dust-continuum emission from MAMMOTH-1 using the IRAM NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array. Our observations show that CO(3 - 2) emission in this ELAN has not extended widespread emission into the circum- and inter-galactic media. We also find a remarkable concentration of six massive galaxies in CO(3 - 2) emission in the central ~100 kpc region of the ELAN. Their velocity dispersions suggest a total halo mass of M 200c ~ 1013.1 M ⊙, marking a possible protocluster core associated with the ELAN. The peak position of the CO(3 - 2) line emission from the obscured AGN is consistent with the location of the intensity peak of MAMMOTH-1 in the rest-frame UV band. Its luminosity line ratio between the CO(3 - 2) and CO(1 - 0)r 3,1 is 0.61 ± 0.17. The other five galaxies have CO(3 - 2) luminosities in the range of (2.1-7.1) × 109 K km s-1 pc2, with the star-formation rates derived from the 250 GHz continuum of (<36)-224 M ⊙ yr-1. Follow-up spectroscopic observations will further confirm more member galaxies and improve the accuracy of the halo mass estimation.
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Dannerbauer