First Systematic Search for Oxygen-Line Blobs at High Redshift: Uncovering AGN Feedback and Star-Formation Quenching

TL;DR

This study systematically searches for extended [OII] nebulae at z=1.2, discovering giant blobs likely driven by AGN activity and suggesting a role in star formation quenching.

Contribution

First systematic survey of [OII] blobs at high redshift, identifying giant and small OIIBs and linking them to AGN feedback and galaxy quenching processes.

Findings

Giant OIIBs are associated with obscured AGN activity.

Number density of giant OIIBs comparable to AGN outflows at similar redshift.

Approximately 3% of star-forming galaxies at z~1 are quenching via outflows.

Abstract

We present the first systematic search for extended metal-line [OII]{\lambda}{\lambda}3726,3729 nebulae, or [OII] blobs (OIIBs), at z=1.2 using deep narrowband imaging with a survey volume of 1.9x10^5 Mpc^3 on the 0.62 deg^2 sky of Subaru-XMM Deep Survey (SXDS) field. We discover a giant OIIB, dubbed 'OIIB 1', with a spatial extent over ~75 kpc at a spectroscopic redshift of z=1.18, and also identify a total of twelve OIIBs with a size of >30 kpc. Our optical spectrum of OIIB 1 presents [NeV]{\lambda}3426 line at the 6{\sigma} level, indicating that this object harbors an obscured type-2 AGN. The presence of gas outflows in this object is suggested by two marginal detections of FeII{\lambda}2587 absorption and FeII*{\lambda}2613 emission lines both of which are blueshifted at as large as 500-600 km/s, indicating that the heating source of OIIB 1 is AGN or associated shock excitation rather than supernovae produced by starbursts. The number density of OIIB 1-type giant blobs is estimated to be ~5x10^{-6} Mpc^{-3} at z~1.2, which is comparable with that of AGNs driving outflow at a similar redshift, suggesting that giant OIIBs are produced only by AGN activity. On the other hand, the number density of small OIIBs, 6x10^{-5} Mpc^{-3}, compared to that of z~1 galaxies in the blue cloud in the same M_B range, may imply that 3% of star-forming galaxies at z~1 are quenching star formation through outflows involving extended [OII] emission.