Discovery of a faint, star-forming, multiply lensed, Lyman-alpha blob

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a faint, multiply lensed Lyman-alpha blob at high redshift, revealing insights into star formation and the circumgalactic medium of early galaxies through advanced spectroscopic and lensing techniques.

Contribution

The study presents the first detailed analysis of a faint, multiply lensed LAB at z=3.117, combining MUSE spectroscopy with strong lensing to probe the properties of low-luminosity galaxies.

Findings

Intrinsic luminosity of the LAB is 1.9×10^42 erg/s.

The LAB is associated with a galaxy group or protocluster.

UV emission lines suggest star formation as the powering mechanism.

Abstract

We report the discovery of a multiply lensed Lyman-$\alpha$ blob (LAB) behind the galaxy cluster AS1063 using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The background source is at $z=$ 3.117 and is intrinsically faint compared to almost all previously reported LABs. We used our highly precise strong lensing model to reconstruct the source properties, and we find an intrinsic luminosity of $L_{\rm Ly\alpha}$=$1.9\times10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$, extending to 33 kpc. We find that the LAB is associated with a group of galaxies, and possibly a protocluster, in agreement with previous studies that find LABs in overdensities. In addition to Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) emission, we find \ion{C}{IV}, \ion{He}{II}, and \ion{O}{III}] ultraviolet (UV) emission lines arising from the centre of the nebula. We used the compactness of these lines in combination with the line ratios to conclude that the \Lya nebula is likely powered by embedded star formation. Resonant scattering of the \Lya photons then produces the extended shape of the emission. Thanks to the combined power of MUSE and strong gravitational lensing, we are now able to probe the circumgalatic medium of sub-$L_{*}$ galaxies at $z\approx 3$.