Spatially Resolved Patchy Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission Within the Central Kiloparsec of a Strongly Lensed Quasar Host Galaxy at z = 2.8

TL;DR

This study uses strong gravitational lensing to spatially resolve and analyze the extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission in a high-redshift quasar host galaxy, revealing detailed morphology, gas distribution, and ionization anisotropy at sub-kiloparsec scales.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed spatially resolved analysis of Lyman-$\alpha$ emission in a strongly lensed quasar host galaxy at z=2.8, demonstrating the power of lensing to probe small-scale structures.

Findings

Extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission mapped to 0.5-2 kpc from the AGN.

Morphological differences between Lyman-$\alpha$ and UV continuum emissions.

Evidence of patchy intervening gas causing anisotropic obscuration.

Abstract

We report the detection of extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission from the host galaxy of SDSS~J2222+2745, a strongly lensed quasar at $z = 2.8$. Spectroscopic follow-up clearly reveals extended Lyman-$\alpha$ in emission between two images of the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). We reconstruct the lensed quasar host galaxy in the source plane by applying a strong lens model to HST imaging, and resolve spatial scales as small as $\sim$200 parsecs. In the source plane we recover the host galaxy morphology to within a few hundred parsecs of the central AGN, and map the extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission to its physical origin on one side of the host galaxy at radii $\sim$0.5-2 kpc from the central AGN. There are clear morphological differences between the Lyman-$\alpha$ and rest-frame ultraviolet stellar continuum emission from the quasar host galaxy. Furthermore, the relative velocity profiles of quasar Lyman-$\alpha$, host galaxy Lyman-$\alpha$, and metal lines in outflowing gas reveal differences in the absorbing material affecting the AGN and host galaxy. These data indicate the presence of patchy local intervening gas in front of the central quasar and its host galaxy. This interpretation is consistent with the central luminous quasar being obscured across a substantial fraction of its surrounding solid angle, resulting in strong anisotropy in the exposure of the host galaxy to ionizing radiation from the AGN. This work demonstrates the power of strong lensing-assisted studies to probe spatial scales that are currently inaccessible by other means.