ALMA and MUSE observations reveal a quiescent multi-phase circumgalactic medium around the z~3.6 radio galaxy 4C 19.71

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA and MUSE observations to reveal a large, quiescent, multi-phase circumgalactic medium around a high-redshift radio galaxy, showing extended ionized and molecular gas with low metallicity and diffuse ionization.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed multi-phase characterization of the circumgalactic medium around a z~3.6 radio galaxy using combined ALMA and MUSE data.

Findings

Detection of extended Lyα, CIV, HeII, and [CI] emission over 100-150 kpc.

Evidence of quiescent, low-metallicity gas with narrow line widths.

Circumgalactic medium likely energized by the active galactic nucleus.

Abstract

We present MUSE/VLT imaging spectroscopy of rest-frame ultraviolet emission lines and ALMA observations of the [CI] $^3$P$_1$-$^3$P$_0$ emission line, probing both the ionized and diffuse molecular medium around the radio galaxy 4C 19.71 at z~3.6. This radio galaxy has extended Ly$\alpha$ emission over a region ~100 kpc in size preferentially oriented along the axis of the radio jet. Faint Ly$\alpha$ emission extends beyond the radio hot spots. We also find extended CIV and HeII emission over a region of ~150 kpc in size, where the most distant emission lies ~40 kpc beyond the north radio lobe and has narrow FWHM line widths of ~180 km/s and a small relative velocity offset $\Delta$v~130 km/s from the systemic redshift of the radio galaxy. The [CI] is detected in the same region with FWHM~100 km/s and $\Delta$v~5 km/s, while [CI] is not detected in the regions south of the radio galaxy. We interpret the coincidence in the northern line emission as evidence of relatively quiescent multi-phase gas residing within the halo at a projected distance of ~75 kpc from the host galaxy. To test this hypothesis, we performed photoionization and photo-dissociated region (PDR) modeling, using the code Cloudy, of the three emission line regions: the radio galaxy proper and the northern and southern regions. We find that the [CI]/CIV$\lambda\lambda$1548,1551 and CIV$\lambda\lambda$1548,1551/HeII ratios of the two halo regions are consistent with a PDR or ionization front in the circumgalactic medium likely energized by photons from the active galactic nuclei. This modeling is consistent with a relatively low metallicity, 0.03<[Z/Z$_{\odot}$]<0.1, and diffuse ionization with an ionization parameter (proportional to the ratio of the photon number density and gas density) of log U~3 for the two circumgalactic line emission regions. Using rough mass estimates for the molecular [...]