The Ly$\alpha$, CIV, and HeII nebulae around J1000+0234: a galaxy pair at the center of a galaxy overdensity at $z=4.5$

TL;DR

This study investigates the extended Ly$ ext{alpha}$, CIV, and HeII nebulae around a galaxy pair at redshift 4.5, revealing interactions, active galactic nucleus influence, and a surrounding galaxy overdensity likely evolving into a cluster.

Contribution

It provides new empirical observations of nebulae around a high-redshift galaxy pair, linking LABs, SMGs, and galaxy overdensities to cluster formation.

Findings

Ly$ ext{alpha}$ nebulae extend over 40 kpc influenced by star formation and AGN activity.

Evidence of interacting HI clouds causing the Ly$ ext{alpha}$ profile.

Identification of nearby Ly$ ext{alpha}$ emitters within a galaxy overdensity.

Abstract

Ly$\alpha$ $\lambda$1216 (Ly$\alpha$) emission extending over $\gtrsim\,\rm 10\,kiloparsec\,(kpc)$ around dusty, massive starbursts at $z\gtrsim3$ might represent a short-lived phase in the evolution of present-day, massive quiescent galaxies. To obtain empirical constraints on this emerging scenario, we present Ly$\alpha$, CIV $\lambda$1550 (CIV), and HeII $\lambda$1640 (HeII) observations taken with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer towards J1000$+$0234: a galaxy pair at $z=4.5$ composed of a low-mass starburst (J1000$+$0234$-$South) neighboring a massive Submillimeter Galaxy (SMG; J1000$+$0234$-$North) that harbors a rotationally supported gas disk. Based on the spatial distribution and relative strength of Ly$\alpha$, CIV, and HeII, we find that star formation in J1000+0234$-$South and an active galactic nucleus in J1000+0234$-$North are dominant factors in driving the observed 40 kiloparsec-scale Ly$\alpha$ blob (LAB). We use the non-resonant HeII line to infer kinematic information of the LAB. We find marginal evidence for two spatially and spectrally separated HeII regions, which suggests that the two-peaked Ly$\alpha$ profile is mainly a result of two overlapping and likely interacting HI clouds. We also report the serendipitous identification of three Ly$\alpha$ emitters spanning over a redshift bin $\Delta z \leq 0.007$ (i.e., $\lesssim 380\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$) located at $\lesssim 140\,\rm kpc$ from J1000+0234. A galaxy overdensity analysis confirms that J1000+0234 lies near the center of a Megaparsec-scale galaxy overdensity at $z= 4.5$ that might evolve into a galaxy cluster at $z=0$. The properties of J1000+0234 and its large-scale environment strengthen the link between SMGs within LABs, tracing overdense regions, as the progenitors of local massive ellipticals in galaxy clusters.