Introducing the Condor Array Telescope. VI. Discovery of Extensive Ionized Gaseous Filaments of the Cosmic Web in the Direction of the M81 Group

TL;DR

This study used the Condor Array Telescope to discover extensive ionized gaseous filaments, including the Ursa Major Arc and a giant shell, connecting galaxies in the M81 Group and revealing the cosmic web at about 3.6 Mpc.

Contribution

First deep imaging survey revealing large-scale ionized filaments and structures associated with the M81 Group, supporting their connection to the low-redshift cosmic web.

Findings

Identification of the Ursa Major Arc and a giant shell of ionized gas.

Flux ratios indicate the filaments are not shock-ionized.

Evidence supports the filaments being part of the cosmic web at 3.6 Mpc.

Abstract

We used the Condor Array Telescope to obtain deep imaging observations through luminance broad-band and He II, [O III], He I, H$\alpha$, [N II], and [S II] narrow-band filters of an extended region of the M81 Group spanning $\approx 8 \times 8$ deg$^2$ on the sky centered near M81 and M82. Here we report aspects of these observations that are specifically related to (1) a remarkable filament known as the "Ursa Major Arc" that stretches $\approx 30$ deg on the sky roughly in the direction of Ursa Major, (2) a "Giant Shell of Ionized Gas" that stretches $\approx 0.8$ deg on the sky located $\approx 0.6$ deg NW of M82, and (3) a remarkable network of ionized gaseous filaments revealed by the new Condor observations that appear to connect the arc, the shell, and various of the galaxies of the M81 Group and, by extension, the group itself. We measure flux ratios between the various ions to help to distinguish photoionized from shock-ionized gas, and we find that the flux ratios of the arc and shell are not indicative of shock ionization. This provides strong evidence against a previous interpretation of the arc as an interstellar shock produced by an unrecognized supernova. We suggest that all of these objects, including the arc, are associated with the M81 Group and are located at roughly the distance $\approx 3.6$ Mpc of M81, that the arc is an intergalactic filament, and that the objects are associated with the low-redshift cosmic web.