Baryonic Ecosystem in Galaxies (BEINGMgII). Host Galaxies of Ultra-strong MgII Absorbers in Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam Survey

TL;DR

This study investigates the galaxies associated with ultra-strong MgII absorbers at redshifts 0.4 to 1.7, revealing their star-forming nature, alignment with galaxy axes, and potential origins in disks or winds, using deep imaging and spectral data.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of USMgII host galaxies, including their star formation, spatial distribution, and possible origins, based on a large sample from Subaru and SDSS surveys.

Findings

USMgII host galaxies are mainly star-forming main sequence galaxies.

Absorbers align with galaxy major and minor axes, indicating disk or wind origins.

Higher galaxy surface density around USMgII systems suggests multiple formation pathways.

Abstract

We study the galaxies hosting ultra-strong MgII (USMgII) absorbers at small impact parameters of $\sim$2" (5 - 20 kpc), spanning a redshift range of $0.4 \le z \le 1.7$, using deep, high-resolution images from Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Survey and spectra from SDSS survey. From a total of 418 USMgII absorbers with $W_{2796}\ \ge 3 \mathring{A}$, along 412 quasar sightlines, we detect 50 galaxies based on [O II] $\lambda\lambda$3727,3729 nebular emission detected at $\ge 2\sigma$ level. Utilizing the [O II] emission from the stacked spectrum and employing the best-fit galaxy SED template, we further identify 86 galaxies, leading to a total of 136 bona fide USMgII galaxies. With a prerequisite of having a minimum of four HSC passbands available, we find a detection rate of $\sim$38% at an average impact parameter of 11.4 kpc. We find that galaxies hosting USMgII systems are typically star-forming main sequence galaxies, with 21% exhibiting a starburst nature. The non-zero [O II] emission along the `clear' sightlines, with no stellar counterpart, hints that the USMgII absorbers may likely emanate from the unseen faint galaxies near the quasar. The USMgII absorbers preferentially align along the major and minor axes of the galaxy, which suggests that they originate in the disk or large-scale wind. We show that the distribution of $W_{2796}$ as a function of impact parameter indicates a discernible radial dependence for the `disk' and `wind' subsets, with the observed large scatter in $W_{2796}$ potentially attributed to large-scale outflows. The quasar sightline hosting USMgII systems show a factor three higher galaxy surface density at impact parameters of $\lesssim 50$kpc, highlights the multiple pathways giving rise to USMgII absorption.