ALMA OBSERVATIONS OF Ly alpha BLOB 1 : HALO SUBSTRUCTURE ILLUMINATED FROM WITHIN

• We present new Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) 850 mu m continuum observations of the original Ly alpha Blob (LAB) in the SSA22 field at z = 3.1 (SSA22-LAB01). The ALMA map resolves the previously identified submillimeter source into three components with a total flux density of S-850 = 1.68 +/- 0.06 mJy, corresponding to a star-formation rate of similar to 150M(circle dot) yr(-1). The submillimeter sources are associated with several faint (m approximate to 27 mag) rest-frame ultraviolet sources identified in Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) clear filter imaging (lambda approximate to 5850 angstrom). One of these companions is spectroscopically confirmed with the Keck Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration to lie within 20 projected kpc and 250 km s(-1) of one of the ALMA components. We postulate that some of these STIS sources represent a population of low-mass star-forming satellites surrounding the central submillimeter sources, potentially contributing to their growth and activity through accretion. Using a high-resolution cosmological zoom simulation of a 10(13)M(circle dot) halo at z = 3, including stellar, dust, and Ly alpha radiative transfer, we can model the ALMA + STIS observations and demonstrate that Ly alpha photons escaping from the central submillimeter sources are expected to resonantly scatter in neutral hydrogen, the majority of which is predicted to be associated with halo substructure. We show how this process gives rise to extended Ly alpha emission with similar surface brightness and morphology to observed giant LABs.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

galaxies: evolution

galaxies: halos

galaxies: high-redshift

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)