Browsing by Author "Crighton, N. H. M."

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    Probing the intra-group medium of a z=0.28 galaxy group
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2017) Bielby, R.; Crighton, N. H. M.; Fumagalli, M.; Morris, S. L.; Stott, J. P.; Tejos, N.; Cantalupo, S.
    We present new MUSE observations of a galaxy group probed by a background quasar. The quasar sightline passes between multiple z = 0.28 galaxies, whilst showing at the same redshift low-ionized metal line species, including Ca II, Mg I, Mg II and Fe II. Based on the galaxy redshifts measured from the MUSE data, we estimate the galaxies to be part of a small galaxy group with a halo mass of approximate to 6 x 10(12) M-circle dot. We use the MUSE data to reveal the two-dimensional dynamical properties of the gas and stars in the group galaxies, and relate these to the absorber kinematics. With these data, we consider a number of scenarios for the nature of the gas probed by the sightline absorbers: a corotating gas halo associated with a single galaxy within the group; outflowing material from a single group member powered by recent star-formation; and cool dense gas associated with an intra-group medium. We find that the dynamics, galaxy impact parameters, star formation rates and the absorber strength suggest that the cool gas cannot be clearly associated with any single galaxy within the group. Instead, we find that the observations are consistent with a superposition of cool gas clouds originating with the observed galaxies as they fall into the group potential, and are now likely in the process of forming the intra-group medium.
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    The VLT LBG redshift survey - VI. Mapping HI in the proximity of z similar to 3 LBGs with X-Shooter
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2017) Bielby, R. M.; Shanks, T.; Crighton, N. H. M.; Bornancini, C. G.; Infante, L.; Lambas, D. G.; Minniti, D.; Morris, S. L.; Tummuangpak, P.
    We present an analysis of the spatial distribution and dynamics of neutral hydrogen gas around galaxies using new X-Shooter observations of z similar to 2.5-4 quasars. Adding the X-Shooter data to our existing data set of high-resolution quasar spectroscopy, we use a total sample of 29 quasars alongside similar to 1700 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) in the redshift range 2 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 3.5. We measure the Ly alpha forest auto-correlation function, finding a clustering length of s(0) = 0.081 +/- 0.006 h(-1) Mpc, and the cross-correlation function with LBGs, finding a cross-clustering length of s0 = 0.27 +/- 0.14 h(-1) Mpc and power-law slope gamma = 1.1 +/- 0.2. Our results highlight the weakly clustered nature of neutral hydrogren systems in the Ly alpha forest. Building on this, we make a first analysis of the dependence of the clustering on absorber strength, finding a clear preference for stronger Ly alpha forest absorption features to be more strongly clustered around the galaxy population, suggesting that they trace on average higher mass haloes. Using the projected and 2-D cross-correlation functions, we constrain the dynamics of Ly alpha forest clouds around z similar to 3 galaxies. We find a significant detection of large-scale infall of neutral hydrogen, with a constraint on the Ly alpha forest infall parameter of beta(F) = 1.02 +/- 0.22.
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    The VLT LBG redshift survey - VI. Mapping HI in the proximity of z ~ 3 LBGs with X-Shooter
    (2017) Bielby, R. M.; Shanks, T.; Crighton, N. H. M.; Bornancini, C. G.; Infante Lira, Leopoldo; Lambas, D. G.; Minniti, D.; Morris, S. L.; Tummuangpak, P.