Intergalactic medium tomography with the Sunburst Arc

ABSTRACT Gravitational lensing has transformed the field of gas tomography in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM). Here, we use the brightest lensed galaxy identified to date, the Sunburst Arc (z $\approx$ 2.37), to constrain the physical size of foreground absorbers at z $\approx$ 2 in 2D. This galaxy is a confirmed Lyman continuum leaker, where its single leaking region is imaged 12 times over four separate arcs. The separations between the arcs allows for large-scale tomography, while the distances between the images along an arc allow for small-scale tomography. Using Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 UV/Visible (UVIS) G280 grism observations, we extracted the spectra of the leaking region and fit for absorbers detected along these lines of sight using a binary population and spectral synthesis (bpass) model for the galaxy. We identified two partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs) and one Lyman limit system (LLS) across the different spectra and measured their physical sizes. We find consistent H i column densities across $\lesssim$2 kpc and an average H i mass of $\approx 10^3$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ for the absorbers. Given the strong C iv lines associated with two of the absorbers, they are likely located within the CGM of foreground galaxies. The third absorber has no associated metal lines, so it is most likely within the IGM. This study provides the first tomography measurements of pLLSs/LLSs in the CGM and IGM at z $\approx$ 2.

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Publication Details

Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2025-10-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1788
Primary Topic
Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Intergalactic medium tomography with the Sunburst Arc

Michelle A. Berg, Keren Sharon, Matthew Bayliss, Michael D. Gladders et al.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
article

Intergalactic medium tomography with the Sunburst Arc

Michelle A. Berg, Keren Sharon, Matthew Bayliss, Michael D. Gladders, Jason Xavier Prochaska, Claus Leitherer, Anne Verhamme, T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen, J. J. Eldridge, Jane R. Rigby, John Chisholm, Haakon Dahle
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gravitational lensing has transformed the field of gas tomography in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM). Here, we use the brightest lensed galaxy identified to date, the Sunburst Arc (z $\approx$ 2.37), to constrain the physical size of foreground absorbers at z $\approx$ 2 in 2D. This galaxy is a confirmed Lyman continuum leaker, where its single leaking region is imaged 12 times over four separate arcs. The separations between the arcs allows for large-scale tomography, while the distances between the images along an arc allow for small-scale tomography. Using Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 UV/Visible (UVIS) G280 grism observations, we extracted the spectra of the leaking region and fit for absorbers detected along these lines of sight using a binary population and spectral synthesis (bpass) model for the galaxy. We identified two partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs) and one Lyman limit system (LLS) across the different spectra and measured their physical sizes. We find consistent H i column densities across $\lesssim$2 kpc and an average H i mass of $\approx 10^3$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ for the absorbers. Given the strong C iv lines associated with two of the absorbers, they are likely located within the CGM of foreground galaxies. The third absorber has no associated metal lines, so it is most likely within the IGM. This study provides the first tomography measurements of pLLSs/LLSs in the CGM and IGM at z $\approx$ 2.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 544(1)
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR), University of Geneva (CH), Texas Christian University (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), University of Auckland (NZ), Stockholm University (SE), Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (JP), University of Oslo (NO), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Michigan (US), University of Chicago (US), Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (FR), Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (JP), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), AlbaNova (SE), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP), University of Cincinnati (US), The University of Texas at Austin (US)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Chicago, Space Telescope Science Institute
Openalex Percentile: Top 72%
Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
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