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Main Authors: Deka, P. P., Gupta, N., Chen, H. W., Johnson, S. D., Noterdaeme, P., Combes, F., Boettcher, E., Balashev, S. A., Emig, K. L., Józsa, G. I. G., Klöckner, H. -R., Krogager, J-. K., Momjian, E., Petitjean, P., Rudie, G. C., Wagenveld, J., Zahedy, F. S.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.00336
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author Deka, P. P.
Gupta, N.
Chen, H. W.
Johnson, S. D.
Noterdaeme, P.
Combes, F.
Boettcher, E.
Balashev, S. A.
Emig, K. L.
Józsa, G. I. G.
Klöckner, H. -R.
Krogager, J-. K.
Momjian, E.
Petitjean, P.
Rudie, G. C.
Wagenveld, J.
Zahedy, F. S.
author_facet Deka, P. P.
Gupta, N.
Chen, H. W.
Johnson, S. D.
Noterdaeme, P.
Combes, F.
Boettcher, E.
Balashev, S. A.
Emig, K. L.
Józsa, G. I. G.
Klöckner, H. -R.
Krogager, J-. K.
Momjian, E.
Petitjean, P.
Rudie, G. C.
Wagenveld, J.
Zahedy, F. S.
contents We report a new, rare detection of HI 21-cm absorption associated with a quasar (only six known at $1<z<2$) here towards J2339-5523 at $z_{em}$ = 1.3531, discovered through the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS). The absorption profile is broad ($\sim 400$ km/s), and the peak is redshifted by $\sim 200$ km/s, from $z_{em}$. Interestingly, optical/FUV spectra of the quasar from Magellan-MIKE/HST-COS spectrographs do not show any absorption features associated with the 21-cm absorption. This is despite the coincident presence of the optical quasar and the radio `core' inferred from a flat spectrum component of flux density $\sim 65$ mJy at high frequencies ($>5$ GHz). The simplest explanation would be that no large HI column (N(HI)$>10^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$) is present towards the radio `core' and the optical AGN. Based on the joint optical and radio analysis of a heterogeneous sample of 16 quasars ($z_{median}$ = 0.7) and 15 radio galaxies ($z_{median}$ = 0.3) with HI 21-cm absorption detection and matched in 1.4 GHz luminosity (L$_{\rm 1.4\,GHz}$), a consistent picture emerges where quasars are primarily tracing the gas in the inner circumnuclear disk and cocoon created by the jet-ISM interaction. These exhibit L$_{1.4\,\rm GHz}$ - $ΔV_{\rm null}$ correlation, and frequent mismatch between the radio and optical spectral lines. The radio galaxies show no such correlation and likely trace the gas from the cocoon and the galaxy-wide ISM outside the photoionization cone. The analysis presented here demonstrates the potential of radio spectroscopic observations to reveal the origin of the absorbing gas associated with AGN that may be missed in optical observations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2311_00336
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle MALS discovery of a rare HI 21-cm absorber at $z\sim1.35$: origin of the absorbing gas in powerful AGN
Deka, P. P.
Gupta, N.
Chen, H. W.
Johnson, S. D.
Noterdaeme, P.
Combes, F.
Boettcher, E.
Balashev, S. A.
Emig, K. L.
Józsa, G. I. G.
Klöckner, H. -R.
Krogager, J-. K.
Momjian, E.
Petitjean, P.
Rudie, G. C.
Wagenveld, J.
Zahedy, F. S.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We report a new, rare detection of HI 21-cm absorption associated with a quasar (only six known at $1<z<2$) here towards J2339-5523 at $z_{em}$ = 1.3531, discovered through the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS). The absorption profile is broad ($\sim 400$ km/s), and the peak is redshifted by $\sim 200$ km/s, from $z_{em}$. Interestingly, optical/FUV spectra of the quasar from Magellan-MIKE/HST-COS spectrographs do not show any absorption features associated with the 21-cm absorption. This is despite the coincident presence of the optical quasar and the radio `core' inferred from a flat spectrum component of flux density $\sim 65$ mJy at high frequencies ($>5$ GHz). The simplest explanation would be that no large HI column (N(HI)$>10^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$) is present towards the radio `core' and the optical AGN. Based on the joint optical and radio analysis of a heterogeneous sample of 16 quasars ($z_{median}$ = 0.7) and 15 radio galaxies ($z_{median}$ = 0.3) with HI 21-cm absorption detection and matched in 1.4 GHz luminosity (L$_{\rm 1.4\,GHz}$), a consistent picture emerges where quasars are primarily tracing the gas in the inner circumnuclear disk and cocoon created by the jet-ISM interaction. These exhibit L$_{1.4\,\rm GHz}$ - $ΔV_{\rm null}$ correlation, and frequent mismatch between the radio and optical spectral lines. The radio galaxies show no such correlation and likely trace the gas from the cocoon and the galaxy-wide ISM outside the photoionization cone. The analysis presented here demonstrates the potential of radio spectroscopic observations to reveal the origin of the absorbing gas associated with AGN that may be missed in optical observations.
title MALS discovery of a rare HI 21-cm absorber at $z\sim1.35$: origin of the absorbing gas in powerful AGN
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.00336