Gas halo observed by MUSE surrounding a galaxy merger seen by ALMA

This image shows one of the gas halos newly observed with the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope superimposed to an older image of a galaxy merger obtained with ALMA. The large-scale halo of hydrogen gas is shown in blue, while the ALMA data is shown in orange. 

The halo is bound to the galaxy, which contains a quasar at its centre. The faint, glowing hydrogen gas in the halo provides the perfect food source for the supermassive black hole at the centre of the quasar. 

The objects in this image are located at redshift 6.2, meaning they are being seen as they were 12.8 billion years ago. While quasars are bright, the gas reservoirs around them are much harder to observe. But MUSE could detect the faint glow of the hydrogen gas in the halos, allowing astronomers to finally reveal the food stashes that power supermassive black holes in the early Universe.

Oikeudet:

ESO/Farina et al.; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Decarli et al.

Kuvasta

Tunnistus:eso1921a
Tyyppi:Havainto
Julkaisupäivä:19. joulukuuta 2019 12:00
Vastaavat julkaisut:eso1921
Koko:1852 x 1550 px

Kohteesta

Tyyppi:Early Universe : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar
Constellation:Capricornus
Kategoria:Cosmology

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Position (RA):20 32 10.06
Position (Dec):-21° 14' 2.78"
Field of view:0.16 x 0.13 arcminutes
Suuntaus:Pohjoinen on -0.0° vasen pystysuuntaan nähden

Värit ja suotimet

KaistaTeleskooppi
Optinen
Lyman-alpha
Very Large Telescope
MUSE
Millimetri
CII
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array