Detection of companion galaxies around hot dust-obscured hyper-luminous galaxy W0410-0913
Journal article, 2022
The phase transition between galaxies and quasars is often identified with the rare population of hyper-luminous, hot dust-obscured galaxies. Galaxy formation models predict these systems to grow via mergers, that can deliver large amounts of gas toward their centers, induce intense bursts of star formation and feed their supermassive black holes. Here we report the detection of 24 galaxies emitting Lyman-α emission on projected physical scales of about 400 kpc around the hyper-luminous hot dust-obscured galaxy W0410-0913, at redshift z = 3.631, using Very Large Telescope observations. While this indicates that W0410-0913 evolves in a very dense environment, we do not find clear signs of mergers that could sustain its growth. Data suggest that if mergers occurred, as models expect, these would involve less massive satellites, with only a moderate impact on the internal interstellar medium of W0410-0913, which is sustained by a rotationally-supported fast-rotating molecular disk, as Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations suggest.
Author
M. Ginolfi
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
E. Piconcelli
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
L. Zappacosta
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
G. C. Jones
University of Oxford
University of Cambridge
L. Pentericci
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
R. Maiolino
University of Cambridge
A. Travascio
University of Milano-Bicocca
N. Menci
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
S. Carniani
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
F. Rizzo
Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
Niels Bohr Institute
F. Arrigoni Battaia
Max Planck Society
S. Cantalupo
University of Milano-Bicocca
C. De Breuck
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
L. Graziani
Sapienza University of Rome
Kirsten Kraiberg Knudsen
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
P. Laursen
Niels Bohr Institute
Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
V. Mainieri
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
R. Schneider
Sapienza University of Rome
F. Stanley
Sorbonne University
R. Valiante
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
A. Verhamme
University of Geneva
Nature Communications
2041-1723 (ISSN) 20411723 (eISSN)
Vol. 13 1 4574Subject Categories
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-32297-x
PubMed
35931777