A cosmic stream of atomic carbon gas connected to a massive radio galaxy at redshift 3.8

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Emonts, Bjorn H. C.; Lehnert, Matthew D.; Yoon, Ilsang; Mandelker, Nir; Villar-Martin, Montserrat; Miley, George K.; De Breuck, Carlos; Perez-Torres, Miguel A.; Hatch, Nina A.; Guillard, Pierre
• 署名单位: National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO); Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1; Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon (ENS de LYON); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Sorbonne Universite; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; Yale University; Leiden University; Leiden University - Excl LUMC; European Southern Observatory; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); CSIC - Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA); University of Zaragoza; European University Cyprus; University of Nottingham; Institut Universitaire de France
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-12949
• DOI: 10.1126/science.abh2150
• 发表日期: 2023-03-31
• 页码: 1323-1326
• 关键词: star-formation; molecular gas; cold streams; 4c 41.17; filaments

摘要

The growth of galaxies in the early Universe is driven by accretion of circum-and intergalactic gas. Simulations have predicted that steady streams of cold gas penetrate the dark matter halos of galaxies and provide the raw material necessary to sustain star formation. We report a filamentary stream of gas that extends for 100 kiloparsecs and connects to the massive radio galaxy 4C 41.17. We detected the stream using submillimeter observations of the 3P1 to 3P0 emission from the [C I] line of atomic carbon, a tracer of neutral atomic or molecular hydrogen gas. The galaxy contains a central gas reservoir that is fueling a vigorous starburst. Our results show that the raw material for star formation can be present in cosmic streams outside galaxies.