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A giant protogalactic disk linked to the cosmic web.
D Christopher Martin1, Mateusz Matuszewski1, Patrick Morrissey1
1Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, 1216 East California Boulevard, Mail code 278-17, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Nature
|August 7, 2015
Summary
Scientists discovered a massive, rotating gas disk near QSO UM287, suggesting it’s a giant protogalactic structure fueled by a cold accretion flow. This finding provides new insights into galaxy formation and the cosmic web.
Area of Science:
- Cosmology
- Astrophysics
- Galaxy Formation
Background:
- Galaxy formation mechanisms and fueling by the intergalactic medium are not fully understood.
- Hydrodynamic simulations propose cold accretion flows as a key process, channeling gas along cosmic web filaments into dark matter halos.
- These flows are hypothesized to build circumgalactic structures that eventually form galaxies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the physical characteristics and kinematics of a luminous filament discovered near QSO UM287.
- To determine the nature of the bright emission and its connection to galaxy formation processes.
- To test the hypothesis that the filament represents a cold accretion flow.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a two-dimensional spectroscopic investigation of the emitting structure near QSO UM287.
- Analyzed the velocity profile of the gas within the filament.
- Constrained the mass of the associated dark matter halo.
Main Results:
- Identified the brightest emission region as an extended, rotating hydrogen disk.
- The disk's velocity profile is consistent with gas within a dark matter halo of 10(13) solar masses.
- The protogalactic disk appears connected to a quiescent filament extending beyond the halo's virial radius.
Conclusions:
- The observed structure strongly suggests a cold accretion flow fueling a massive protogalactic disk.
- This provides observational evidence supporting theoretical models of galaxy formation via cold accretion.
- The findings offer new insights into the role of cosmic web filaments in supplying gas to early galaxies.
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