Mapping the Polarization of the Radio-Loud Lyman Alpha Nebula B3 J2330+3927

  • Published : 2015.10.15

Abstract

$Ly{\alpha}$ nebulae, or "$Ly{\alpha}$ blobs", are extended (~100 kpc), bright (L[$Ly{\alpha}$] ~ 1044 erg/s) clouds of $Ly{\alpha}$-emitting gas. The origin of the $Ly{\alpha}$ emission remains unknown, but recent theoretical work suggests that measuring the polarization could discriminate among powering mechanisms. we will discuss current status of $Ly{\alpha}$ polarization observations at high-redshift and our on-going survey program. We will present the first narrow-band, imaging polarimetry of a $Ly{\alpha}$ blob, B3 J2330+3927 at z=3.09, with an embedded, radio-loud AGN (C. You et al. in prep.). The AGN lies near the blob's $Ly{\alpha}$ emission peak and its radio lobes align roughly with the blob's semi-major axis. With the SPOL polarimeter on the MMT telescope, we map the polarization in a grid of circular apertures of radius 0.6" (4.4 kpc), detecting a significant (>$2{\sigma}$) polarization fraction P% in 10 apertures and achieving strong upper-limits (as low as 2%) elsewhere. The degree of the polarization map increases from P% ~ 5% at ~5 kpc from the blob center to ~20% at the outer part (~30 kpc). The detections are distributed asymmetrically, roughly along the blob's major axis. The polarization angles (${\Theta}$) are mostly perpendicular to this axis. These results are consistent with the picture that $Ly{\alpha}$ photons produced at the AGN (or the host galaxy) are resonantly scattered away from the center. Higher polarization fraction on the radio jet suggests that the gas is more optically thin along the jet than the off-axis region.

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