2007MNRAS.378..416V

The morphological and spectroscopic properties of the giant (>60 kpc) Lyα nebulae associated with three radio galaxies at z ∼ 2.5 (MRC 1558-003, 2025-218 and 0140-257) have been investigated using integral field spectroscopic data obtained with the Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) on VLT.

The morphologies are varied. The nebula of one source has a centrally peaked, rounded appearance. In the other two objects, it consists of two spatial components. The three nebulae are aligned with the radio axis within ≲30°. The total Lyα luminosities are in the range (0.3-3.4)x10⁴⁴ erg/s. The Lyα spectral profile shows strong variation through the nebulae, with full width at half-maximum (FWHM) values in the range ∼400-1500 km/s and velocity shifts V_offset∼ 120-600 km/s.

We present an infall model that can successfully explain the morphology, size, surface brightness distribution and the velocity field of the Lyα nebula associated with MRC 1558-003. It can also explain why Lyα is redshifted relative to other emission lines and the FWHM values of the non-resonant Heii line. This adds further support to our previous conclusion that the quiescent giant nebulae associated with this and other high-redshift powerful radio galaxies are in infall. A problem for this model is the difficulty to reproduce the large Lyα FWHM values, which might be the consequence of a different mechanism.

We have discovered a giant (∼85 kpc) Lyα nebula associated with the radio galaxy MRC 0140-257 at z = 2.64. It shows strikingly relaxed kinematics (FWHM < 300 km/s and V_offset≲ 120 km/s), unique among high-z (≳2) radio galaxies.