Kavli Affiliate: Robert A. Simcoe
| First 5 Authors: Dominika Ďurovčíková, Anna-Christina Eilers, Robert A. Simcoe, Louise Welsh, Romain A. Meyer
| Summary:
We report the discovery of a Lyman $alpha$ emitter (LAE) candidate in the
immediate foreground of the quasar PSO J158-14 at $z_{rm QSO}=6.0685$ at a
projected distance $sim29 {rm pkpc}$ that is associated with an extremely
metal-poor absorption system. This system was found in archival observations of
the quasar field with the Very Large Telescope/Multi-Unit Spectroscopic
Explorer (VLT/MUSE) and was previously missed in searches of absorption systems
using quasar absorption line spectroscopy as it imparts no detectable metal
absorption lines on the background quasar spectrum. The detected Ly$alpha$
emission line at a redshift of $z_{rm LAE}=6.0323$ is well aligned with the
outer edge of the quasar’s proximity zone and can plausibly cause its observed
damping wing if it is associated with a proximate sub-damped Ly$alpha$
absorption system with a column density of $log {N_{rm HI} / {rm cm}^{-2}}
approx 19.8$. A $>10$ hour medium-resolution spectrum of the quasar observed
with the Magellan/Folded-port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE) and VLT/X-Shooter
spectrographs reveals a metallicity constraint of ${rm [Z/H]} < -3$. Such low
metallicity makes this system an extremely metal-poor galaxy candidate and
provides an exciting site to study possible signatures of Population III stars.
| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Robert A. Simcoe”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3