An ALMA View of Molecular Gas in Brightest Cluster Galaxies
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An ALMA View of Molecular Gas in Brightest Cluster Galaxies by Adrian Vantyghem A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics & Astronomy Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2018 c Adrian Vantyghem 2018 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner: Christine Wilson Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University Supervisor: Brian McNamara Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo Internal Member: Avery Broderick Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo Internal Member: Niayesh Afshordi Professor, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo Internal-External Member: Pierre-Nicholas Roy Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Waterloo ii I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Statement of Contributions Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this thesis contain original research written by myself, Adrian Vantyghem. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 have been published in the peer-reviewed journal The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ). The paper references are: Vantyghem, A. N.; McNamara, B. R.; Russell, H. R.; Hogan, M. T.; Edge, A. C.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Fabian, A. C.; Combes, F.; Salom´e,P.; Baum, S. A.; Donahue, M.; Main, R. A.; Murray, N. W.; O'Connell, R. W.; O'Dea, C. P.; Oonk, J. B. R.; Parrish, I. J.; Sanders, J. S.; Tremblay, G.; and Voit, G. M., 2016, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 832, Issue 2, 22 pp., doi:10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/148. Vantyghem, A. N.; McNamara, B. R.; Edge, A. C.; Combes, F.; Russell, H. R.; Fabian, A. C.; Hogan, M. T.; McDonald, M.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Salom´e,P., 2017, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 848, Issue 2, 12 pp., doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa8fd0 Vantyghem, A. N.; McNamara, B. R.; Russell, H. R.; Edge, A. C.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Combes, F.; Fabian, A. C.; McDonald, M.; Salom´e,P., 2018, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 864, Issue 2, 15 pp., doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aad2e0 Chapter 5 has been submitted for publication. The paper reference is: Vantyghem, A. N.; McNamara, B. R.; Russell, H. R.; Edge, A. C.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Combes, F.; Fabian, A. C.; McDonald, M.; Salom´e,P., (2018). Manuscript submitted for publication. In each of these publications, I, A. N. Vantyghem, am the first author, having analyzed the data and written the manuscript. The second author, Dr. B. R. McNamara, is my supervisor. Drs. B. R. McNamara and H. R. Russell led the proposals to obtain the data. The remaining authors are collaborators that provided comments on how to improve the manuscript before submission for publication. iv Abstract In this thesis I use ALMA observations to map the distribution and kinematics of molecular gas in the brightest cluster galaxies of three galaxy clusters: 2A0335+096, RXJ0821+0752, and RXCJ1504-0248. The goal is to understand how the coldest gas in clusters is formed, identify any long-lived structures that could fuel sustained black hole accretion, and explore star formation in cluster environments. I use the J = 1 ! 0 and J = 3 ! 2 rotational transitions of carbon monoxide (CO) as tracers of the total molecular gas distribution. The two transitions provide different resolutions and fields of view. The molecular gas in all three central galaxies are complex and disturbed. None show evidence for rotationally-supported nuclear structures, such as a disk or ring, that would be expected from either a merger origin or long-lived cooling flow. Instead, the molecular gas is either clumpy with no clear velocity structure or extends away from the galactic center in filaments that are several kiloparsecs long. The molecular filaments are coincident with nebular and bright X-ray emission, suggesting that they have condensed out of the hot intracluster medium. They are also generally associated with cavities in the X-ray emission inflated by the active galactic nucleus (AGN), suggesting that AGN feedback has stimulated the formation of molecular gas. The narrow velocity gradients along the filaments are only consistent with freefall if the filament is situated close to the plane of the sky. This is a common feature in brightest cluster galaxies. Since ram pressure is ineffective at slowing dense molecular clouds, the filaments must either be pinned to the hot atmosphere by magnetic fields or have condensed in-situ relatively recently. In RXCJ1504-0248 I combine the ALMA analysis with spatially-resolved ultraviolet emission tracing young stars. The central gas falls on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, while the filament has elevated star formation surface densities. The ongoing consumption of a finite fuel supply by star formation, or spatial variations in the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, may be diminishing the molecular gas surface density to produce this effect. Despite their drastic differences in morphology and environment, the molecular gas in clusters is still converted into stars following the same relation as in spirals and starbursts. I have also detected the J = 3 ! 2 transition from 13CO, an optically thin isotopologue of 12CO, in RXJ0821.0+0752. This enables a measurement of the conversion between CO intensity and molecular column density for the first time in a galaxy cluster. The CO-to-H2 conversion factor in RXJ0821+0752 is half of the Galactic value. If this value applies to other clusters, then it would alleviate the high coupling efficiencies required for molecular filaments to be uplifted by X-ray cavities. This analysis also provides reassurance that the molecular gas masses measured in BCGs are unlikely to be overwhelmingly biased by adopting the Galactic conversion factor. v Acknowledgements I would like to thank everyone who helped make this thesis possible. First and foremost, thank you to Brian McNamara for his support and supervision over these years, even though there have been too many of them. Next, my collaborators for their helpful comments and discussion. In particular Helen Russell, who helped me find my footing when I first started. Thank you to my friends, family, and the other graduate students for helping to keep me (somewhat) sane. Finally, and most importantly, my fianc´eeLaura Richards, who has been there for me every step of the way. vi Table of Contents List of Tables xi List of Figures xii Abbreviations xiv 1 Introduction1 1.1 The Cooling Flow Problem...........................2 1.2 Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback.......................4 1.3 Molecular Gas Observations..........................8 1.3.1 Molecular Gas Mass..........................8 1.4 Molecular Gas in Normal Galaxies....................... 10 1.5 Molecular Gas in Galaxy Clusters....................... 12 1.6 This Thesis................................... 15 2 Molecular Gas Along a Bright Hα Filament in 2A 0335+096 Revealed by ALMA 16 2.1 Introduction................................... 17 2.2 Observations and Data Reduction....................... 19 2.3 Results...................................... 21 2.3.1 Distribution of Molecular Gas..................... 21 vii 2.3.2 Molecular Gas Mass.......................... 27 2.3.3 Velocity Distribution.......................... 32 2.3.4 Velocity Profiles............................. 36 2.3.5 Spatial Correlation with Dust Extinction............... 38 2.3.6 Spatial Correlation with X-ray and Hα Filaments.......... 43 2.4 Discussion.................................... 45 2.4.1 Origin of the Molecular Gas...................... 45 2.4.2 Origin of the Cooling.......................... 51 2.4.3 Molecular Filament: Inflow or Outflow?................ 56 2.4.4 Star Formation............................. 59 2.5 Conclusions................................... 60 3 A 13CO Detection in a Brightest Cluster Galaxy 63 3.1 Introduction................................... 64 3.2 Observations and Data Reduction....................... 66 3.3 Results...................................... 67 3.3.1 Spectra................................. 67 3.3.2 Gas Distribution............................ 71 3.3.3 Line Ratios............................... 74 3.4 CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor.......................... 80 3.4.1 Underlying Assumptions........................ 84 3.5 Discussion.................................... 86 3.6 Conclusions................................... 87 4 Molecular Gas Filaments and Star-Forming Knots Beneath an X-ray Cavity in RXC J1504-0248 89 4.1 Introduction................................... 90 4.2 Observations and Data Reduction....................... 91 viii 4.3 Results...................................... 93 4.3.1 AGN Continuum............................ 93 4.3.2 Integrated Spectra........................... 94 4.3.3 Molecular Gas Mass.......................... 97 4.3.4 Molecular Gas Distribution and Kinematics............. 100 4.3.5 Spatial Correlation with UV Emission................ 103 4.4 Discussion.................................... 105 4.4.1 Gas Origin................................ 105 4.4.2 Motion Along the Filament...................... 110 4.4.3 Star Formation Along the Filament.................. 115 4.5 Conclusions................................... 120 5 An Enormous Molecular Gas Flow in the RXJ0821+0752 Galaxy Cluster122 5.1 Introduction................................... 122 5.2 Observations and Data