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A titanic interstellar medium ejection from a massive starburst galaxy at redshift 1.4

Puglisi, A; Daddi, E; Brusa, M; Bournaud, F; Fensch, J; Liu, D; Delvecchio, I; ... Rodighiero, G; + view all (2021) A titanic interstellar medium ejection from a massive starburst galaxy at redshift 1.4. Nature Astronomy , 5 (3) pp. 319-330. 10.1038/s41550-020-01268-x. Green open access

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Abstract

Feedback-driven winds from star formation or active galactic nuclei might be a relevant channel for the abrupt quenching of star formation in massive galaxies. However, both observations and simulations support the idea that these processes are non-conflictingly co-evolving and self-regulating. Furthermore, evidence of disruptive events that are capable of fast quenching is rare, and constraints on their statistical prevalence are lacking. Here we present a massive starburst galaxy at redshift z = 1.4, which is ejecting 46 ± 13% of its molecular gas mass at a startling rate of ≳10,000 M⊙ yr−1. A broad component that is red-shifted from the galaxy emission is detected in four (low and high J) CO and [C I] transitions and in the ionized phase, which ensures a robust estimate of the expelled gas mass. The implied statistics suggest that similar events are potentially a major star-formation quenching channel. However, our observations provide compelling evidence that this is not a feedback-driven wind, but rather material from a merger that has been probably tidally ejected. This finding challenges some literature studies in which the role of feedback-driven winds might be overstated.

Type: Article
Title: A titanic interstellar medium ejection from a massive starburst galaxy at redshift 1.4
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-01268-x
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01268-x
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI, TIDAL DWARF GALAXIES, STAR-FORMATION, MOLECULAR GAS, BLACK-HOLES, DRIVEN OUTFLOWS, MAIN-SEQUENCE, COLD STREAMS, AGN, FEEDBACK
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10132478
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