Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 430, Issue 4, Pages 3465-3471Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt147
Keywords
galaxies: active; galaxies: clusters: individual: Spiderweb; galaxies: formation; galaxies: high-redshift; galaxies: individual: MRC 1138-262; galaxies: ISM
Categories
Funding
- ARC
- Commonwealth of Australia
- STFC [ST/J001589/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/J001589/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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The high-redshift radio galaxy MRC 1138-262 ('Spiderweb Galaxy'; z = 2.16) is one of the most massive systems in the early Universe and surrounded by a dense 'web' of proto-cluster galaxies. Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array, we detected CO(1-0) emission from cold molecular gas - the raw ingredient for star formation - across the Spiderweb Galaxy. We infer a molecular gas mass of M-H2 = 6 x 10(10) M-circle dot (for M-H2/L'(CO) = 0.8). While the bulk of the molecular gas coincides with the central radio galaxy, there are indications that a substantial fraction of this gas is associated with satellite galaxies or spread across the intergalactic medium on scales of tens of kpc. In addition, we tentatively detect CO(1-0) in the star-forming proto-cluster galaxy HAE 229, 250 kpc to the West. Our observations are consistent with the fact that the Spiderweb Galaxy is building up its stellar mass through a massive burst of widespread star formation. At maximum star formation efficiency, the molecular gas will be able to sustain the current star formation rate (SFR approximate to 1400 M-circle dot yr(-1), as traced by Seymour et al.) for about 40 Myr. This is similar to the estimated typical lifetime of a major starburst event in infrared luminous merger systems.
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