Constraining Dust and Molecular Gas Properties in Lyα Blobs at z ~ 3

Abstract

In order to constrain the bolometric luminosities, dust properties, and molecular gas content of giant Lyα nebulae, the so-called Lyα blobs, we have carried out a study of dust continuum and CO line emission in two well-studied representatives of this population at z ~ 3: an Lyα blob discovered by its strong Spitzer Multiband Infrared Photometer 24 μm detection (LABd05) and the Steidel blob 1 (SSA22-LAB01). We find that the spectral energy distribution of LABd05 is well described by an active-galactic-nucleus-starburst composite template with L_(FIR) = (4.0 ± 0.5) × 10^(12) L_☉, comparable to high-z submillimeter galaxies and ultraluminous infrared galaxies. New Large APEX Bolometer Camera 870 μm measurements rule out the reported Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array detection of the SSA22-LAB01 (S_(850 μm) = 16.8 mJy) at the >4σ level. Consistent with this, ultradeep Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations with ~2'' spatial resolution also fail to detect any 1.2 mm continuum source down to ≈0.45 mJy beam^(–1) (3σ). Combined with the existing (sub)millimeter observations in the literature, we conclude that the FIR luminosity of SSA22-LAB01 remains uncertain. No CO line is detected in either case down to integrated flux limits of S_νΔV ≾ 0.25-1.0 Jy km s^(–1), indicating a modest molecular gas reservoir, M(H_2) < (1-3) × 10^(10) M_☉. The non-detections exclude, with high significance (12σ), the previous tentative detection of a CO J = 4-3 line in the SSA22-LAB01. The increased sensitivity afforded by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array will be critical in studying molecular gas and dust in these interesting systems.

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