| Issue |
A&A
Volume 367, Number 3, March I 2001
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | L5 - L8 | |
| Section | Letters | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20010041 | |
| Published online | 15 March 2001 | |
Deep VLT spectroscopy of the 
2.49 radio galaxy MRC 2104-242*
Evidence for a metallicity gradient in its extended emission line region
Sterrewacht Leiden, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
Corresponding author: R. A. Overzier, overzier@strw.leidenuniv.nl
Received:
10
November
2000
Accepted:
8
January
2000
We present spectroscopic observations of the rest-frame UV
line emission around radio galaxy MRC 2104-242
at 
, obtained with FORS1 on VLT Antu.
The morphology of the halo is dominated by two spatially resolved
regions. Lyα is extended by >12´´along the radio axis,
C
and He
are extended by ∼8´´.
The overall spectrum is typical for that of high redshift radio
galaxies. The most striking spatial variation is that N
is
present in the spectrum of the region associated with the center
of the galaxy hosting the radio source, the northern region, while
absent in the southern region. Assuming that the gas is photoionized
by a hidden quasar, the difference in N
emission can be explained
by a metallicity gradient within the halo, with the northern region
having a metallicity of 
and
for the southern region. This is consistent with
a scenario in which the gas is associated with a massive cooling flow or
originates from the debris of the merging of two or more galaxies.
Key words: cosmology: early Universe / galaxies: active / galaxies: evolution / galaxies: individual: MRC 2104 / 242 / galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
© ESO, 2001
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