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R.E. White III, W.C. Keel (Univ of Alabama), R.A. Windhorst (Arizona State Univ)
Radio quiet Lyman alpha blobs are among the most enigmatic denizens of the high redshift zoo. They can have spatial extents of 10s-100 kpc and Ly alpha luminosities of 1043-44 erg s-1. Proposed explanations for their origin and power source include starburst winds, protogalactic or cluster cooling flows, and photoionization by active galactic nuclei. We report on Chandra detections of active galactic nuclei associated with several Ly alpha blobs. Despite this tantalizing association of AGN with Ly alpha blobs, the ionizing continua interpolated between X-ray and UV spectra of the AGN are insufficient to power the blobs. Observed Ly-alpha/H-alpha ratios and detections of [OIII] and CIV in these blobs also rule out their being protogalactic cooling flows of pristine gas. Instead, such Ly alpha blobs may be powered by fast shocks driven by starburst winds.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.