Using absorption lines in the spectra of two background quasars and deep ALMA observations in CO, our group discovered a cold gas stream in a massive dark matter halo. The stream is made of gas that is extremely poor in heavy elements. The detection signifies that massive starburst galaxies existed 11 billion years ago are likely fed by similar cold streams. In other words, we have discovered a major artery leading to the heart of a phenomenal galaxy during its adolescence.

• The study was published on the Astrophysical Journal: A Long Stream of Metal-Poor Cool Gas around a Massive Starburst Galaxy at z = 2.67. The discovery was built upon two previous studies led by our group:
  • The Circumgalactic Medium of Submillimeter Galaxies. I. First Results from a Radio-identified Sample
  • The Circumgalactic Medium of Submillimeter Galaxies. II. Unobscured QSOs within Dusty Starbursts and QSO Sightlines with Impact Parameters below 100 kpc
• The multiwavelength data set associated with the study is available on my GitHub.

• The discovery generated a news story on VICE.com: Scientists Discover Massive ‘Pipeline’ in the Cosmic Web Connecting the Universe

Other media coverages:

• Interesting Engineering: Study Shows Cold Gas Pipelines Fed Early Massive Galaxies
• Tech Explorist: Streams of cold gas provisioned early, massive galaxies
• The Daily Galaxy: Ancient Behemoth Galaxies –“Fed by Cosmic Filaments of Dark-Matter Haloes”
• Science Daily: Cold gas pipelines feeding early, massive galaxies
• Iowa Now: Researchers detect cold gas pipelines feeding early, massive galaxies
• Sputnik International: Space Web: Researchers Spot Giant Gas ‘Pipeline’ Feeding Behemoth Galaxies and Connecting Universe
• Phys.org: Researchers detect cold gas pipelines feeding early, massive galaxies