Recent surveys show that z>2 quasars are surrounded by Hydrogen Lyman-α (Lyα) glows with diverse emission levels and extents. These seem to depend on the activity of embedded quasars, the number of active galactic nucleus (AGN) photons able to reach the halo gas or circumgalactic medium (CGM) and the physical properties of the CGM. In this framework, we present VLT/MUSE snapshot observations (45 min/source) of 59 z3 quasars extending the long-term QSO MUSEUM campaign to fainter SDSS sources. The whole survey now targets 120 quasars with a median redshift of z=3. 13, and bolometric luminosities, black hole masses and Eddington ratios of 45. 1< (L ₁₎₋/ erg\, s^{-1}) <48. 7, 7. 9< (M ₁₇/ M_{}) <10. 3 and 0. 01<λ ₄₃₃<1. 8, respectively. We detect extended Lyα emission in 110/120 systems, with all non-detections in the new fainter sample. Stacking non-detections unveils emission below our individual detection limit. The Lyα surface brightness (SB ₋ₘ⏐) of the CGM increases with quasar luminosity. Moreover, the Lyα linewidth increases in the central regions (projected radius R<40 kpc or 40% R ₕ₈ₑ) of the CGM around brighter quasars. These trends indicate that we are witnessing the instantaneous AGN feedback in action on CGM scales. Assuming that all targeted quasars sit in halos of M ₃₌10^12. 5\, M_, as found in clustering studies, the trend in SB ₋ₘ⏐ can be explained by larger fractions of cool gas mass illuminated, implying that brighter quasars have larger ionization cone opening angles. Similarly, brighter AGNs seem to perturb the cool (T10⁴ K) gas more strongly. We show that QSO MUSEUM now has enough statistics to study the instantaneous AGN feedback while controlling for black hole properties, which are key to constraining AGN models.
Lobos et al. (Tue,) studied this question.