Tracing Lyman alpha escape in the CRISTAL-02 galaxy at z~5.3

Arshi Ali; Lucia Guaita; Manuel Aravena; Rebecca L. Davies; Jorge Gonzalez; Vicente Villanueva; Diego Oyarzun; Rodrigo Herrera-Camus; Ambra Nanni; Andreas Faisst; Anton M. Koekemoer; Deanne B. Fisher; Hanae Inami; Juan Molina; Justin Spilker; Lun-Jun Liu; Manuel Solimano; Michele Ginolfi; Michael Romano; Negin Nezhad; Poulomi Dam; Wuji Wang; Yuan Li

arXiv · 2608.19439

Tracing Lyman alpha escape in the CRISTAL-02 galaxy at z~5.3

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Abstract

We investigate the mechanisms regulating Lyman-alpha (Ly$α$) escape in the star-forming galaxy CRISTAL-02 at z~5.3. The galaxy has clumpy morphology, suggestive that it may be interacting with other system(s). Two clumps (A and B, hereafter) are suggested as a site for intense star-formation or potential AGN candidates. We investigate how the local gas, dust, and feedback shape the escape of Ly$α$ photons around these clumps. Using VLT/MUSE and JWST/NIRSpec IFU observations, complemented by NIRCam UV imaging, we constructed spatially matched emission-line maps. We derived flux, line-ratio, and extinction maps, together with spatially resolved Ly$α$ escape fractions and ionizing photon production efficiencies. We find that Ly$α$ is significantly more extended than H$α$ and UV, reaching ~33 kpc and preferentially extending along the cold molecular gas outflow traced by [C II] emission. Clumps A and B show contrasting Ly$α$ properties: Clump A has lower dust attenuation and enhanced Ly$α$/H$α$ ratios and escape fraction, whereas Clump B is brighter in H$α$ and UV but has suppressed Ly-$α$ despite a higher ionizing photon production efficiency. These results indicate that Ly$α$ escape is strongly influenced by the local H I geometry, dust, and outflows and cannot be explained by ionizing photon production alone. The observed Ly$α$ morphology and zELDA radiative transfer modeling favor an outflow-driven escape scenario, while the available data cannot uniquely distinguish between AGN and star formation-driven feedback.

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Arshi Ali, Lucia Guaita, Manuel Aravena, Rebecca L. Davies, Jorge Gonzalez, Vicente Villanueva, Diego Oyarzun, Rodrigo Herrera-Camus, Ambra Nanni, Andreas Faisst, Anton M. Koekemoer, Deanne B. Fisher, Hanae Inami, Juan Molina, Justin Spilker, Lun-Jun Liu, Manuel Solimano, Michele Ginolfi, Michael Romano, Negin Nezhad, Poulomi Dam, Wuji Wang, Yuan Li. 2026-08-21. Tracing Lyman alpha escape in the CRISTAL-02 galaxy at z~5.3. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.19439

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