We report the discovery of a transparent sightline at projected distances of less than or similar to 20 kpc to an interacting pair of mature galaxies at z = 0.12. The sightline of the UV-bright quasar PG 1522+101 at z(em) = 1.328 passes at = 11.5 kpc from the higher mass galaxy (M-* = 10(10.6) M-circle dot) and = 20.4 kpc from the lower mass one (M-* = 10(10.0) M-circle dot). The two galaxies are separated by 9 kpc in projected distance and 30 km s(-1) in line-of-sight velocity. Deep optical images reveal tidal features indicative of close interactions. Despite the small projected distances, the quasar sightline shows little absorption associated with the galaxy pair with a total H i column density no greater than log N(HI)/cm(-2) = 13.65. This limiting H i column density is already two orders of magnitude less than what is expected from previous halo gas studies. In addition, we detect no heavy-element absorption features associated with the galaxy pair with 3 sigma limits of log N(Mg II)/cm(-2) < 12.2 and log N(OVI)/cm(-2) < 13.37. The probability of seeing such little absorption in a sightline passing at a small projected distance from two non-interacting galaxies is 0.2 per cent. The absence of strong absorbers near the close galaxy pair suggests that the cool gas reservoirs of the galaxies have been significantly depleted by the galaxy interaction. These observations therefore underscore the potential impact of galaxy interactions on the gaseous haloes around galaxies.

We report the discovery of a transparent sightline at projected distances of less than or similar to 20 kpc to an interacting pair of mature galaxies at z = 0.12. The sightline of the UV-bright quasar PG 1522+101 at z(em) = 1.328 passes at = 11.5 kpc from the higher mass galaxy (M-* = 10(10.6) M-circle dot) and = 20.4 kpc from the lower mass one (M-* = 10(10.0) M-circle dot). The two galaxies are separated by 9 kpc in projected distance and 30 km s(-1) in line-of-sight velocity. Deep optical images reveal tidal features indicative of close interactions. Despite the small projected distances, the quasar sightline shows little absorption associated with the galaxy pair with a total H i column density no greater than log N(HI)/cm(-2) = 13.65. This limiting H i column density is already two orders of magnitude less than what is expected from previous halo gas studies. In addition, we detect no heavy-element absorption features associated with the galaxy pair with 3 sigma limits of log N(Mg II)/cm(-2) < 12.2 and log N(OVI)/cm(-2) < 13.37. The probability of seeing such little absorption in a sightline passing at a small projected distance from two non-interacting galaxies is 0.2 per cent. The absence of strong absorbers near the close galaxy pair suggests that the cool gas reservoirs of the galaxies have been significantly depleted by the galaxy interaction. These observations therefore underscore the potential impact of galaxy interactions on the gaseous haloes around galaxies.

We report the discovery of a transparent sightline at projected distances of less than or similar to 20 kpc to an interacting pair of mature galaxies at z = 0.12. The sightline of the UV-bright quasar PG 1522+101 at z(em) = 1.328 passes at = 11.5 kpc from the higher mass galaxy (M-* = 10(10.6) M-circle dot) and = 20.4 kpc from the lower mass one (M-* = 10(10.0) M-circle dot). The two galaxies are separated by 9 kpc in projected distance and 30 km s(-1) in line-of-sight velocity. Deep optical images reveal tidal features indicative of close interactions. Despite the small projected distances, the quasar sightline shows little absorption associated with the galaxy pair with a total H i column density no greater than log N(HI)/cm(-2) = 13.65. This limiting H i column density is already two orders of magnitude less than what is expected from previous halo gas studies. In addition, we detect no heavy-element absorption features associated with the galaxy pair with 3 sigma limits of log N(Mg II)/cm(-2) < 12.2 and log N(OVI)/cm(-2) < 13.37. The probability of seeing such little absorption in a sightline passing at a small projected distance from two non-interacting galaxies is 0.2 per cent. The absence of strong absorbers near the close galaxy pair suggests that the cool gas reservoirs of the galaxies have been significantly depleted by the galaxy interaction. These observations therefore underscore the potential impact of galaxy interactions on the gaseous haloes around galaxies.

We present the data release of the Gemini-South GMOS spectroscopy in the fields of 11 galaxy groups at 0.8 < z < 1, within the COSMOS field. This forms the basis of the Galaxy Environment Evolution Collaboration 2 (GEEC2) project to study galaxy evolution in haloes with M similar to 10(13)M circle dot across cosmic time. The final sample includes 162 spectroscopically confirmed members with R < 24.75, and is >50 per cent complete for galaxies within the virial radius, and with stellar mass M-star > 10(10.3) M circle dot. Including galaxies with photometric redshifts, we have an effective sample size of similar to 400 galaxies within the virial radii of these groups. We present group velocity dispersions, dynamical and stellar masses. Combining with the GCLASS sample of more massive clusters at the same redshift, we find the total stellar mass is strongly correlated with the dynamical mass, with log M-200 = 1.20(logM(star) - 12) + 14.07. This stellar fraction of similar to 1 per cent is lower than predicted by some halo occupation distribution models, though the weak dependence on halo mass is in good agreement. Most groups have an easily identifiable most massive galaxy (MMG) near the centre of the galaxy distribution, and we present the spectroscopic properties and surface brightness fits to these galaxies. The total stellar mass distribution in the groups, excluding the MMG, compares well with an NFW (Navarro Frenk & White) profile with concentration 4, for galaxies beyond similar to 0.2R(200). This is more concentrated than the number density distribution, demonstrating that there is some mass segregation.

We present the data release of the Gemini-South GMOS spectroscopy in the fields of 11 galaxy groups at 0.8 < z < 1, within the COSMOS field. This forms the basis of the Galaxy Environment Evolution Collaboration 2 (GEEC2) project to study galaxy evolution in haloes with M similar to 10(13)M circle dot across cosmic time. The final sample includes 162 spectroscopically confirmed members with R < 24.75, and is >50 per cent complete for galaxies within the virial radius, and with stellar mass M-star > 10(10.3) M circle dot. Including galaxies with photometric redshifts, we have an effective sample size of similar to 400 galaxies within the virial radii of these groups. We present group velocity dispersions, dynamical and stellar masses. Combining with the GCLASS sample of more massive clusters at the same redshift, we find the total stellar mass is strongly correlated with the dynamical mass, with log M-200 = 1.20(logM(star) - 12) + 14.07. This stellar fraction of similar to 1 per cent is lower than predicted by some halo occupation distribution models, though the weak dependence on halo mass is in good agreement. Most groups have an easily identifiable most massive galaxy (MMG) near the centre of the galaxy distribution, and we present the spectroscopic properties and surface brightness fits to these galaxies. The total stellar mass distribution in the groups, excluding the MMG, compares well with an NFW (Navarro Frenk & White) profile with concentration 4, for galaxies beyond similar to 0.2R(200). This is more concentrated than the number density distribution, demonstrating that there is some mass segregation.

We present the data release of the Gemini-South GMOS spectroscopy in the fields of 11 galaxy groups at 0.8 < z < 1, within the COSMOS field. This forms the basis of the Galaxy Environment Evolution Collaboration 2 (GEEC2) project to study galaxy evolution in haloes with M similar to 10(13)M circle dot across cosmic time. The final sample includes 162 spectroscopically confirmed members with R < 24.75, and is >50 per cent complete for galaxies within the virial radius, and with stellar mass M-star > 10(10.3) M circle dot. Including galaxies with photometric redshifts, we have an effective sample size of similar to 400 galaxies within the virial radii of these groups. We present group velocity dispersions, dynamical and stellar masses. Combining with the GCLASS sample of more massive clusters at the same redshift, we find the total stellar mass is strongly correlated with the dynamical mass, with log M-200 = 1.20(logM(star) - 12) + 14.07. This stellar fraction of similar to 1 per cent is lower than predicted by some halo occupation distribution models, though the weak dependence on halo mass is in good agreement. Most groups have an easily identifiable most massive galaxy (MMG) near the centre of the galaxy distribution, and we present the spectroscopic properties and surface brightness fits to these galaxies. The total stellar mass distribution in the groups, excluding the MMG, compares well with an NFW (Navarro Frenk & White) profile with concentration 4, for galaxies beyond similar to 0.2R(200). This is more concentrated than the number density distribution, demonstrating that there is some mass segregation.

We present the data release of the Gemini-South GMOS spectroscopy in the fields of 11 galaxy groups at 0.8 < z < 1, within the COSMOS field. This forms the basis of the Galaxy Environment Evolution Collaboration 2 (GEEC2) project to study galaxy evolution in haloes with M similar to 10(13)M circle dot across cosmic time. The final sample includes 162 spectroscopically confirmed members with R < 24.75, and is >50 per cent complete for galaxies within the virial radius, and with stellar mass M-star > 10(10.3) M circle dot. Including galaxies with photometric redshifts, we have an effective sample size of similar to 400 galaxies within the virial radii of these groups. We present group velocity dispersions, dynamical and stellar masses. Combining with the GCLASS sample of more massive clusters at the same redshift, we find the total stellar mass is strongly correlated with the dynamical mass, with log M-200 = 1.20(logM(star) - 12) + 14.07. This stellar fraction of similar to 1 per cent is lower than predicted by some halo occupation distribution models, though the weak dependence on halo mass is in good agreement. Most groups have an easily identifiable most massive galaxy (MMG) near the centre of the galaxy distribution, and we present the spectroscopic properties and surface brightness fits to these galaxies. The total stellar mass distribution in the groups, excluding the MMG, compares well with an NFW (Navarro Frenk & White) profile with concentration 4, for galaxies beyond similar to 0.2R(200). This is more concentrated than the number density distribution, demonstrating that there is some mass segregation.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most tantalizing mysteries of the radio sky; their progenitors and origins remain unknown and until now no rapid multiwavelength follow-up of an FRB has been possible. New instrumentation has decreased the time between observation and discovery from years to seconds, and enables polarimetry to be performed on FRBs for the first time. We have discovered an FRB (FRB 140514) in real-time on 2014 May 14 at 17:14:11.06 UTC at the Parkes radio telescope and triggered follow-up at other wavelengths within hours of the event. FRB 140514 was found with a dispersion measure (DM) of 562.7(6) cm(-3) pc, giving an upper limit on source redshift of z less than or similar to 0.5. FRB 140514 was found to be 21 +/- 7 per cent (3 sigma) circularly polarized on the leading edge with a 1 sigma upper limit on linear polarization <10 per cent. We conclude that this polarization is intrinsic to the FRB. If there was any intrinsic linear polarization, as might be expected from coherent emission, then it may have been depolarized by Faraday rotation caused by passing through strong magnetic fields and/or high-density environments. FRB 140514 was discovered during a campaign to re-observe known FRB fields, and lies close to a previous discovery, FRB 110220; based on the difference in DMs of these bursts and time-on-sky arguments, we attribute the proximity to sampling bias and conclude that they are distinct objects. Follow-up conducted by 12 telescopes observing from X-ray to radio wavelengths was unable to identify a variable multiwavelength counterpart, allowing us to rule out models in which FRBs originate from nearby (z < 0.3) supernovae and long duration gamma-ray bursts.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most tantalizing mysteries of the radio sky; their progenitors and origins remain unknown and until now no rapid multiwavelength follow-up of an FRB has been possible. New instrumentation has decreased the time between observation and discovery from years to seconds, and enables polarimetry to be performed on FRBs for the first time. We have discovered an FRB (FRB 140514) in real-time on 2014 May 14 at 17:14:11.06 UTC at the Parkes radio telescope and triggered follow-up at other wavelengths within hours of the event. FRB 140514 was found with a dispersion measure (DM) of 562.7(6) cm(-3) pc, giving an upper limit on source redshift of z less than or similar to 0.5. FRB 140514 was found to be 21 +/- 7 per cent (3 sigma) circularly polarized on the leading edge with a 1 sigma upper limit on linear polarization <10 per cent. We conclude that this polarization is intrinsic to the FRB. If there was any intrinsic linear polarization, as might be expected from coherent emission, then it may have been depolarized by Faraday rotation caused by passing through strong magnetic fields and/or high-density environments. FRB 140514 was discovered during a campaign to re-observe known FRB fields, and lies close to a previous discovery, FRB 110220; based on the difference in DMs of these bursts and time-on-sky arguments, we attribute the proximity to sampling bias and conclude that they are distinct objects. Follow-up conducted by 12 telescopes observing from X-ray to radio wavelengths was unable to identify a variable multiwavelength counterpart, allowing us to rule out models in which FRBs originate from nearby (z < 0.3) supernovae and long duration gamma-ray bursts.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most tantalizing mysteries of the radio sky; their progenitors and origins remain unknown and until now no rapid multiwavelength follow-up of an FRB has been possible. New instrumentation has decreased the time between observation and discovery from years to seconds, and enables polarimetry to be performed on FRBs for the first time. We have discovered an FRB (FRB 140514) in real-time on 2014 May 14 at 17:14:11.06 UTC at the Parkes radio telescope and triggered follow-up at other wavelengths within hours of the event. FRB 140514 was found with a dispersion measure (DM) of 562.7(6) cm(-3) pc, giving an upper limit on source redshift of z less than or similar to 0.5. FRB 140514 was found to be 21 +/- 7 per cent (3 sigma) circularly polarized on the leading edge with a 1 sigma upper limit on linear polarization <10 per cent. We conclude that this polarization is intrinsic to the FRB. If there was any intrinsic linear polarization, as might be expected from coherent emission, then it may have been depolarized by Faraday rotation caused by passing through strong magnetic fields and/or high-density environments. FRB 140514 was discovered during a campaign to re-observe known FRB fields, and lies close to a previous discovery, FRB 110220; based on the difference in DMs of these bursts and time-on-sky arguments, we attribute the proximity to sampling bias and conclude that they are distinct objects. Follow-up conducted by 12 telescopes observing from X-ray to radio wavelengths was unable to identify a variable multiwavelength counterpart, allowing us to rule out models in which FRBs originate from nearby (z < 0.3) supernovae and long duration gamma-ray bursts.