Feeding the fire: Tracing the mass-loading of 10^7 K galactic outflows with O VI absorption

Galactic outflows regulate the amount of gas galaxies convert into stars. However, it is difficult to measure the mass outflows remove because they span a large range of temperatures and phases. Here, we study the rest-frame ultraviolet spectrum of a lensed galaxy at z~2.9 with prominent interstellar absorption lines from O I, tracing neutral gas, up to O VI, tracing transitional phase gas. The O VI profile mimics weak low-ionization profiles at low velocities, and strong saturated profiles at high velocities. These trends indicate that O VI gas is co-spatial with the low-ionization gas. Further, at velocities blueward of -200 km/s the column density of the low-ionization outflow rapidly drops while the O VI column density rises, suggesting that O VI is created as the low-ionization gas is destroyed. Photoionization models do not reproduce the observed O VI, but adequately match the low-ionization gas, indicating that the phases have different formation mechanisms. Photoionized outflows are more massive than O VI outflows for most of the observed velocities, although the O VI mass outflow rate exceeds the photoionized outflow at velocities above the galaxy's escape velocity. Therefore, most gas capable of escaping the galaxy is in a hot outflow phase. We suggest that the O VI absorption is a temporary by-product of conduction transferring mass from the photoionized phase to an unobserved hot wind, and discuss how this mass-loading impacts the observed circum-galactic medium.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

How Future Space-Based Weak Lensing Surveys Might Obtain Photometric Redshifts Independently

We study how the addition of on-board optical photometric bands to future space-based weak lensing instruments could affect the photometric redshift estimation of galaxies, and hence improve estimations of the dark energy parameters through weak lensing. Basing our study on the current proposed Euclid configuration and using a mock catalog of galaxy observations, various on-board options are tested and compared with the use of ground-based observations from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and Pan-STARRS. Comparisons are made through the use of the dark energy Figure of Merit, which provides a quantifiable measure of the change in the quality of the scientific results that can be obtained in each scenario. Effects of systematic offsets between LSST and Euclid photometric calibration are also studied. We find that adding two (U and G) or even one (U) on-board optical band-passes to the space-based infrared instrument greatly improves its photometric redshift performance, bringing it close to the level that would be achieved by combining observations from both space-based and ground-based surveys while freeing the space mission from reliance on external datasets.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP. A high-quality version of Fig 1 can be found on http://www.ap.smu.ca/~sawicki/DEphoto

Photo-z performance for precision cosmology

Current and future weak-lensing surveys will rely on photometrically estimated redshifts of very large numbers of galaxies. In this paper, we address several different aspects of the demanding photo-z performance that will be required for future experiments, such as the proposed ESA Euclid mission. It is first shown that the proposed all-sky near-infrared photometry from Euclid, in combination with anticipated ground-based photometry (e.g. PanStarrs-2 or DES) should yield the required precision in individual photo-z of σz(z) ≤ 0.05(1 +z) at IAB≤ 24.5. Simple a priori rejection schemes based on the photometry alone can be tuned to recognize objects with wildly discrepant photo-z and to reduce the outlier fraction to ≤0.25 per cent with only modest loss of otherwise usable objects. Turning to the more challenging problem of determining the mean redshift 〈z〉 of a set of galaxies to a precision of |Δ〈z〉| ≤ 0.002(1 +z) we argue that, for many different reasons, this may be best accomplished by relying on the photo-z themselves rather than on the direct measurement of 〈z〉 from spectroscopic redshifts of a representative subset of the galaxies, as has usually been envisaged. We present in Appendix A an analysis of the substantial difficulties in the latter approach that arise from the presence of large-scale structure in spectroscopic survey fields. A simple adaptive scheme based on the statistical properties of the photo-z likelihood functions is shown to meet this stringent systematic requirement, although further tests on real data will be required to verify this. We also examine the effect of an imprecise correction for Galactic extinction on the photo-z and the precision with which the Galactic extinction can be determined from the photometric data itself, for galaxies with or without spectroscopic redshifts. We also explore the effects of contamination by fainter overlapping objects in photo-z determination. The overall conclusion of this paper is that the acquisition of photometrically estimated redshifts with the precision required for Euclid, or other similar experiments, will be challenging but possibl

On The Nature of Ring Patterns In Ice Crystals of Hailstones: A Signature of Global Warming

In the present work we report for the first time the ring patterns in the ice crystals procured from hailstones at Doom Dooma (27.40N, 95.30E) on March 17, 2016 and April 9, 2017. We have measured the intensity patterns of the rings with the help of a software (ImageJ). Since the ring patterns have been observed in the ice crystals of hailstones only in recent years, it is reasonable to believe that they will give valuable information on the process of ice nucleation and possibly on global warming

Spatially Resolved Galactic Wind in Lensed Galaxy RCSGA 032727-132609

We probe the spatial distribution of outflowing gas along four lines of sight separated by up to 6 kpc in a gravitationally-lensed star-forming galaxy at z=1.70. Using MgII and FeII emission and absorption as tracers, we find that the clumps of star formation are driving galactic outflows with velocities of -170 to -250 km/sec. The velocities of MgII emission are redshifted with respect to the systemic velocities of the galaxy, consistent with being back-scattered. By contrast, the FeII fluorescent emission lines are either slightly blueshifted or at the systemic velocity of the galaxy. Taken together, the velocity structure of the MgII and FeII emission is consistent with arising through scattering in galactic winds. Assuming a thin shell geometry for the out owing gas, the estimated masses carried out by these outfows are large (> 30 - 50 $\rm{M_{\odot} yr^{-1}}$), with mass loading factors several times the star-formation rate. Almost 20% to 50% of the blueshifted absorption probably escapes the gravitational potential of the galaxy. In this galaxy, the outflow is "locally sourced", that is, the properties of the outflow in each line of sight are dominated by the properties of the nearest clump of star formation; the wind is not global to the galaxy. The mass outflow rates and the momentum flux carried out by outflows in individual star forming knots of this object are comparable to that of starburst galaxies in the local Universe.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure, accepted for publication in MNRA

Photo-z Performance for Precision Cosmology II : Empirical Verification

The success of future large scale weak lensing surveys will critically depend on the accurate estimation of photometric redshifts of very large samples of galaxies. This in turn depends on both the quality of the photometric data and the photo-z estimators. In a previous study, (Bordoloi et al. 2010) we focussed primarily on the impact of photometric quality on photo-z estimates and on the development of novel techniques to construct the N(z) of tomographic bins at the high level of precision required for precision cosmology, as well as the correction of issues such as imprecise corrections for Galactic reddening. We used the same set of templates to generate the simulated photometry as were then used in the photo-z code, thereby removing any effects of "template error". In this work we now include the effects of "template error" by generating simulated photometric data set from actual COSMOS photometry. We use the trick of simulating redder photometry of galaxies at higher redshifts by using a bluer set of passbands on low z galaxies with known redshifts. We find that "template error" is a rather small factor in photo-z performance, at the photometric precision and filter complement expected for all-sky surveys. With only a small sub-set of training galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, it is in principle possible to construct tomographic redshift bins whose mean redshift is known, from photo-z alone, to the required accuracy of 0.002(1+z).Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Spatially Resolved Patchy Lyman-α\alpha Emission Within the Central Kiloparsec of a Strongly Lensed Quasar Host Galaxy at z = 2.8

We report the detection of extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission from the host galaxy of SDSS~J2222+2745, a strongly lensed quasar at $z = 2.8$. Spectroscopic follow-up clearly reveals extended Lyman-$\alpha$ in emission between two images of the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). We reconstruct the lensed quasar host galaxy in the source plane by applying a strong lens model to HST imaging, and resolve spatial scales as small as $\sim$200 parsecs. In the source plane we recover the host galaxy morphology to within a few hundred parsecs of the central AGN, and map the extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission to its physical origin on one side of the host galaxy at radii $\sim$0.5-2 kpc from the central AGN. There are clear morphological differences between the Lyman-$\alpha$ and rest-frame ultraviolet stellar continuum emission from the quasar host galaxy. Furthermore, the relative velocity profiles of quasar Lyman-$\alpha$, host galaxy Lyman-$\alpha$, and metal lines in outflowing gas reveal differences in the absorbing material affecting the AGN and host galaxy. These data indicate the presence of patchy local intervening gas in front of the central quasar and its host galaxy. This interpretation is consistent with the central luminous quasar being obscured across a substantial fraction of its surrounding solid angle, resulting in strong anisotropy in the exposure of the host galaxy to ionizing radiation from the AGN. This work demonstrates the power of strong lensing-assisted studies to probe spatial scales that are currently inaccessible by other means.Comment: Accepted to ApJ Letters; 7 pages, 5 figure

The Properties of the Circumgalactic Medium in Red and Blue Galaxies: Results from the COS-GASS+COS-HALOS Surveys

We use the combined data from the COS-GASS and COS-Halos surveys to characterize the Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM) surrounding typical low-redshift galaxies in the mass range ${M}_{* }\sim \,{10}^{9.5-11.5}\,{M}_{\odot }$, and over a range of impact parameters extending to just beyond the halo virial radius (R vir). We find the radial scale length of the distributions of the equivalent widths of the Lyα and Si iii absorbers to be ~1 and ~0.4 R vir, respectively. The radial distribution of equivalent widths is relatively uniform for the blue galaxies, but highly patchy (i.e., it has a low covering fraction) for the red galaxies. We also find that the Lyα and Si iii equivalent widths show significant positive correlations with the specific star formation rate (sSFR) of the galaxy. We find a surprising lack of correlations between the halo mass (virial velocity) and either the velocity dispersions or velocity offsets of the Lyα lines. The ratio of the velocity offset to the velocity dispersion for the Lyα absorbers has a mean value of ~4, suggesting that a given line of sight is intersecting a dynamically coherent structure in the CGM, rather than a sea of orbiting clouds. The kinematic properties of the CGM are similar in the blue and red galaxies, although we find that a significantly larger fraction of the blue galaxies have large Lyα velocity offsets (>200 km s−1). We show that—if the CGM clouds represent future fuel for star formation—our new results could imply a large drop in the sSFR across the galaxy mass-range we probe

KINETICS AND ADSORPTION OF BENZOATE AND SALICYLATE AT THE NATURAL HEMATITE-WATER INTERFACE

Kinetics of adsorption of benzoate and salicylate onto the natural hematite surfaces have been carried out at pH 5 and at a fixed ionic strength (I=1 ×10−4moldm−3). The state of equilibrium was attained at 144 and 70h for benzoate and salicylate, respectively. Adsorption behaviour of benzoate and salicylate onto the natural hematite was studied over a wide range of pH at a fixed I=5 ×10−4moldm−3 NaCl and at different temperatures. The adsorption isotherms for both the adsorbates were Langmuir type up to pH 8. TheΓmax for benzoate is ≈2.7–13.7 times more than that of salicylate depending on the pH of the suspension. Unlike benzoate, salicylate is not only adsorbed at one surfacesitebutalsocoversaroundthreeormoresurfacesitesofhematitesurface.Therateconstantforadsorption,K1 forsalicylateontothe natural hematite is greater than that of benzoate and increases with the increase in temperature and ≈4 times greater at a fixed temperature. Theactivationenergyfortheadsorptionofsalicylateontothenaturalhematiteis2.9timesmorethanthatofbenzoateonthesameadsorbent resulting in lowerΓmax