1,970 research outputs found
Tracing baryons in the warm-hot intergalactic medium with broad Ly alpha absorption
We discuss physical properties and baryonic content of broad Ly alpha
absorbers (BLAs) at low redshift. These absorption systems, recently discovered
in high-resolution, high-signal to noise quasar absorption line spectra,
possibly trace the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) in the temperature
range between 10^5 and 10^6 K. To extend previous BLA measurements we have
analyzed STIS data of the two quasars H 1821+643 and PG 0953+415 and have
identified 13 BLA candidates along a total (unblocked) redshift path of
dz=0.440. Combining our measurements with previous results for the lines of
sight toward PG 1259+593 and PG 1116+215, the resulting new BLA sample consists
of 20 reliably detected systems as well as 29 additional tentative cases,
implying a BLA number density of dN/dz=22-53. We estimate that the contribution
of BLAs to the baryon density at z=0 is Omega_b(BLA)>0.0027 h_70^-1 for
absorbers with log (N/b)>11.3. This number indicates that WHIM broad Ly alpha
absorbers contain a substantial fraction of the baryons in the local Universe.
(Abridged abstract)Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures; Accepted for publication in A&
Cosmic Chemical Evolution
Numerical simulations of standard cosmological scenarios have now reached the
degree of sophistication required to provide tentative answers to the
fundamental question: Where and when were the heavy elements formed? Averaging
globally, these simulations give a metallicity that increases from 1% of the
solar value at to 20% at present. This conclusion is, in fact,
misleading, as it masks the very strong dependency of metallicity on local
density. At every epoch higher density regions have much higher metallicity
than lower density regions. Moreover, the highest density regions quickly
approach near solar metallicity and then saturate, while more typical regions
slowly catch up. These results are much more consistent with observational data
than the simpler picture (adopted by many) of gradual, quasi-uniform increase
of metallicity with time.Comment: ApJ(Letters) in press, 15 latex pages and 4 figure
The O VI Absorbers Toward PG0953+415: High Metallicity, Cosmic-Web Gas Far From Luminous Galaxies
The spectrum of the low-redshift QSO PG0953+415 shows two strong, intervening
O VI absorption systems. To study the nature of these absorbers, we have used
the Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph to conduct a deep spectroscopic galaxy
redshift survey in the 5' x 5' field centered on the QSO. This survey is fully
complete for r' < 19.7 and is 73% complete for r' < 21.0. We find three
galaxies at the redshift of the higher-z O VI system (z = 0.14232) including a
galaxy at projected distance rho = 155 kpc. We find no galaxies in the Gemini
field at the redshift of the lower-z O VI absorber (z = 0.06807), which
indicates that the nearest galaxy is more than 195 kpc away or has L < 0.04 L*.
Previous shallower surveys covering a larger field have shown that the z =
0.06807 O VI absorber is affiliated with a group/filament of galaxies, but the
nearest known galaxy has rho = 736 kpc. The z = 0.06807 absorber is notable for
several reasons. The absorption profiles reveal simple kinematics indicative of
quiescent material. The H I line widths and good alignment of the H I and metal
lines favor photoionization and, moreover, the column density ratios imply a
high metallicity: [M/H] = -0.3 +/- 0.12. The z = 0.14232 O VI system is more
complex and less constrained but also indicates a relatively high metallicity.
Using galaxy redshifts from SDSS, we show that both of the PG0953+415 O VI
absorbers are located in large-scale filaments of the cosmic web. Evidently,
some regions of the web filaments are highly metal enriched. We discuss the
origin of the high-metallicity gas and suggest that the enrichment might have
occurred long ago (at high z).Comment: Submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Figs.
1 and 2 compressed for astro-ph. High-resolution version available at
http://www.astro.umass.edu/~tripp/astro/qualitypreps/pg0953tripp.pd
The Large, Oxygen-Rich Halos of Star-Forming Galaxies Are A Major Reservoir of Galactic Metals
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is fed by galaxy outflows and accretion of
intergalactic gas, but its mass, heavy element enrichment, and relation to
galaxy properties are poorly constrained by observations. In a survey of the
outskirts of 42 galaxies with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph onboard the
Hubble Space Telescope, we detected ubiquitous, large (150 kiloparsec) halos of
ionized oxygen surrounding star-forming galaxies, but we find much less ionized
oxygen around galaxies with little or no star formation. This ionized CGM
contains a substantial mass of heavy elements and gas, perhaps far exceeding
the reservoirs of gas in the galaxies themselves. It is a basic component of
nearly all star-forming galaxies that is removed or transformed during the
quenching of star formation and the transition to passive evolution.Comment: This paper is part of a set of three papers on circumgalactic gas
observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on HST, to be published in
Science, together with related papers by Tripp et al. and Lehner & Howk, in
the November 18, 2011 edition. This version has not undergone final
copyediting. Please see Science online for the final printed versio
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