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Register a new userA high resolution study of intergalactic O VI absorbers at z~2.3
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[Abridged] We present a detailed study of the largest sample of intervening O VI systems in the redshift range 1.9 < z < 3.1 detected in high resolution (R ~ 45,000) spectra of 18 bright QSOs observed with VLT/UVES. Based on Voigt profile and apparent optical depth analysis we find that (i) the Doppler parameters of the O VI absorption are usually broader than those of C IV (ii) the column density distribution of O VI is steeper than that of C IV (iii) line spread (delta v) of the O VI and C IV are strongly correlated (at 5.3sigma level) with delta v(O VI) being systematically larger than delta v(C IV) and (iv) delta v(O VI) and delta v(C IV) are also correlated (at > 5sigma level) with their respective column densities and with N(H I) (3 and 4.5 sigma respectively). These findings favor the idea that C IV and O VI absorption originate from different phases of a correlated structure and systems with large velocity spread are probably associated with overdense regions. The velocity offset between optical depth weighted redshifts of C IV and O VI absorption is found to be in the range 0 < |Delta v (O VI - CIV)| < 48 km/s with a median value of 8 km/s. We compare the properties of O VI systems in our sample with that of low redshift (z < 0.5) samples from the literature and find that (i) the O VI components at low-z are systematically wider than at high-z with an enhanced non-thermal contribution to their b-parameter, (ii) the slope of the column density distribution functions for high and low-z are consistent, (iii) range in gas temperature estimated from a subsample of well aligned absorbers are similar at both high and low-z, and (iv) Omega_{O VI} = (1.0 pm 0.2) times10^{-7} for N(O VI) > 10^{13.7} cm^{-2}, estimated in our high-z sample, is very similar to low-z estimations.
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(Abridged) With the goal of investigating the nature of OVI absorbers at high redshifts, we study the effects of proximity to the background quasar. In a sample of sixteen quasars at z(QSO) between 2.14 and 2.87 observed at 6.6 km/s resolution with VLT/UVES, we detect 35 OVI absorption-line systems lying within 8000 km/s of z(QSO). The systems can be categorized into 9 strong and 26 weak OVI absorbers. The strong absorbers are defined by the presence of either broad, fully saturated OVI absorption or partial coverage of the continuum source, and have log N(OVI)>~15.0; these systems are intrinsic to the AGN. The weak (narrow) systems show no partial coverage or saturation, and are characterized by log N(OVI)<14.5 and have a median total velocity width of only 42 km/s. The incidence dN/dz of weak OVI systems within 2000 km/s of the quasar is 42+/-12. Between 2000 and 8000 km/s, dN/dz falls to 14+/-4, equal to the incidence of intervening OVI absorbers. Whereas the accompanying H I and C IV column densities are significantly lower (by a mean of ~1 dex) in the weak OVI absorbers within 2000 km/s of z(QSO) than in those at larger velocities, the OVI column densities display no dependence on proximity. Furthermore, significant offsets between the HI and OVI centroids in ~50% of the weak absorbers imply that (at least in these cases) the HI and OVI are not formed in the same phase of gas. In summary, we find no firm evidence that quasar radiation influences the OVI-bearing gas, suggesting the OVI is collisionally ionized rather than photoionized, possibly in the multi-phase halos of foreground galaxies. Non-equilibrium collisional ionization models are needed to explain the low temperatures in the absorbing gas, which are implied by narrow line widths (b<14 km/s) in over half of the observed OVI components.
High signal-to-noise (S/N) observations of the QSO PKS 0405-123 (zem = 0.572) with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph from 1134 to 1796 A with a resolution of 17 km s-1 are used to study the multi-phase partial Lyman limit system (LLS) at z = 0.16716 which has previously been studied using relatively low S/N spectra from STIS and FUSE. The LLS and an associated H I-free broad O VI absorber likely originate in the circumgalactic gas associated with a pair of galaxies at z = 0.1688 and 0.1670 with impact parameters of 116 h70-1 and 99 h70-1. The broad and symmetric O VI absorption is detected in the z = 0.16716 restframe with v = -278 +/- 3 km s-1, log N(O VI) = 13.90 +/- 0.03 and b = 52 +/- 2 km s-1. This absorber is not detected in H I or other species with the possible exception of N V . The broad, symmetric O VI profile and absence of corresponding H I absorption indicates that the circumgalactic gas in which the collisionally ionized O VI arises is hot (log T ~ 5.8-6.2). The absorber may represent a rare but important new class of low z IGM absorbers. The LLS has strong asymmetrical O VI absorption with log N(O VI) = 14.72 +/- 0.02 spanning a velocity range from -200 to +100 km s-1. The high and low ions in the LLS have properties resembling those found for Galactic highly ionized HVCs where the O VI is likely produced in the conductive and turbulent interfaces between cool and hot gas.
We report on the detection of two O VI absorbers separated in velocity by 710 km/s at z ~ 0.4 towards the background quasar SBS0957+599. Both absorbers are multiphase systems tracing substantial reservoirs of warm baryons. The low and intermediate ionization metals in the first absorber is consistent with an origin in photoionized gas. The O VI has a velocity structure different from other metal species. The Ly-alpha shows the presence of a broad feature. The line widths for O VI and the broad Ly-alpha suggest T = 7.1 x 10^5 K. This warm medium is probing a baryonic column which is an order of magnitude more than the total hydrogen in the cooler photoionized gas. The second absorber is detected only in H I and O VI. Here the temperature of 4.6 x 10^4 K supports O VI originating in a low-density photoionized gas. A broad component is seen in the Ly-alpha, offset from the O VI. The temperature in the broad Ly-alpha is T < 2.1 x 10^5 K. The absorbers reside in a galaxy overdensity region with 7 spectroscopically identified galaxies within ~ 10 Mpc and delta_v ~ 1000 km/s of the first absorber, and 2 galaxies inside a similar separation from the second absorber. The distribution of galaxies relative to the absorbers suggest that the line of sight could be intercepting a large-scale filament connecting galaxy groups, or the extended halo of a sub-L* galaxy. Though kinematically proximate, the two absorbers reaffirm the diversity in the physical conditions of low redshift O VI systems and the galactic environments they inhabit.
We report on the observed properties of the plasma revealed through high signal-to-noise (S/N) observations of 54 intervening O VI absorption systems containing 85 O VI and 133 H I components in a blind survey of 14 QSOs observed at ~18 km s-1 resolution with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) over a redshift path of 3.52 at z < 0.5. Simple systems with one or two H I components and one O VI component comprise 50% of the systems. For a sample of 45 well-aligned absorption components where the temperature can be estimated, we find evidence for cool photoionized gas in 31 (69%) and warm gas (6 > log T > 5) in 14 (31%) of the components. The total hydrogen content of the 14 warm components can be estimated from the temperature and the measured value of log N(H I). The very large implied values of log N(H) range from 18.38 to 20.38 with a median of 19.35. The metallicity, [O/H], in the 6 warm components with log T > 5.45 ranges from -1.93 to 0.03 with a median value of -1.0 dex. Ground-based galaxy redshift studies reveal that most of the absorbers we detect sample gas in the IGM extending 200 to 600 kpc beyond the closest associated galaxy. We estimate the warm aligned O VI absorbers contain (4.1+/-1.1)% of the baryons at low z. The warm plasma traced by the aligned O VI and H I absorption contains nearly as many baryons as are found in galaxies.
We describe a survey for OVI absorption in the spectra of 5 high redshift quasars (2.2 < z < 2.8). We identify 12 cosmological systems, and 6 systems that are either ejected from the background QSO or affected by its local radiation field. Almost all of the intergalactic OVI is associated with strong Ly-a absorption (N_HI > 10^15.2 cm^-2), as well as absorption from CIV and often lower ionization species. The absorbing regions are conservatively constrained to have L<=200 kpc and rho/rho_bar >= 2.5, with actual values probably closer to L ~ 60 kpc and rho/rho_bar ~ 10-30. They also have two distinct gas phases: one which produces photoionized CIV and SiIV at T ~ 30,000 K, and a second which is seen only in OVI. The OVI temperature is difficult to constrain due to uncertainty in the amount of nonthermal line broadening, but it does appear that this gas is hotter than the CIV/SiIV phase and could support collisional OVI production. The OVI is strongly clustered on velocity scales of dv=100-300 km/s, with weaker signal extending to dv = 750 km/s. The power-law slope of the correlation function resembles that of local galaxy and cluster surveys, with a comoving correlation length of 11h_{65}^-1 Mpc. The average Oxygen abundance of the OVI systems is [O/H]>-1.5, about 10 times higher than the level observed in the general IGM. Two OVI production mechanisms are considered: shock heating of gas falling onto existing structure, and expulsion of material by galactic winds. Simulations of infall models tend to overproduce OVI lines by a factor of ~10, though this may result from numerical limitations. Known galaxy populations such as the Lyman break objects could produce the observed amount of OVI if they drive winds to distances of R ~ 50 kpc.
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