Giant lobes of plasma extend 55 degrees above and below the Galactic Center, glowing in emission from gamma rays (the Fermi Bubbles) to microwaves (the WMAP haze) and polarized radio waves. We use ultraviolet absorption-line spectra from the Hubble S
pace Telescope to constrain the velocity of the outflowing gas within these regions, targeting the quasar PDS 456 (Galactic coordinates l,b=10.4, +11.2 degrees). This sightline passes through a clear biconical structure seen in hard X-ray and gamma-ray emission near the base of the northern Fermi Bubble. We report two high-velocity metal absorption components, at v_LSR=-235 and +250 km/s, which cannot be explained by co-rotating gas in the Galactic disk or halo. Their velocities are suggestive of an origin on the front and back side of an expanding biconical outflow emanating from the Galactic Center. We develop simple kinematic biconical outflow models that can explain these observed profiles with an outflow velocity of ~900 km/s and a full opening angle of ~110 degrees (matching the X-ray bicone). This indicates Galactic Center activity over the last ~2.5-4.0 Myr, in line with age estimates of the Fermi Bubbles. The observations illustrate the use of UV absorption-line spectroscopy to probe the properties of swept-up gas venting into the Fermi Bubbles.
Dynamic interactions between the two Magellanic Clouds have flung large quantities of gas into the halo of the Milky Way, creating the Magellanic Stream, the Magellanic Bridge, and the Leading Arm (collectively referred to as the Magellanic System).
In this third paper of a series studying the Magellanic gas in absorption, we analyze the gas ionization level using a sample of 69 Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph sightlines that pass through or within 30 degrees of the 21 cm-emitting regions. We find that 81% (56/69) of the sightlines show UV absorption at Magellanic velocities, indicating that the total cross section of the Magellanic System is ~11 000 square degrees, or around a quarter of the entire sky. Using observations of the Si III/Si II ratio together with Cloudy photoionization modeling, we calculate that the total mass (atomic plus ionized) of the Magellanic System is ~2.0 billion solar masses, with the ionized gas contributing over twice as much mass as the atomic gas. This is larger than the current-day interstellar H I mass of both Magellanic Clouds combined, indicating that they have lost most of their initial gas mass. If the gas in the Magellanic System survives to reach the Galactic disk over its inflow time of ~0.5-1.5 Gyr, it will represent an average inflow rate of ~3.7-6.7 solar masses per year, potentially raising the Galactic star formation rate. However, multiple signs of an evaporative interaction with the hot Galactic corona indicate that the Stream may not survive its journey to the disk fully intact, and will instead add material to (and cool) the corona.
We present VLT/UVES spectroscopy of the quasar Q0841+129, whose spectrum shows a proximate damped Lyman-alpha (PDLA) absorber at z=2.47621 and a proximate sub-DLA at z=2.50620, both lying close in redshift to the QSO itself at z_em=2.49510+/-0.00003.
This fortuitous arrangement, with the sub-DLA acting as a filter that hardens the QSOs ionizing radiation field, allows us to model the ionization level in the foreground PDLA, and provides an interesting case-study on the origin of the high-ion absorption lines Si IV, C IV, and O VI in DLAs. The high ions in the PDLA show at least five components spanning a total velocity extent of ~160 km/s, whereas the low ions exist predominantly in a single component spanning just 30 km/s. We examine various models for the origin of the high ions. Both photoionization and turbulent mixing layer models are fairly successful at reproducing the observed ionic ratios after correcting for the non-solar relative abundance pattern, though neither model can explain all five components. We show that the turbulent mixing layer model, in which the high ions trace the interfaces between the cool PDLA gas and a hotter phase of shock-heated plasma, can explain the average high-ion ratios measured in a larger sample of 12 DLAs.
(Abridged) We present an analysis of ionization and metal enrichment in the Magellanic Stream (MS), the nearest gaseous tidal stream, using HST/STIS and FUSE ultraviolet spectroscopy of two background AGN, NGC 7469 and Mrk 335. For NGC 7469, we inclu
de optical spectroscopy from VLT/UVES. In both sightlines the MS is detected in low-ion and high-ion absorption. Toward NGC 7469, we measure a MS oxygen abundance [O/H]_MS=[OI/HI]=-1.00+/-0.05(stat)+/-0.08(syst), supporting the view that the Stream originates in the SMC rather than the LMC. We use CLOUDY to model the low-ion phase of the Stream as a photoionized plasma using the observed Si III/Si II and C III/C II ratios. Toward Mrk 335 this yields an ionization parameter log U between -3.45 and -3.15 and a gas density log (n_H/cm^-3) between -2.51 and -2.21. Toward NGC 7469 we derive sub-solar abundance ratios for [Si/O], [Fe/O], and [Al/O], indicating the presence of dust in the MS. The high-ion column densities are too large to be explained by photoionization, but also cannot be explained by a single-temperature collisional-ionization model (equilibrium or non-equilibrium). This suggests the high-ion plasma is multi-phase. Summing over the low-ion and high-ion phases, we derive conservative lower limits on the ratio N(total H II)/N(H I) of >19 toward NGC 7469 and >330 toward Mrk 335, showing that along these two directions the vast majority of the Stream has been ionized. The presence of warm-hot plasma together with the small-scale structure observed at 21 cm provides evidence for an evaporative interaction with the hot Galactic corona. This scenario, predicted by hydrodynamical simulations, suggests that the fate of the MS will be to replenish the Galactic corona with new plasma, rather than to bring neutral fuel to the disk.
We continue our recent work to characterize the plasma content of high-redshift damped and sub-damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs/sub-DLAs), which represent multi-phase gaseous (proto)galactic disks and halos seen toward a background source. We survey
N V absorption in a sample of 91 DLAs and 18 sub-DLAs in the redshift range 1.67<z<4.28 with unblended coverage of the N V doublet, using data from VLT/UVES, Keck/HIRES, and Keck/ESI. In DLAs, we find eight secure N V detections, four marginal detections, and 79 non-detections. The detection rate of N V in DLAs is therefore 13^{+5}_{-4}%. Two sub-DLA N V detections are found among a sample of 18, at a similar detection rate of 11^{+15}_{-7}%. We show that the N V detection rate is a strong function of metallicity, increasing by a factor of ~4 at [N/H]=[NI/HI]>-2.3. The N V and CIV component b-value distributions in DLAs are statistically similar, but the median b(N V) of 18 km/s is lower than the median b(O VI) of 25 km/s. Some ~20% of the N V components have b<10 km/s and thus arise in warm photoionized plasma at log (T/K)<4.92; local sources of ionizing radiation (as opposed to the extragalactic background) are required to keep the cloud sizes physically reasonable. The nature of the remaining ~80% of (broad) N V components is unclear; models of radiatively-cooling collisionally-ionized plasma at log(T/K)=5.2-5.4 are fairly successful in reproducing the observed integrated high-ion column density ratios and the component line widths, but we cannot rule out photoionization by local sources. Finally, we identify several unusual DLAs with extremely low metallicity (<0.01 solar) but strong high-ion absorption [log N(N V)>14 or log N(O VI)>14.2] that present challenges to either galactic inflow or outflow models.
(Abridged) We use VLT/UVES high-resolution optical spectroscopy of seven GRB afterglows at z_GRB>2 to investigate circumburst and interstellar plasma in the host galaxies. Our sample consists of GRBs 021004, 050730, 050820, 050922C, 060607, 071031, a
nd 080310. Four of these spectra were taken in rapid-response mode, within 30 minutes of the Swift GRB detection. We identify several distinct categories of high-ion absorption at velocities close to z_GRB: (i) Strong high-ion components at z_GRB itself are always seen in OVI, CIV, and SiIV, and usually (in 6 of 7 cases) in NV. We discuss circumburst and interstellar models for the origin of this absorption. Using the non-detection of SIV* toward GRB 050730 together with a UV photo-excitation model, we place a lower limit of 400 pc on the distance of the SIV-bearing gas from the GRB. (ii) Complex, multi-component CIV and SiIV profiles extending over 100-400 km/s around z_GRB are observed in each spectrum; these velocity fields are similar to those measured in damped Lyman-alpha systems at similar redshifts, suggesting a galactic origin. (iii) Asymmetric, blueshifted, absorption-line wings covering 65-140 km/s are seen in the CIV, SiIV, and OVI profiles in 4 of the 7 spectra. The wing kinematics together with the observation that two wings show Galactic CIV/SiIV ratios suggest these features trace outflowing ISM gas in the GRB host galaxies. (iv) High-velocity (HV; 500-5000 km/s) components are detected in 6 of the 7 spectra. The HV components show diverse properties. In the cases of GRBs 071031 and 080310, both the ionization level (very high CIV/SiIV ratios and absence of neutral-phase absorption) and the kinematics of the HV components can be explained by Wolf-Rayet winds from the GRB progenitors.
(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 V
LT/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.
