X-raying the Intergalactic OVI Absorbers

Details X-raying the Intergalactic OVI Absorbers X-raying the Intergalactic OVI Absorbers

Jan 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21334304y&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #343.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.478

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The observed intergalactic OVI absorbers have been regarded as a significant reservoir of the ``missing baryons''. This interpretation is subject to the assumption of collisional ionization origin of these absorbers. We present a pilot study of searching for the corresponding intergalactic X-ray absorption lines by referencing the dynamically complex OVI absorbers that may accommodate the multiphase intergalactic medium. Stacking the Chandra grating spectra at 11 identified OVI absorbing systems along 7 sight lines, we collect about 1000 counts per 12.5 mA-bin around the expected OVII Kalpha wavelength in our spectrum. There is no detectable NeIX, OVII, OVIII, NVII, or CVI absorption lines in the spectrum, but the high spectral quality allows us to obtain firm upper limits to the corresponding ionic column densities (e.g., N(OVII)<=1e15). Jointly analyzing these non-detected X-ray lines with the averaged OVI column density, we further obtain the temperature of the intervening gas as T<=10$^{5.7}$ K. We discuss the implication of these results on the thermal properties of the putative warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) and their application to future X-ray observations of the WHIM.

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