Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Dec 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987apj...323l..13d&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters to the Editor (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 323, Dec. 1, 1987, p. L13-L18.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
51
Absorption Spectra, Environment Effects, Galactic Nuclei, Intergalactic Media, Interstellar Matter, Quasars, Molecular Clouds, Red Shift, Stellar Luminosity
Scientific paper
The authors examine the environmental impact of quasars and active nuclei on the intergalactic medium (IGM) and derive analytic and numerical results for ionization-front expansion as a function of redshift z in an expanding Friedmann cosmology. For an IGM of moderate density (ΩI ≈ 0.1) and a conservative estimate of QSO ionizing spectra, QSOs "turning on" at zon= 4 will not produce a fully ionized IGM until z ≈ 2.5. However, an IGM with ΩI = 0.03 - 0.10 could be ionized between z = 3.3 - 3.7. The authors also investigate the effects of I-fronts on the distribution of "Lyα forest" clouds. The photoionization of intergalactic clouds within ≡10 Mpc of a luminous QSO could explain the "inverse effect", an observed deficit in the distribution of Lyα absorption systems near zem.
Donahue Megan
Shull Michael J.
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