Intergalactic Metal Pollution at the Highest Observable Redshifts

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

We have discovered two strong CIV absorption systems at z=5.7238 and 5.8290, respectively, towards the z=6.28 QSO SDSS J1030+0524. These observations, obtained with the Infrared Spectrometer And Array Camera (ISAAC) on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT), demonstrate that QSO absorption line spectroscopy can be successfully extended to near-infrared wavelengths to probe the intergalactic medium near the end of the reionization epoch. Although only two QSOs have been searched for CIV absorption at these redshifts, there is no obvious indication yet of a downturn in the cosmological mass density of CIV, Omega(CIV). The results, if representative of the global average, suggest that a large fraction of intergalactic metals may already have been in place at redshifts above 6. Alternatively, the CIV systems may be associated with the ionized outflow from an actively star-forming galaxy at the same redshift. Two candidate z>5.5 galaxies that lie within 90 kpc of the QSO sightline could be the source of the intergalactic metals we detect.

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