Origin and Physical Conditions in the Local Ly-alpha Forest

Statistics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Hst Proposal Id #6593 Qso Absorption Lines

Scientific paper

We propose to use the GHRS+G160M grating to study the local Ly -alpha forest at high spectral resolution to better understand the origin and physical conditions of these clouds and their relationship {if any} to galaxies. Our targets are 7 very bright AGN with cz 10,000 kms. Our program on Ly-alpha clouds differs in 3 important respects from the Absorption- Line Key Project and subsequent GHRS and FOS low-resolution projects: {1} It probes the very low column-density regime of Ly-alpha clouds, which may represent the low-redshift analogs of the very low metallicity high-redshift Ly-alpha clouds; {2} It is restricted to cz < 20,000 kms, allowing detailed ground- based studies of nearby galaxies with spectroscopy, H Alpha imaging, and 21 cm maps to very low luminosities; {3} It yields line profiles {Doppler widths, ionH1 columns, multiple components} at a resolution of 15 kms { 10 times the FOS resolution} for cloud model discrimination. Our previous GHRS/G160M work showed that, unlike the high column density clouds, the low-N_H Ly-alpha clouds cluster only weakly with galaxies. However, there is no convincing case, among 24 GHRS clouds at cz < 20,000 kms examined thus far, for a cloud/galaxy association within 200 kpc. We detect 3-4 clouds in voids but our current statistics suggest that Ly-alpha clouds ``avoid the voids''. Our proposal will nearly double the number of high S/N Ly-alpha lines, double the number of nearby galaxy halos probed at D <= 750 kpc for weak Ly-alpha lines, and nearly double the pathlength through voids.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Origin and Physical Conditions in the Local Ly-alpha Forest does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Origin and Physical Conditions in the Local Ly-alpha Forest, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Origin and Physical Conditions in the Local Ly-alpha Forest will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1117961

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.