Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003hst..prop.9885b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #9885
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #9885 Agn/Quasars
Scientific paper
The quasar epoch is believed to be associated with the birth of the most massive galaxies, a time marked by rapid star formation and evolution. Quasar emission lines can reveal the chemical evolution and physical state of gas in the very center of these galaxies. Analysis of the observed line strengths, using tools that have recently become available, implies that the chemical composition of the emitting gas correlates with quasar luminosity in a way that is suggestive of the known galactic mass/luminosity/metallicity correlations. The emission lines can also reveal the form of the ionizing radiation field emitted by the central object. Understanding the evolution of the central powerhouse is important for black hole accretion physics and because its spectrum is likely to dominate the ionization of the IGM. There are many high-ionization permitted emission lines in the region below 1000A rest wavelength that can provide important new constraints on these measurements. Thus, there is a critical need for spectra over the full rest-wavelength range 600A through the UV. Through a pilot Cycle 10 archival study, we have identified the QSO HE 1122-1648 as an optimal object for such a study. This QSO has a sufficiently high redshift {z = 2.4} so that we can see down to very short rest wavelengths {463A} in observed-wavelength regions where STIS has high sensitivity, and lies on a line of sight with an unusually low density of intervening Ly-alpha absorber clouds. A high-quality spectrum of this object will have implications for the ionization of the IGM and will leverage the unique UV capabilities of HST to complement the galaxy formation studies that NGST will do at higher redshift.
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