Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21734511d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #345.11; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
The exquisite far-UV sensitivity of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph has yielded moderate-resolution AGN spectra of unprecedented quality with signal to noise ratios (S/N) of 50 per resolution element in some cases. This high data quality allows us to detect some of the weakest (W 10 mÅ) absorption features ever found in far-UV spectra including weak photoionized Lyα forest absorbers at column densities N > 1012 cm-2 that may trace significant numbers of baryons in the form of ionized hydrogen, weak broad HI absorbers with b > 40 km/s that potentially trace warm collisionally ionized gas, and weak metal-line counterparts to Lyα absorbers in the intergalactic medium. However, accurately identifying and measuring weak astrophysical absorbers requires detailed knowledge of the spectrograph detectors and the latest in flat-fielding techniques. We present the results of both interactive and automated line searches in several of the highest-quality (S/N=30-50) extragalactic COS datasets taken to date. We catalog weak narrow lines, broad absorption features, and comment on the applicability of these techniques to the larger catalog of COS observations with more modest S/N.
Danforth Charles
France Kevin
Keeney Brian
Penton Steve
Pieri Matthew M.
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