Discovery of Water Vapor in the High-Redshift Quasar APM 08279+5255 at Z=3.91

Details Discovery of Water Vapor in the High-Redshift Quasar APM 08279+5255 at Z=3.91 Discovery of Water Vapor in the High-Redshift Quasar APM 08279+5255 at Z=3.91

2011-06-23

arxiv.org/abs/1106.4784v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics

5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Scientific paper

We report a detection of the excited 220-211 rotational transition of para-H2O in APM 08279+5255 using the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer. At z = 3.91, this is the highest-redshift detection of interstellar water to date. From LVG modeling, we conclude that this transition is predominantly radiatively pumped and on its own does not provide a good estimate of the water abundance. However, additional water transitions are predicted to be detectable in this source, which would lead to an improved excitation model. We also present a sensitive upper limit for the HF J = 1 - 0 absorption toward APM 08279+5255. While the face-on geometry of this source is not favorable for absorption studies, the lack of HF absorption is still puzzling and may be indicative of a lower fluorine abundance at z = 3.91 compared with the Galactic ISM.

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