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 #7345 Quasar Absorption Lines

Scientific paper

We propose to use the STIS+E140M grating to complete our study of 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 14 very bright AGN at cz 20, 000kms. Our Ly-alpha cloud program differs in 3 important respects from the Absorption-Line Key Project and subsequent FOS projects: {1} It probes the very low column-density regime of Ly-alpha clouds, which may represent the low-z analogs of the low- metallicity Ly-alpha clouds at high-z; {2} It is restricted to cz<20, 000kms, 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, components} at a resolution of 25kms { 6 times the FOS resolution} for cloud model discrimination. Our previous GHRS/G160M work showed that, unlike the high-N_H 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, 000kms examined thus far, for an individual cloud/galaxy association. We detect 3-4 clouds in voids but our current statistics suggest that Ly-alpha clouds ``avoid the voids''. Our proposed observations totalling 250, 000kms of coverage will more than double the number { 60} of low column density Ly-alpha lines, double the number of nearby galaxy halos probed at D<=250 kpc for weak Ly-alpha lines, and 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-895512

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