Related papers: The LyB and OVI Forest in the Local Universe

Intergalactic absorbers along lines of sight to distant quasars are a powerful diagnostic for the evolution and content of the intergalactic medium (IGM). In this study, we use the FUSE satellite to search 129 known lya absorption systems…

We present the results of a large survey of HI, OVI, and CIII absorption lines in the low-redshift (z<0.3) intergalactic medium (IGM). We begin with 171 strong Lyalpha absorption lines (W>80 mA) in 31 AGN sight lines studied with the Hubble…

We conduct an ultraviolet (HST and FUSE) spectroscopic survey of HI (Lyman lines) and seven metal ions (OVI, NV, CIV, CIII, SiIV, SiIII, FeIII) in the low-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) at z<0.4. We analyzed 650 Lya absorbers over…

We present HST and FUSE observations of the intergalactic absorption toward PG1116+215 in the 900-3000 A spectral region. We detect 25 Ly-alpha absorbers at rest-frame equivalent widths W_r > 30 mA, yielding (dN/dz)_Ly-alpha = 154+/-18 over…

We analyze the association of galaxies to Lya and OVI absorption, the most commonly detected transitions in the low-z intergalactic medium (IGM), in the fields of 14 quasars with z_em = 0.06-0.57. Confirming previous studies, we observe a…

We present the first results from our NASA Keck Observatory Database of Ionized Absorbers toward Quasars (KODIAQ) survey which aims to characterize the properties of the highly ionized gas of high redshift galaxies and their circumgalactic…

Recent FUSE and STIS observations of OVI absorption at low redshift along the sightline to distant quasars have been interpreted as the signature of a warm-hot diffuse component of the intergalactic medium (IGM). In these proceedings we…

We search for OVI absorption in a Keck HIRES spectrum of the z=3.62 quasar Q1422+231. Comparison of CIV measurements to cosmological simulations shows that \lya forest absorbers with N_HI > 10^{14.5} have [C/H]~=-2.5, for the UV background…

We describe our surveys of low column density Lyman-alpha absorbers [N(HI) = 10^(12.5-16.0) cm^-2], which show that the warm photoionized IGM contains 30% of all baryons at z < 0.1. This fraction is consistent with cosmological simulations,…

We describe a survey for OVI absorption in the spectra of 5 high redshift quasars (2.2 < z < 2.8). We identify 12 cosmological systems, and 6 systems that are either ejected from the background QSO or affected by its local radiation field.…

The low-redshift Ly-alpha forest of absorption lines provides a probe of large-scale baryonic structures in the intergalactic medium, some of which may be remnants of physical conditions set up during the epoch of galaxy formation. We…

The abundances of metals in the intergalactic medium (IGM) can be used to constrain the amount of star formation at high redshift and the spectral shape of the ionizing background radiation. For both purposes it is essential to measure the…

We analyze intergalactic HI and OVI absorbers with v<5000 km/s in HST and FUSE spectra of 76 AGNs. The baryons traced by HI/OVI absorption are clearly associated with the extended surroundings of galaxies; for impact parameters <400 kpc…

We have conducted pointed redshift surveys for galaxies in the direction of bright AGN whose HST far-UV spectra contain nearby (cz <~ 30,000 kms), low column density (12.5 <= log N_{HI} (cm s^{-2}) <= 14.5) Ly-alpha forest absorption…

With a column density log N(OVI) = 14.95+/-0.05, the OVI absorber at z_abs~0.2028 observed toward the QSO PKS0312-77 (z_em=0.223) is the strongest yet detected at z<0.5. At nearly identical redshift (z_abs=0.2026), we also identify a Lyman…

The observed intergalactic OVI absorbers at z>0 have been regarded as a significant reservoir of the ``missing baryons''. However, to fully understand how these absorbers contribute to the baryon inventory, it is crucial to determine…

We present an analysis of the galaxy environment and physical properties of a partial Lyman limit system at z = 0.83718 with HI and metal line components closely separated in redshift space ($|\Delta v| \approx 400$ km/s) towards the…

We present a new method for probing the physical conditions and metal enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium: the composite spectrum of Ly-alpha forest absorbers. We apply this technique to a sample of 9480 Ly-alpha absorbers with redshift…

We use FUSE and STIS spectra to study intergalactic absorption towards the quasar PG1259+593 (z=0.478). We identify 135 intergalactic absorption lines with equivalent widths >10mA, tracing 78 absorption components in 72 Ly alpha/beta…

We present a direct measurement of the metallicity distribution function for the high redshift intergalactic medium. We determine the shape of this function using survival statistics, which account for both detections and non-detections of…