Related papers: Highly ionized absorbers at high redshift
[Abridged] We present a detailed study of the largest sample of intervening O VI systems in the redshift range 1.9 < z < 3.1 detected in high resolution (R ~ 45,000) spectra of 18 bright QSOs observed with VLT/UVES. Based on Voigt profile…
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…
Results are presented for our search for warm-hot gas towards the quasar Q 0329-385. We identify ten OVI systems of which two are within 5000 km/s of z_em and a third one should be of intrinsic origin. The seven remaining systems have HI…
We report on the detection of a population of weak metal-line absorbers in the halo or nearby intergalactic environment of the Milky Way. Using high-resolution ultraviolet absorption-line spectra of bright QSOs obtained with the Space…
A search for O VI at redshifts corresponding to Ly-alpha lines in the z_em ~ 2.4 QSOs HE1122-1648 and HE2217-2818 reveals that a substantial fraction of those with H I column densities log N(HI) > 14 (cm^{-2}) are highly ionized and show…
Ratios of different ions of the same element encode ionization information independently from relative abundances in quasar absorption line systems, crucial for understanding the multiphase nature and origin of absorbing gas, particularly…
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 present a neutral hydrogen-selected absorption-line survey of gas with HI column densities 15<log N(HI)<19 at z<1 using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Our main aim is to determine the metallicity…
The metal line profiles of different ions observed in high HI column density systems [N(HI) > 10^{16} cm^{-2}] in quasar spectra can be used to constrain the ionization structure and kinematic characteristics of the absorbers. For these…
Low ionization metal absorption due to OI has been identified as an important probe of the physical state of the inter-/circumgalactic medium at the tail-end of reionization. We use here high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations to interpret…
Column density distribution functions of CIV with 12.05 < log (N) < 14.35 and SiIV with 11.70 < log (N) < 13.93 have been obtained using 81 CIV absorbers and 35 SiIV absorbers redward of the Ly alpha forest in the lines of sight to seven…
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…
Using new HST/FOS, NTT/EMMI, and Keck/HIRES spectra of the gravitationally-lensed double QSO HE 1104-1805 AB (z=2.31, \theta=3.2), and assuming UV photoionization by a metagalactic radiation field, we derive physical conditions (ionization…
Recent STIS and FUSE observations have detected OVI absorption lines at low redshift that are not clearly associated with any galactic system. In this paper, we argue that these lines are due to metal enriched hot gas in the intergalactic…
We present a study of extended galaxy halo gas through HI and OVI absorption over two decades in projected distance at $z\approx0.2$. The study is based on a sample of $95$ galaxies from a highly complete ($ > 80\%$) survey of faint…
We report on the observed properties of the plasma revealed through high signal-to-noise (S/N) observations of 54 intervening O VI absorption systems containing 85 O VI and 133 H I components in a blind survey of 14 QSOs observed at ~18 km…
Using high-resolution UV spectra of 16 low-z QSOs, we study the physical conditions and statistics of O VI absorption in the IGM at z < 0.5. We identify 51 intervening (z_{abs} << z_{QSO}) O VI systems comprised of 77 individual components,…
We consider evolution of metal-enriched gas exposed to a superposition of time-dependent radiation field of a nearby starburst galaxy and nearly invariant (on timescales 100 Myr) extragalactic ionization background. Within nonequilibrium…
We present a unified analysis of the O{\sc vi} absorption-lines seen in the disk and halo of the Milky Way, high velocity clouds, the Magellanic Clouds, starburst galaxies, and the intergalactic medium. We show that these disparate systems…
We examine the Ly-alpha absorber population at z<0.3 detected in spectra of the QSOs PG0953+415 and H1821+643 taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. We compare their statistical properties to…