J/ApJ/887/5ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/887/5doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.18870005CDSLehner N.Wotta C.B.Howk J.C.O'Meara J.M.Oppenheimer B.D.,Cooksey K.L.2022-08-09T13:59:19Z2021-06-04T07:07:10ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frquasarsspectroscopyultraviolet-astronomyh-i-line-emissionredshiftedchemical-abundancesintergalactic-mediumWe characterize the metallicities and physical properties of cool, photoionized gas in a sample of 152 z<=1 strong Ly{alpha} forest systems (SLFSs, absorbers with 15<logN_HI_<16.2). The sample is drawn from our Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) circumgalactic medium compendium (CCC), an ultraviolet survey of HI-selected circumgalactic gas around z<=1 galaxies that targets 261 absorbers with 15<logN_HI_<19. We show that the metallicity probability distribution function of the SLFSs at z<=1 is unimodal, skewed to low metallicities with a mean and median of [X/H]=-1.47 and -1.18dex. Very metal-poor gas with [X/H]{<}-1.4 represents about half of the population of absorbers with 15<logN_HI_<=18, while it is rare at higher N_HI_. Thus, there are important reservoirs of primitive (though not pristine) diffuse ionized gas around z<=1 galaxies. The photoionized gas around z<=1 galaxies is highly inhomogeneous based on the wide range of metallicities observed (-3<=[X/H]<=+0.4) and the fact that there are large metallicity variations (factors of 2 to 25) for most of the closely spaced absorbers ({Delta}v<=300km/s) along the same sightlines. These absorbers show a complex evolution with redshift and HI column density, and we identify subtle cosmic evolution effects that affect the interpretation of metallicity distributions and comparison with other absorber samples. We discuss the physical conditions and cosmic baryon and metal budgets of the CCC absorbers. Finally, we compare the CCC results to recent cosmological zoom simulations and explore the origins of the 15<logN_HI_<19 absorbers within the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) high-resolution simulations.2019ApJ...887....5Lhttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/887/5CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toJ/ApJ/559/654 : Ly{alpha} absorption systems. V. (Chen+, 2001)J/ApJ/635/123 : The SDSS-DR3 damped Ly{alpha} survey (Prochaska+, 2005)J/ApJ/676/262 : PKS1302-102 intergalactic absorption system (Cooksey+, 2008)J/ApJ/721/1 : Keck ESI observations of Ly{alpha} systems (Penprase+, 2010)J/ApJ/718/392 : SDSS Lyman limit systems at z~3.5 (Prochaska+, 2010)J/ApJS/195/16 : HST survey for Lyman limit systems. I. (O'Meara+, 2011)J/ApJ/740/91 : Ly{alpha} and OVI in galaxies around QSOs (Prochaska+, 2011)J/ApJ/755/89 : Metallicities of damped Ly{alpha} systems (Rafelski+, 2012)J/ApJ/770/138 : Metallicities of Lyman limit systems and DLA (Lehner+, 2013)J/ApJ/765/137 : HST survey for Lyman limit systems. II. (O'Meara+, 2013)J/MNRAS/445/2061 : Absorption in multiphase circumgal. medium (Liang+, 2014)J/MNRAS/437/2017 : HI-galaxy cross-correlation at z<~1 (Tejos+, 2014)J/ApJ/817/111 : HST/COS survey of z<0.9 AGNs. I. (Danforth+, 2016)J/ApJ/833/270 : Lyman limit system metallicities (Glidden+, 2016)J/ApJ/833/283 : HI-selected Lyman limit system metallicities (Lehner+, 2016)J/MNRAS/458/4074 : UVES Advanced Data Products QSO Sample. VI. (Quiret+, 2016)J/ApJS/230/6 : HST -COS & -STIS absorption-line sp. II. (Keeney+, 2017)J/ApJ/866/33 : The COS CGM compendium. I. Initial results (Lehner+, 2018)J/ApJ/872/81 : COS CGM Compendium (CCC). II. Lyman syst. (Wotta+, 2019)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/887/5https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/887/5http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/887/5https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/887/5https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/887/5http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/ApJ/887/5GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/ApJ/887/5/quasars (Metallicities and physical properties of the absorbers in the COS circumgalactic medium compendium (CCC) (Tables 2 and 5))https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/887/5/quasars?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/887/5/quasars?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/887/5/quasars?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true57.869-14.48555560.0055555555555555566/4193 4204 4646 4959 4961 5284 5291 5304 5409 5413 5657 5759 5820 5841 5974 6081 6104 6223-6224 6488 6553 6606 6644 7337 7460 7508 7557 7903 8282 8702 8755 8858 8910 8923 8927 8952 9146 9175 9440 9457 9482 9753 9756 9783 9872 9912 9987 10297-10298 10300 10305 10379 10389 10418 10517 10602 10659 10764 10865 10940 10969 10976 11101 11209 11312 11340 11435 11456 11530 11723 12752 16894 17488 17703 17730 17990 18125 18409 18601 18770 19327 19700 20008 20010 20099 22659 23060 25392 25472 25742 25932 26088 26259 26303 27084 27160 27230 27250 27254 27338 27376 27423 27486 27509 27526 27542 27720 27722 27727 27745 27755 27766 28083 28117-28118 28201 28356 28401 28546 31658 32682 32961 33796 33950 34210 35205 35741 35743 35992-35993 36313 37385 46143https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/ApJ/887/5?format=asciiUVRadiodefaultJ/ApJ/887/5/quasarsMetallicities and physical properties of the absorbers in the COS circumgalactic medium compendium (CCC) (Tables 2 and 5)_RAPositions from names (right ascension part)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainb_lognH[-4.5/-0.88] Lower bound in lognH (1)log(cm**-3)phys.density;stat.minfloatl_lognHLimit flag on lognHmeta.code.errorcharlognH[-4.5/-0.8] Median log hydrogen densitylog(cm**-3)phys.densityfloatu_lognH[:] Prior flag on lognH (2)meta.code.errorcharl_B_lognHLimit flag on uplognHmeta.code.errorcharB_lognH[-4.32/-0.73] Upper bound in lognH (1)log(cm**-3)phys.density;stat.maxfloatb_logT[2.1/4.75] Lower bound in logT (1)log(K)phys.temperature;stat.median;stat.minfloatlogT[2.6/4.77] Median log temperaturelog(K)phys.temperature;stat.medianfloatB_logT[3.75/4.77] Upper bound in logT (1)log(K)phys.temperature;stat.median;stat.maxfloatb_Scale[0/19869] Lower bound on Scale (1)kpcinstr.scaledoubleScale[0/32058] Median linear scalekpcpos.distancedoubleB_Scale[0/37862] Upper bound on Scale (1)kpcinstr.scaledoublepPapDisplay data from Paper I (Lehner+, 2018, J/ApJ/866/33) and II (Wotta+, 2019, J/ApJ/872/81)meta.ref.urlintnullableSimbadNameSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.idcharnullable_DEPositions from names (declination part)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintNabsNumber of redshift measurements for this quasarmeta.numberintnullableQSOQSO identifier (JHHMMSS.ss+DDMMSS.s)meta.id;meta.maincharprimaryNmcmNumber of absorber inputs for this quasar (link to Table 8)meta.numberintnullableProx[a] Proximity flag (1)meta.codecharzabs[0.08/1.1] Redshift of the absorbersrc.redshiftdoublelogNHI[15/19] log H I column densitylog(cm**-2)phys.columnDensityfloate_logNHI[0.01/0.3] Uncertainty in logNHIlog(cm**-2)stat.errorfloatl_b_[X/H]Limit flag on lo[X/H]meta.code.errorcharb_[X/H][-4.75/0.11] Lower bound in [X/H] (2)phys.abund;stat.minfloatl_[X/H]Limit flag on [X/H]meta.code.error;phys.abundchar[X/H][-3.76/1.1] Median log absorber metallicityphys.abundfloatl_B_[X/H]Limit flag on up[X/H]meta.code.errorcharB_[X/H][-2.9/2.3] Upper bound in [X/H] (2)phys.abund;stat.maxfloatl_b_logULimit flag on lologUmeta.code.errorcharb_logU[-4.5/-0.79] Lower bound in logU (2)pos.cartesian.xfloatl_logULimit flag on logUmeta.code.errorcharlogU[-4.4/-0.65] Median log ionization parameterphys.ionizParam.radfloatu_logU[:] Prior flag on logU (3)meta.code.errorcharl_B_logULimit flag on uplogUmeta.code.errorcharB_logU[-4.3/-0.6] Upper bound in logU (2)pos.cartesian.xfloatl_b_[C/a]Limit flag on lo[C/a]meta.code.errorcharb_[C/a][-0.97/0.74]? Lower bound in [C/a] (2)phys.abund;stat.minfloatnullablel_[C/a]Limit flag on [C/a]meta.code.errorchar[C/a][-0.84/0.9]? Median log C/{alpha} abundance ratiophys.abundfloatnullableu_[C/a][:] Prior flag in [C/a] (4)meta.code.errorcharl_B_[C/a]Limit flag on up[c/a]meta.code.errorcharB_[C/a][-0.66/0.98]? Upper bound in [C/a] (2)phys.abund;stat.maxfloatnullableb_logNH[16.7/21.42] Lower bound in logNH (1)log(cm**-2)phys.columnDensity;stat.median;stat.minfloatlogNH[17/21.53] Median log hydrogen column densitylog(cm**-2)phys.columnDensity;stat.medianfloatB_logNH[17.2/21.6] Upper bound in logNH (1)log(cm**-2)phys.columnDensity;stat.median;stat.maxfloatl_b_lognHLimit flag on b_lognHmeta.code.errorcharJ/ApJ/887/5/table8Summary of the MCMC inputs for the absorbers in CCCrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintTypeAbsorber type (1)meta.code.classcharQSOQuasar identifier (JHHMMSSss+DDMMSS.s)meta.id.part;meta.maincharIDUnique identifier within QSO names (with zN.NNNNNN = zabs)meta.id.part;meta.maincharzabs[0.08/1.1] Redshift of the absorbersrc.redshiftdoublee_zabs[1e-6/0.001] Uncertainty in zabsstat.errordoubleIonIon identifierphys.atmol.ionStagecharlogN[10.87/19] log Ion column densitylog(cm**-2)phys.columnDensityfloate_logN[0.01/0.6] Uncertainty in logNlog(cm**-2)stat.errorfloatFlag[-3/0]? Column density flag (2)meta.code.errorintnullable