J/MNRAS/400/1493ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/400/1493doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.74001493CDSKramer R.H.Haiman Z.2024-07-09T20:16:09Z2012-01-02T12:16:06ZCDS support team

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

cds-question@unistra.frquasarsspectroscopyultraviolet-astronomyline-intensitiesArguably the best hope of understanding the tail end of the re-ionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at redshift z>6 is through the detection and characterization of the Gunn-Peterson damping wing absorption of the IGM in bright quasar spectra. However, the use of quasar spectra to measure the IGM damping wing requires a model of the quasar's intrinsic Lyman{alpha} emission line. Here we quantify the uncertainties in the intrinsic line shapes, and how those uncertainties affect the determination of the IGM neutral fraction. We have assembled a catalogue of high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope spectra of the emission lines of unobscured low-redshift quasars, and have characterized the variance in the shapes of their lines. We then add simulated absorption from the high-redshift IGM to these quasar spectra in order to determine the corresponding uncertainties in re-ionization constraints using current and future samples of z>6 quasar spectra. We find that, if the redshift of the Lyman{alpha} emission line is presumed to coincide with the systemic redshift determined from metal lines, the inferred IGM neutral fraction is systematically biased to low values due to a systematic blueshift of the Lyman{alpha} line relative to the metal lines.2009MNRAS.400.1493Khttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/400/1493CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toJ/ApJ/614/75 : Lyman{alpha} emitting galaxies at z=2.38 (Francis+, 2004)J/A+A/458/427 : Lyman alpha absorbers in 0.5<z<1.9 QSOs (Janknecht+, 2006)J/ApJ/662/72 : Lyman alpha forest of 55 QSOs (Becker+, 2007)J/A+A/508/133 : Damped Lyman{alpha} absorbers in z>4 QSOs (Guimaraes+, 2009)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/400/1493https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/400/1493http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/400/1493https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/MNRAS/400/1493https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/MNRAS/400/1493http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/MNRAS/400/1493GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/MNRAS/400/1493/table1 (HST (FOS and GHRS) quasar Lyman-{alpha} emission line spectra)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/400/1493/table1?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/400/1493/table1?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/MNRAS/400/1493/table1?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true1.581338920.20291440.0055555555555555566/4341 5290 5306 5355 5576 5722 5731 5767 5974 6264 7176 7242 7426 7488 7508 7604 7859 8528 8707 8858 8912 8927 8952 9194 9252 9457 9705 9955 9959 10162-10163 10217 10298 10385 10388 10414 10432 10659 10709 10769 10807 10940 10995 11104 11217 11723 11813 11924 12317 12380 16434 16765 17075 17488 17730 18125 18506 18669 18756 18912 19190 19287 19398 19609 19700 19730 19746 19807 19848 19883 19895 20099 21126 22659 22754 23016 23045 25472 26033 26100 26245 26270 26292 26323 26615 26878 26990 27023 27127 27423 27581 27731 27826 27862 27909 27964 28216 28356 28419 28479 34210 34330 34881 35769 36086 36313 36862 37474 40274 40479 48965https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/MNRAS/400/1493?format=asciiUVdefaultJ/MNRAS/400/1493/table1HST (FOS and GHRS) quasar Lyman-{alpha} emission line spectrarecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintFitSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlcharNameName from NED (G1)meta.id;meta.maincharprimaryzRedshift from NEDsrc.redshiftfloatInstHST instrumentinstrcharApAperturephys.angSize;instr.fovcharGratGratingmeta.notecharS/NMean signal-to-noise ratiostat.snr;stat.meanfloatComComments on spectra and fitsmeta.note;meta.fitscharNEDSimbad column added by the CDSchar_RAPosition, from NED database (right ascension part)degpos.eq.ra;meta.main_DEPosition, from NED database (declination part)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainSimbadNameSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.idcharJ/MNRAS/400/1493/sp_fitBest-fit spectral parameters from fits to the full- (table3) or red side- (table4) of the Lyman-{alpha} linerecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintLySimbad column added by the CDSmeta.notecharNameName from NED (G1)meta.id;meta.maincharInstHST InstrumentinstrcharGratGratingmeta.notecharApAperture used to take the spectrumphys.angSize;instr.fovcharsigLa0Width of narrow Lyman-alpha component (1)0.1nmspect.line.widthfloataLa0Amplitude of La0, normalized by the continuum flux apphot.flux;arith.ratiofloatvLa0Shift of La0 component center from the nominal wavelength (2)km/sstat.fit.paramintsigLa1Width of broad Lyman-alpha component (1)0.1nmspect.line.widthfloataLa1Amplitude of La1, normalized by the continuum flux apphot.flux;arith.ratiofloatvLa1Shift of La1 component center from the nominal wavelength (2)km/sstat.fit.paramintsigNVWidth of NV line (1)0.1nmspect.line.widthdoubleaNVAmplitude of NV line, normalized by the continuum flux apphot.flux;arith.ratiofloatvNVShift of NV line center from the nominal wavelength (2)km/sstat.fit.paramintpContinuum power law indexspect.indexfloatapContinuum flux at the nominal Lyman-alpha central wavelength (10^-15^erg/cm^2^/s/{AA})1e-17W.m**-2.nm**-1phot.flux.density;arith.ratiofloatx2/nupReduced {chi}^2^ for the line-profile fitmeta.notefloatx2/nucReduced {chi}^2^ for the continuummeta.notefloatnupNumber of degrees of freedom for line-profile fitmeta.numberintnucNumber of degrees of freedom for continuummeta.numberint