HST/COS survey of z<0.9 AGNs. I. Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Danforth C.W.
  2. Keeney B.A.
  3. Tilton E.M.
  4. Shull J.M.
  5. Stocke J.T.,Stevans M.
  6. Pieri M.M.
  7. Savage B.D.
  8. France K.
  9. Syphers D.
  10. Smith B.D.,Green J.C.
  11. Froning C.
  12. Penton S.V.
  13. Osterman S.N.
  14. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We use high-quality, medium-resolution Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (HST/COS) observations of 82 UV-bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at redshifts z_AGN_<0.85 to construct the largest survey of the low-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) to date: 5138 individual extragalactic absorption lines in HI and 25 different metal-ion species grouped into 2611 distinct redshift systems at z_abs_<0.75 covering total redshift pathlengths {Delta}z_HI_=21.7 and {Delta}z_OVI_=14.5. Our semi-automated line-finding and measurement technique renders the catalog as objectively defined as possible. The cumulative column density distribution of HI systems can be parametrized d N(>N)/dz=C_14_(N/10^14^/cm2)^-({beta}-1)^, with C_14_=25+/-1 and {beta}=1.65+/-0.02. This distribution is seen to evolve both in amplitude, C_14_{propto}(1+z)^2.3+/-0.1^, and slope {beta}(z)=1.75-0.31 z for z<=0.47. We observe metal lines in 418 systems, and find that the fraction of IGM absorbers detected in metals is strongly dependent on N_H1_. The distribution of OVI absorbers appears to evolve in the same sense as the Ly{alpha} forest. We calculate contributions to {Omega}_b_ from different components of the low-z IGM and determine the Ly{alpha} decrement as a function of redshift. IGM absorbers are analyzed via a two-point correlation function in velocity space. We find substantial clustering of HI absorbers on scales of {Delta}v=50-300km/s with no significant clustering at {Delta}v>~1000km/s. Splitting the sample into strong and weak absorbers, we see that most of the clustering occurs in strong, N_HI_>~10^13.5^/cm2, metal-bearing IGM systems.

Keywords
  1. active-galactic-nuclei
  2. spectroscopy
  3. ultraviolet-astronomy
  4. redshifted
  5. surveys
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2016ApJ...817..111D
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/817/111
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/817/111
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.18170111

Access

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http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/817/111
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https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/817/111/table1?
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History

2016-06-15T07:04:52Z
Resource record created
2016-06-15T07:04:52Z
Created
2017-10-11T05:13:29Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr