VLT/X-SHOOTER & Keck/ESI spectra of z~5 QSOs Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Zhu Y.
  2. Becker G.D.
  3. Bosman S.E.I.
  4. Keating L.C.
  5. Christenson H.M.,Banados E.
  6. Bian F.
  7. Davies F.B.
  8. D'Odorico V.
  9. Eilers A.-C.
  10. Fan X.,Haehnelt M.G.
  11. Kulkarni G.
  12. Pallottini A.
  13. Qin Y.
  14. Wang F.
  15. Yang J.
  16. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We present a new investigation of the intergalactic medium (IGM) near the end of reionization using "dark gaps" in the Ly{alpha} forest. Using spectra of 55 QSOs at z_em_>5.5, including new data from the XQR-30 VLT Large Programme, we identify gaps in the Ly{alpha} forest where the transmission averaged over 1 comoving h^-1^ Mpc bins falls below 5%. Nine ultralong (L>80h^-1^Mpc) dark gaps are identified at z<6. In addition, we quantify the fraction of QSO spectra exhibiting gaps longer than 30h^-1^Mpc, F_30_, as a function of redshift. We measure F_30_~0.9, 0.6, and 0.15 at z=6.0, 5.8, and 5.6, respectively, with the last of these long dark gaps persisting down to z~5.3. Comparing our results with predictions from hydrodynamical simulations, we find that the data are consistent with models wherein reionization extends significantly below redshift six. Models wherein the IGM is essentially fully reionized that retain large-scale fluctuations in the ionizing UV background at z<~6 are also potentially consistent with the data. Overall, our results suggest that signatures of reionization in the form of islands of neutral hydrogen and/or large-scale fluctuations in the ionizing background remain present in the IGM until at least z~5.3.

Keywords
  1. spectroscopy
  2. ultraviolet-astronomy
  3. quasars
  4. redshifted
  5. visible-astronomy
  6. intergalactic-medium
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2021ApJ...923..223Z
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/923/223
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/923/223
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.19230223

Access

Web browser access HTML
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/923/223
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/923/223
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/923/223
IVOA Table Access TAP
http://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/923/223/table1?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/923/223/table1?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/923/223/table1?

History

2023-07-27T13:28:59Z
Resource record created
2023-07-27T13:28:59Z
Created
2023-10-03T13:08:16Z
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