The Low-Redshift Lyman Alpha Forest toward 3C 273

Abstract

We present an analysis of the Ly-a forest toward 3C 273 from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph at ~7 km/s resolution, along with re-processed data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. The high UV flux of 3C 273 allows us to probe the weak, low z absorbers. The main sample consists of 21 HI absorbers that we could discriminate to a sensitivity of log NHI~ 12.5. The redshift density for absorbers with 13.1<log NHI<14.0 is ~1.5 sigma below the mean for other lines of sight; for log NHI >= 12.5, it is consistent with numerical model predictions. The Doppler parameter distribution is consistent with other low z samples. We find no evidence for a break in the column density power-law distribution to log NHI=12.3. A broad Ly-a absorber (BLA) is within Delta v =< 50 km/s and 1.3 local frame Mpc of two ~0.5L* galaxies, with an OVI absorber ~700 km/s away, similarly close to three galaxies and indicating overdense environments. We detect clustering on the Delta v<1000 km/s scale at 3.4 sigma significance for log NHI >= 12.6, consistent with the level predicted from hydrodynamical simulations, and indication for a Ly-a forest void at 0.09<z<0.12. We find at least two components for the z=0.0053 Virgo absorber, but the total NHI column is not significantly changed.

30 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS, in press

References in corpus (20)

• A High-Resolution Survey of Low-Redshift QSO Absorption Lines: Statistics and Physical Conditions of O VI Absorbers
• The Low-z Intergalactic Medium. III. HI and Metal Absorbers at z<0.4
• Quasars Probing Quasars II: The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars
• Physical Properties, Baryon Content, and Evolution of the LyαForest: New Insights from High Resolution Observations at z < 0.4
• The Nature and Origin of Low-Redshift O VI Absorbers
• The Relationship Between Intergalactic HI/OVI and Nearby (z<0.017) Galaxies
• CalFUSE v3: A Data-Reduction Pipeline for the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer
• A STIS Survey for OVI Absorption Systems at 0.12 < z < 0.5 II.: Physical Conditions of the Ionised Gas
• Detection of the Transverse Proximity Effect: Radiative Feedback from Bright QSOs
• Characterizing the Low-Redshift Intergalactic Medium towards PKS1302-102
• The Evolution of Lyman alpha Absorbers in the Redshift Range 0.5<z<1.9
• Probing the IGM/Galaxy Connection Toward PKS0405-123 III: The Galaxy Survey and Correlations with OVI Absorbers
• Continuous statistics of the Lyman-alpha forest at 0 < z < 1.6: the mean flux, flux distribution, and autocorrelation from HST FOS spectra
• The O VI Absorbers Toward PG0953+415: High Metallicity, Cosmic-Web Gas Far From Luminous Galaxies
• Cross correlation of Lyman-alpha absorbers with gas-rich galaxies
• Detection of Ne VIII in an Intervening Multi-Phase Absorption System Towards 3C 263
• The Metallicity of Intergalactic Gas in Cosmic Voids
• Spectroscopic Analysis of H I Absorption Line Systems in 40 HIRES Quasars
• Searching for X-ray luminous 'normal' galaxies in 2dfGRS
• Correlations between O VI Absorbers and Galaxies at Low Redshift

Cited by in corpus (15)

• The intergalactic medium over the last 10 billion years I: Lyman alpha absorption and physical conditions
• A Hubble Space Telescope Study of Lyman Limit Systems: Census and Evolution
• Absorption signatures of warm-hot gas at low redshift: OVI
• On the connection between the intergalactic medium and galaxies: The HI-galaxy cross-correlation at z < 1
• Absorption signatures of warm-hot gas at low redshift: Broad HI Lyman-Alpha Absorbers
• The evolution of HI and CIV quasar absorption line systems at 1.9 < z < 3.2
• Warm Gas in the Virgo Cluster: I. Distribution of Lya Absorbers
• Inferring high redshift large-scale structure dynamics from the Lyman-alpha forest
• Hot WHIM counterparts of FUV OVI absorbers: Evidence in the line-of-sight towards quasar 3C 273
• The Surprisingly Constant Strength of O VI Absorbers over Cosmic Time
• The effect of stellar and AGN feedback on the low redshift Lyman-$\alpha$ forest in the Sherwood simulation suite
• The evolution of the low-density HI intergalactic medium from z=3.6 to 0: Data, transmitted flux and HI column density
• Simulated evolution of the dark matter large-scale structure
• Hot gas in galaxy halos traced by coronal broad Lyman alpha absorbers
• A High Signal-to-Noise HST Spectrum Toward J1009+0713: Precise Absorption Measurements in the CGM of Two Galaxies