4.7 Article

High-resolution STIS/Hubble Space Telescope and HIRES/Keck spectra of three weak MgII absorbers toward PG 1634+706

Journal

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 589, Issue 1, Pages 111-125

Publisher

IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/374353

Keywords

galaxies : evolution; galaxies : halos; quasars : absorption lines

Ask authors/readers for more resources

High-resolution optical (HIRES/Keck) and UV (STIS/Hubble Space Telescope) spectra, covering a large range of chemical transitions, are analyzed for three single-cloud weak Mg II absorption systems along the line of sight toward the quasar PG 1634+706. Weak Mg II absorption lines in quasar spectra trace metal-enriched environments that are rarely closely associated with the most luminous galaxies (> 0.05L*). The two weak Mg II systems at z = 0.81 and 0.90 are constrained to have at least solar metallicity, while the metallicity of the z = 0.65 system is not as well constrained, but is consistent with more than 1/10 solar. These weak Mg II clouds are likely to be local pockets of high metallicity in a lower metallicity environment. All three systems have two phases of gas, a higher density region that produces narrower absorption lines for low-ionization transitions, such as Mg II, and a lower density region that produces broader absorption lines for high-ionization transitions, such as C IV. The C IV profile for one system (at z = 0.81) can be fitted with a single broad component (b similar to 10 km s(-1)), but those for the other two systems require one or two additional offset high-ionization clouds. Two possible physical pictures for the phase structure are discussed: one with a low-ionization, denser phase embedded in a lower density surrounding medium and the other with the denser clumps surrounding more highly ionized gas.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available