Browsing by Author "Ford, Amanda Brady"
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Item The COS-Halos survey: Rationale, design and a census of circumgalactic neutral hydrogen(IOP Publishing, 2013) Tumlinson, Jason; Thom, Christopher; Dave, Romeel; Werk, Jessica K.; Prochaska, J. Xavier; Tripp, Todd M.; Katz, Neal; Oppenheimer, Benjamin D.; Meiring, Joseph D.; Ford, Amanda Brady; O'Meara, John M.; Peeples, Molly S.; Sembach, Kenneth R.; Weinberg, David H.We present the design and methods of the COS-Halos survey, a systematic investigation of the gaseous halos of 44 z = 0.15–0.35 galaxies using background QSOs observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. This survey has yielded 39 spectra of zem 0.5 QSOs with S/N ∼10–15 per resolution element. The QSO sightlines pass within 150 physical kpc of the galaxies, which span early and late types over stellar mass logM∗/M = 9.5–11.5. We find that the circumgalactic medium exhibits strong Hi, averaging 1Å in Lyα equivalent width out to 150 kpc, with 100% covering fraction for star-forming galaxies and 75% covering for passive galaxies. We find good agreement in column densities between this survey and previous studies over similar range of impact parameter. There is weak evidence for a difference between early- and late-type galaxies in the strength and distribution of Hi. Kinematics indicate that the detected material is bound to the host galaxy, such that 90% of the detected column density is confined within ±200 km s−1 of the galaxies. This material generally exists well below the halo virial temperatures at T 105 K. We evaluate a number of possible origin scenarios for the detected material, and in the end favor a simple model in which the bulk of the detected Hi arises in a bound, cool, low-density photoionized diffuse medium that is generic to all L ∗ galaxies and may harbor a total gaseous mass comparable to galactic stellar masses.Item A deep search for faint galaxies associated with very low-redshift C iv absorbers: A case with cold-accretion characteristics(The American Astronomical Society, 2013) Burchett, Joseph N.; Tripp, Todd M.; Werk, Jessica K.; Howk, J. Christopher; Dave, Romeel; Prochaska, J. Xavier; Ford, Amanda BradyStudies of QSO absorber–galaxy connections are often hindered by inadequate information on whether faint/dwarf galaxies are located near the QSO sight lines. To investigate the contribution of faint galaxies to QSO absorber populations, we are conducting a deep galaxy redshift survey near low-z Civ absorbers. Here we report a blindly detected C iv absorption system (zabs = 0.00348) in the spectrum of PG1148+549 that appears to be associated either with an edge-on dwarf galaxy with an obvious disk (UGC 6894, zgal = 0.00283) at an impact parameter of ρ = 190 kpc or with a very faint dwarf irregular galaxy at ρ = 23 kpc, which is closer to the sightline but has a larger redshift difference (zgal = 0.00107, i.e., δv = 724 km s−1). We consider various gas/galaxy associations, including infall and outflows. Based on current theoretical models, we conclude that the absorber is most likely tracing (1) the remnants of an outflow from a previous epoch, a so-called “ancient outflow”, or (2) intergalactic gas accreting onto UGC 6894, “cold mode” accretion. The latter scenario is supported by Hi synthesis imaging data that shows the rotation curve of the disk being codirectional with the velocity offset between UGC 6894 and the absorber, which is located almost directly along the major axis of the edge-on disk.