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Title: CHANDRA VIEW OF THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM TOWARD 1ES 1553+113: ABSORPTION-LINE DETECTIONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS. I

Abstract

We present the first results from our pilot 500 ks Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating Large Program observation of the soft X-ray brightest source in the z {approx}> 0.4 sky, the blazar 1ES 1553+113, aimed to secure the first uncontroversial detections of the missing baryons in the X-rays. We identify a total of 11 possible absorption lines, with single-line statistical significances between 2.2{sigma} and 4.1{sigma}. Six of these lines are detected at high single-line statistical significance (3.6 {<=} {sigma} {<=} 4.1), while the remaining five are regarded as marginal detections in association with either other X-ray lines detected at higher significance and/or far-ultraviolet (FUV) signposts. Three of these lines are consistent with metal absorption at z {approx_equal} 0, and we identify them with Galactic O I and C II. The remaining eight lines may be imprinted by intervening absorbers and are all consistent with being high-ionization counterparts of FUV H I and/or O VI intergalactic medium signposts. In particular, five of these eight possible intervening absorption lines (single-line statistical significances of 4.1{sigma}, 4.1{sigma}, 3.9{sigma}, 3.8{sigma}, and 2.7{sigma}), are identified as C V and C VI K{alpha} absorbers belonging to three WHIM systems at z{sub X} = 0.312, z{sub X} =more » 0.237, and (z{sub X} ) = 0.133, which also produce broad H I (and O VI for the z{sub X} = 0.312 system) absorption in the FUV. For two of these systems (z{sub X} = 0.312 and 0.237), the Chandra X-ray data led the a posteriori discovery of physically consistent broad H I associations in the FUV (for the third system the opposite applies), so confirming the power of the X-ray-FUV synergy for WHIM studies. The true statistical significances of these three X-ray absorption systems, after properly accounting for the number of redshift trials, are 5.8{sigma} (z{sub X} = 0.312; 6.3{sigma} if the low-significance O V and C V K{beta} associations are considered), 3.9{sigma} (z{sub X} = 0.237), and 3.8{sigma} ((z{sub X} ) = 0.133), respectively.« less

Authors:
;  [1];  [2];  [3]; ;  [4]; ;  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13];  [14]
  1. Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma-INAF, Via di Frascati 33, I-00040 Monte Porzio Catone, RM (Italy)
  2. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS-04, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  3. Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City Mexico (Mexico)
  4. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)
  5. CASA, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, 389-UCB, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)
  6. Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), E-39005 Santander (Spain)
  7. Dipartimento di Astronomia dell'Universita di Trieste, Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste (Italy)
  8. Dipartimento di Fisica ''E. Amaldi'', Universita degli Studi ''Roma Tre'', via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146 Roma (Italy)
  9. Princeton University Observatory, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
  10. Astronomy Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
  11. SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Sorbonnelaan 2, 3584 CA, Utrecht (Netherlands)
  12. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory and Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
  13. INAF-IAPS, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Roma (Italy)
  14. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22126591
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 769; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ABSORPTION; ABSORPTION SPECTRA; BARYONS; DETECTION; FAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION; INTERGALACTIC SPACE; METALS; OPACITY; POWER TRANSMISSION; RED SHIFT; SOFT X RADIATION

Citation Formats

Nicastro, F., Zappacosta, L., Elvis, M., Krongold, Y., Mathur, S., Gupta, A., Danforth, C., Shull, J. M., Barcons, X., Borgani, S., Branchini, E., Cen, R., Dave, R., Kaastra, J., Paerels, F., Piro, L., and Takei, Y. CHANDRA VIEW OF THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM TOWARD 1ES 1553+113: ABSORPTION-LINE DETECTIONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS. I. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/90.
Nicastro, F., Zappacosta, L., Elvis, M., Krongold, Y., Mathur, S., Gupta, A., Danforth, C., Shull, J. M., Barcons, X., Borgani, S., Branchini, E., Cen, R., Dave, R., Kaastra, J., Paerels, F., Piro, L., & Takei, Y. CHANDRA VIEW OF THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM TOWARD 1ES 1553+113: ABSORPTION-LINE DETECTIONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS. I. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/90
Nicastro, F., Zappacosta, L., Elvis, M., Krongold, Y., Mathur, S., Gupta, A., Danforth, C., Shull, J. M., Barcons, X., Borgani, S., Branchini, E., Cen, R., Dave, R., Kaastra, J., Paerels, F., Piro, L., and Takei, Y. 2013. "CHANDRA VIEW OF THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM TOWARD 1ES 1553+113: ABSORPTION-LINE DETECTIONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS. I". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/90.
@article{osti_22126591,
title = {CHANDRA VIEW OF THE WARM-HOT INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM TOWARD 1ES 1553+113: ABSORPTION-LINE DETECTIONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS. I},
author = {Nicastro, F. and Zappacosta, L. and Elvis, M. and Krongold, Y. and Mathur, S. and Gupta, A. and Danforth, C. and Shull, J. M. and Barcons, X. and Borgani, S. and Branchini, E. and Cen, R. and Dave, R. and Kaastra, J. and Paerels, F. and Piro, L. and Takei, Y.},
abstractNote = {We present the first results from our pilot 500 ks Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating Large Program observation of the soft X-ray brightest source in the z {approx}> 0.4 sky, the blazar 1ES 1553+113, aimed to secure the first uncontroversial detections of the missing baryons in the X-rays. We identify a total of 11 possible absorption lines, with single-line statistical significances between 2.2{sigma} and 4.1{sigma}. Six of these lines are detected at high single-line statistical significance (3.6 {<=} {sigma} {<=} 4.1), while the remaining five are regarded as marginal detections in association with either other X-ray lines detected at higher significance and/or far-ultraviolet (FUV) signposts. Three of these lines are consistent with metal absorption at z {approx_equal} 0, and we identify them with Galactic O I and C II. The remaining eight lines may be imprinted by intervening absorbers and are all consistent with being high-ionization counterparts of FUV H I and/or O VI intergalactic medium signposts. In particular, five of these eight possible intervening absorption lines (single-line statistical significances of 4.1{sigma}, 4.1{sigma}, 3.9{sigma}, 3.8{sigma}, and 2.7{sigma}), are identified as C V and C VI K{alpha} absorbers belonging to three WHIM systems at z{sub X} = 0.312, z{sub X} = 0.237, and (z{sub X} ) = 0.133, which also produce broad H I (and O VI for the z{sub X} = 0.312 system) absorption in the FUV. For two of these systems (z{sub X} = 0.312 and 0.237), the Chandra X-ray data led the a posteriori discovery of physically consistent broad H I associations in the FUV (for the third system the opposite applies), so confirming the power of the X-ray-FUV synergy for WHIM studies. The true statistical significances of these three X-ray absorption systems, after properly accounting for the number of redshift trials, are 5.8{sigma} (z{sub X} = 0.312; 6.3{sigma} if the low-significance O V and C V K{beta} associations are considered), 3.9{sigma} (z{sub X} = 0.237), and 3.8{sigma} ((z{sub X} ) = 0.133), respectively.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/769/2/90},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22126591}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 769,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}