Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs
Abstract
Using quasar pairs to measure smoothness Space between galaxies is filled with a tenuous gas known as the intergalactic medium (IGM). The presence of hydrogen atoms in the IGM at different redshifts imprints a series of absorption lines in the spectra of background quasars. Rorai et al. studied pairs of closely spaced quasars and quantified how similar their absorption lines are as a function of transverse separation and redshift. They thus assessed the smoothness of the IGM on relatively small scales—several times the size of a galaxy. The results constrain interactions between galaxies and the IGM, such as heating by ultraviolet photons. Science , this issue p. 418
- Authors:
-
- Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK., Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl, Germany.
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl, Germany., Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl, Germany.
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- University of California Observatories–Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1441051
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1393226
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; AST-1010004
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Science
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Science Journal Volume: 356 Journal Issue: 6336; Journal ID: ISSN 0036-8075
- Publisher:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Citation Formats
Rorai, Alberto, Hennawi, Joseph F., Oñorbe, Jose, White, Martin, Prochaska, J. Xavier, Kulkarni, Girish, Walther, Michael, Lukić, Zarija, and Lee, Khee-Gan. Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1126/science.aaf9346.
Rorai, Alberto, Hennawi, Joseph F., Oñorbe, Jose, White, Martin, Prochaska, J. Xavier, Kulkarni, Girish, Walther, Michael, Lukić, Zarija, & Lee, Khee-Gan. Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf9346
Rorai, Alberto, Hennawi, Joseph F., Oñorbe, Jose, White, Martin, Prochaska, J. Xavier, Kulkarni, Girish, Walther, Michael, Lukić, Zarija, and Lee, Khee-Gan. Fri .
"Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf9346.
@article{osti_1441051,
title = {Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs},
author = {Rorai, Alberto and Hennawi, Joseph F. and Oñorbe, Jose and White, Martin and Prochaska, J. Xavier and Kulkarni, Girish and Walther, Michael and Lukić, Zarija and Lee, Khee-Gan},
abstractNote = {Using quasar pairs to measure smoothness Space between galaxies is filled with a tenuous gas known as the intergalactic medium (IGM). The presence of hydrogen atoms in the IGM at different redshifts imprints a series of absorption lines in the spectra of background quasars. Rorai et al. studied pairs of closely spaced quasars and quantified how similar their absorption lines are as a function of transverse separation and redshift. They thus assessed the smoothness of the IGM on relatively small scales—several times the size of a galaxy. The results constrain interactions between galaxies and the IGM, such as heating by ultraviolet photons. Science , this issue p. 418},
doi = {10.1126/science.aaf9346},
journal = {Science},
number = 6336,
volume = 356,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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