| 1. |
- Fynbo, J. P. U., et al.
(författare)
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Galaxy counterparts of metal-rich damped Ly alpha absorbers - I. The case of the z=2.35 DLA towards Q2222-0946
- 2010
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 408:4, s. 2128-2136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have initiated a survey using the newly commissioned X-shooter spectrograph to target candidate relatively metal-rich damped Ly alpha absorbers (DLAs). Our rationale is that high-metallicity DLAs due to the luminosity-metallicity relation likely will have the most luminous galaxy counterparts. In addition, the spectral coverage of X-shooter allows us to search for not only Ly alpha emission, but also rest-frame optical emission lines. We have chosen DLAs where the strongest rest-frame optical lines ([O II], [O III], H beta and H alpha) fall in the near-infrared atmospheric transmission bands. In this first paper resulting from the survey, we report on the discovery of the galaxy counterpart of the z(abs) = 2.354 DLA towards the z = 2.926 quasar Q2222-0946. This DLA is amongst the most metal-rich z > 2 DLAs studied so far at comparable redshifts and there is evidence for substantial depletion of refractory elements on to dust grains. We measure metallicities from Zn II, Si II, Ni II, Mn II and Fe II of -0.46 +/- 0.07, -0.51 +/- 0.06, -0.85 +/- 0.06, -1.23 +/- 0.06 and -0.99 +/- 0.06, respectively. The galaxy is detected in the Ly alpha, [O III] lambda lambda 4959, 5007 and H alpha emission lines at an impact parameter of about 0.8 arcsec (6 kpc at z(abs) = 2.354). Based on the H alpha line, we infer a star formation rate of 10M(circle dot) yr(-1), which is a lower limit due to the possibility of slit loss. Compared to the recently determined H alpha luminosity function for z = 2.2 galaxies, the DLA-galaxy counterpart has a luminosity of L similar to 0.1L*(H alpha). The emission-line ratios are 4.0 (Ly alpha/H alpha) and 1.2 ([O III]/H alpha). In particular, the Ly alpha line shows clear evidence for resonant scattering effects, namely an asymmetric, redshifted (relative to the systemic redshift) component and a much weaker blueshifted component. The fact that the blueshifted component is relatively weak indicates the presence of a galactic wind. The properties of the galaxy counterpart of this DLA are consistent with the prediction that metal-rich DLAs are associated with the most luminous of the DLA-galaxy counterparts.
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| 2. |
- Zerbi, F. M., et al.
(författare)
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HIRES : The High Resolution Spectrograph for E-ELT
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V. - : SPIE. - 9780819496157
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current instrumentation plan for the E-ELT foresees a High Resolution Spectrograph conventionally indicated as HIRES. Shaped on the study of extra-solar planet atmospheres, Pop-III stars and fundamental physical constants, HIRES is intended to embed observing modes at high-resolution (up to R=150000) and large spectral range (from the blue limit to the K band) useful for a large suite of science cases that can exclusively be tackled by the E-ELT. We present in this paper the solution for HIRES envisaged by the "HIRES initiative", the international collaboration established in 2013 to pursue a HIRES on E-ELT.
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| 3. |
- Fynbo, J. P. U., et al.
(författare)
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Galaxy counterparts of metal-rich damped Ly alpha absorbers - II. A solar-metallicity and dusty DLA at z(abs)=2.58
- 2011
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 413:4, s. 2481-2488
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This is the second paper of a series reporting on the results from a survey conducted with the ESO VLT/X-shooter spectrograph. We target high-metallicity damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) with the aim of investigating the relation between galaxies detected in emission and those detected in absorption. Here, we report on the discovery of the galaxy counterpart of the z(abs) = 2.58 DLA on the line-of-sight to the z = 3.07 quasar SDSS J 091826.16+163609.0 (hereafter Q 0918+1636). The galaxy counterpart of the DLA is detected in the [O iii] lambda 5007 and [O ii] lambda lambda 3726, 3729 emission lines redshifted into the NIR at an impact parameter of 2.0 arcsec (16 kpc at z = 2.58). Ly alpha emission is not detected down to a 3 Sigma detection limit of 5 x 10-18 erg s-1 cm-2, which, compared to the strength of the oxygen lines, implies that Ly alpha emission from this galaxy is suppressed by more than an order of magnitude. The DLA has one of the highest metallicities measured so far at comparable redshifts. We find evidence for substantial depletion of refractory elements on to dust grains. Fitting the main metal line component of the DLA, which is located at z(abs) = 2.5832, we measure the metal abundances from Zn ii, S ii, Si ii, Cr ii, Mn ii, Fe ii and Ni ii to be -0.12 +/- 0.05, -0.26 +/- 0.05, -0.46 +/- 0.05, -0.88 +/- 0.05, -0.92 +/- 0.05, -1.03 +/- 0.05 and -0.78 +/- 0.05, respectively. In addition, we detect absorption in the Lyman and Werner bands of molecular hydrogen (H(2)), which represents the first detection of H(2) molecules with X-shooter. The background quasar Q 0918+1636 is amongst the reddest QSOs at redshifts 3.02 < z < 3.12 from the SDSS catalogue. Its UV to NIR spectrum is well fitted by a composite QSO spectrum reddened by SMC-/LMC-like extinction curves at z(abs) = 2.58 with a significant amount of extinction given by A(V) approximate to 0.2 mag. This supports previous claims that there may be more metal-rich DLAs missing from current samples due to dust reddening of the background QSOs. The fact that there is evidence for dust both in the central emitting regions of the galaxy (as evidenced by the lack of Ly alpha emission) and at an impact parameter of 16 kpc (as probed by the DLA) suggests that dust is widespread in this system.
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| 4. |
- Fynbo, J. P. U., et al.
(författare)
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Galaxy counterparts of metal-rich damped Lyman-alpha absorbers - II. A solar-metallicity and dusty DLA at z_abs=2.58
- 2010
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- [Abridged]. Here, we report on the discovery of the galaxy counterpart of the z_abs=2.58 DLA on the line-of-sight to the z=3.07 quasar SDSS J091826.16+163609.0. The galaxy counterpart of the DLA is detected in the OIII 5007 and OII 3726,3729 emission lines redshifted into the NIR at an impact parameter of 16 kpc. Ly-alpha emission is not detected. The upper limit implies that Ly-alpha emission from this galaxy is suppressed by more than an order of magnitude. The DLA is amongst the most metal-rich DLAs studied so far at comparable redshifts. We find evidence for substantial depletion of refractory elements onto dust grains. Fitting the main metal line component of the DLA, which is located at z_abs=2.5832 and accounts for at least 85% of the total column density of low-ionisation species, we measure metal abundances from ZnII, SII, SiII, CrII, MnII, FeII and NiII of -0.12, -0.26, -0.46, -0.88, -0.92, -1.03 and -0.78, respectively. In addition, we detect absorption in the Lyman and Werner bands of hydrogen, which represents the first detection of H_2 molecules with X-shooter. The background quasar Q0918+1636 is amongst the reddest QSOs at redshifts 3.02<3.12 from the SDSS catalogue. Its UV to NIR spectrum is well fitted by a composite QSO spectrum reddened by SMC/LMC-like extinction curves at z_abs=2.58 with a significant amount of extinction given by A_V = 0.2 mag. This supports previous claims that there may be more metal-rich DLAs missing from current samples due to dust reddening of the background QSOs. The fact that there is evidence for dust both in the central emitting regions of the galaxy (as evidenced by the lack of Ly-alpha emission) and at an impact parameter of 16 kpc (as probed by the DLA) suggests that dust is widespread in this system.
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| 5. |
- Fynbo, J. P. U., et al.
(författare)
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On the two high-metallicity DLAs at z=2.412 and 2.583 towards Q 0918+1636
- 2013
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 436:1, s. 361-370
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The quasar Q0918+1636 (z = 3.07) has two intervening high-metallicity Damped Lyman a Absorbers (DLAs) along the line of sight, at redshifts of z = 2.412 and 2.583. The z = 2.583 DLA is located at a large impact parameter of 16.2 kpc, and despite this large impact parameter it has a very high metallicity (consistent with solar), a substantial fraction of H-2 molecules and it is dusty as inferred from the reddened spectrum of the background QSO. The z = 2.412 DLA has a metallicity of [M/H] = -0.6 (based on Zn II and Si II). In this paper we present new observations of this interesting sightline consisting of deep multiband imaging and further VLT spectroscopy. By fitting stellar population synthesis models to the photometric Spectral Energy Distribution we constrain the physical properties of the z = 2.583 DLA galaxy, and we infer its morphology by fitting a Sersic model to its surface brightness profile. We find it to be a relatively massive (M-* approximate to 10(10) M-circle dot), strongly star-forming (SFR approximate to 30 M-circle dot yr(-1)), dusty (E(B - V) = 0.4) galaxy with a disc-like morphology. We detect strong emission lines from the z = 2.583 DLA ([O II] lambda 3727, [O III] lambda lambda 4960, 5007, H beta and H alpha, albeit at low signal-to-noise ratio except for the [O III] lambda 5007 line). The metallicity derived from the emission lines is consistent with the absorption metallicity (12 + log (O/H) = 8.8 +/- 0.2). We also detect [O III] lambda 5007 emission from the galaxy counterpart of the z = 2.412 DLA at a small impact parameter (<2 kpc). Overall our findings are consistent with the emerging picture that high-metallicity DLAs are associated with relatively luminous and massive galaxy counterparts, compared to typical DLAs.
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| 6. |
- Noterdaeme, P., et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of a compact gas-rich damped Lyman-alpha galaxy at z = 2.2 : evidence of a starburst driven outflow
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 540, s. A63-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the detection of Ly alpha, [OIII], and H alpha emission associated with an extremely strong damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system (N(HI) = 10(22.10) cm(-2)) at z = 2.207 towards the quasar SDSS J113520.39-001053.56. This is the largest Hi column density ever measured along a quasi-stellar object (QSO) line of sight, though typical of those often found in DLAs associated to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). This absorption system can also be classified as an ultra-strong Mg II system with W-r(lambda 2796) similar or equal to 3.6 angstrom. The mean metallicity of the gas ([Zn/H] = -1.1) and dust depletion factors ([Zn/Fe] = 0.72, [Zn/Cr] = 0.49) are consistent with (and only marginally larger than) the mean values found in the general QSO-DLA population. The [OIII]-H alpha emitting region has a very small impact parameter with respect to the QSO line of sight, b approximate to 0.1 '' (0.9 kpc proper distance), and is unresolved. From the H alpha line, we measure a significant star formation rate (SFR) approximate to 25 M-circle dot yr(-1) (uncorrected for dust). The shape of the Ly alpha line is double-peaked, which is the signature of a resonant scattering of Ly alpha photons, and the Ly alpha emission is spatially extended. More strikingly, the blue and red Ly alpha peaks arise from distinct regions extended over a few kpc on either side of the star-forming region. We propose that this is the consequence of a Ly alpha transfer in outflowing gas. The presence of starburst-driven outflows is also in agreement with the high SFR together with the small size and low mass of the galaxy (M-vir similar to 10(10) M-circle dot). By placing constraints on the stellar UV continuum luminosity of the galaxy, we estimate an age of at most a few 10(7) yr, again consistent with a recent starburst scenario. We interpret these data as the observation of a young, gas-rich, compact starburst galaxy, from which material is expelled through collimated winds powered by the vigorous star formation activity. We substantiate this picture by modelling the radiative transfer of Ly alpha photons in the galactic counterpart. Though our model (a spherical galaxy with bipolar outflowing jets) is a simplistic representation of the true gas distribution and velocity field, the agreement between the observed and simulated properties is particularly good (spectral shape and width of the Lyman-alpha emission, spatial configuration, escape fraction as well as absorption kinematics, HI column density, and dust reddening). Finally, we propose that selecting DLAs with very high Hi column densities may be an efficient way of detecting star-forming galaxies at small impact parameters from the background QSO lines of sight.
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| 7. |
- Nave, M. F. F., et al.
(författare)
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JET intrinsic rotation studies in plasmas with a high normalized beta and varying toroidal field ripple
- 2012
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Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 54:7, s. 074006-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the origin of rotation in ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heated plasmas is important for predictions for burning plasmas sustained by alpha particles, being characterized by a large population of fast ions and no external momentum input. The angular velocity of the plasma column has been measured in JET H-mode plasmas with pure ICRF heating both for the standard low toroidal magnetic ripple configuration, of about similar to 0.08% and, for increased ripple values up to 1.5% (Nave et al 2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 105005). These new JET rotation data were compared with the multi-machine scaling of Rice et al (2007 Nucl. Fusion 47 1618) for the Alfven-Mach number and with the scaling for the velocity change from L-mode into H-mode. The JET data do not fit well any of these scalings that were derived for plasmas that are co-rotating with respect to the plasma current. With the standard low ripple configuration, JET plasmas with large ICRF heating power and normalized beta, beta(N) approximate to 1.3, have a very small co-current rotation, with Alfven-Mach numbers significantly below those given by the rotation scaling of Rice et al (2007 Nucl. Fusion 47 1618). In some cases the plasmas are actually counter-rotating. No significant difference between the H-mode and L-mode rotation is observed. Typically the H-mode velocities near the edge are lower than those in L-modes. With ripple values larger than the standard JET value, between 1% and 1.5%, H-mode plasmas were obtained where both the edge and the core counter-rotated.
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