TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zhang, Heshou
A1  - Yan, Huirong
A1  - Richter, Philipp
T1  - The influence of atomic alignment on absorption and emission spectroscopy
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - Spectroscopic observations play essential roles in astrophysics. They are crucial for determining physical parameters in our Universe, providing information about the chemistry of various astronomical environments. The proper execution of the spectroscopic analysis requires accounting for all the physical effects that are compatible to the signal-to-noise ratio. We find in this paper the influence on spectroscopy from the atomic/ground state alignment owing to anisotropic radiation and modulated by interstellar magnetic field, has significant impact on the study of interstellar gas. In different observational scenarios, we comprehensively demonstrate how atomic alignment influences the spectral analysis and provide the expressions for correcting the effect. The variations are even more pronounced for multiplets and line ratios. We show the variation of the deduced physical parameters caused by the atomic alignment effect, including alpha-to-iron ratio ([X/Fe]) and ionization fraction. Synthetic observations are performed to illustrate the visibility of such effect with current facilities. A study of Photodissociation regions in rho Ophiuchi cloud is presented to demonstrate how to account for atomic alignment in practice. Our work has shown that due to its potential impact, atomic alignment has to be included in an accurate spectroscopic analysis of the interstellar gas with current observational capability.
KW  - magnetic fields
KW  - submillimetre: ISM
KW  - ultraviolet: ISM
KW  - ISM: abundances
KW  - ISM: lines and bands
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1594
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
VL  - 479
IS  - 3
SP  - 3923
EP  - 3935
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bouma, Sietske Jeltje Deirdre
A1  - Richter, Philipp
A1  - Fechner, Cora
T1  - A population of high-velocity absorption-line systems residing in the Local Group
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Aims. We investigated the ionisation conditions and distances of Galactic high-velocity clouds (HVCs) in the Galactic halo and beyond in the direction of the Local Group (LG) barycentre and anti-barycentre, by studying spectral data of 29 extragalactic background sources obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectropgraph (COS) installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Methods. We model column-densities of low, intermediate, and high ions such as Si ii, C ii, Si iii, Si vi, and C iv, and use these data to construct a set of Cloudy ionisation models. Results. In total, we found 69 high-velocity absorption components along the 29 lines of sight. The components in the direction of the LG barycentre span the entire range of studied velocities, 100 less than or similar to vertical bar nu(LSR)vertical bar less than or similar to 400 km s(-1), while those in the anti-barycentre sample have velocities up to about 300 km s(-1). For 49 components, we infer the gas densities. In the direction of the LG barycentre, the gas densities exhibit a wide range from log nH = -3.96 to -2.55, while in the anti-barycentre direction the densities are systematically higher, log nH > -3.25. The barycentre absorbers can be split into two groups based on their density: a high-density group with log nH > -3.54, which can be affected by the Milky Way radiation field, and a low-density group (log nH <= -3.54). The latter has very low thermal pressures of P/k < 7.3 Kcm(-3). Conclusions. Our study shows that part of the absorbers in the LG barycentre direction trace gas at very low gas densities and thermal pressures. These properties indicate that the absorbers are located beyond the virial radius of the Milky Way. Our study also confirms results from earlier, single-sightline studies, suggesting the presence of a metal-enriched intragroup medium filling the LG near its barycentre.
KW  - Galaxy: halo
KW  - Galaxy: structure
KW  - Galaxy: evolution
KW  - ISM: kinematics and dynamics
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
KW  - ultraviolet: ISM
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935078
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 627
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Finley, Hayley
A1  - Bouche, Nicolas
A1  - Contini, Thierry
A1  - Epinat, Benoit
A1  - Bacon, Roland
A1  - Brinchmann, Jarle
A1  - Cantalupo, Sebastiano
A1  - Erroz-Ferrer, Santiago
A1  - Marino, Aella Anna
A1  - Maseda, Michael
A1  - Richard, Johan
A1  - Schroetter, Ilane
A1  - Verhamme, Anne
A1  - Weilbacher, Peter Michael
A1  - Wendt, Martin
A1  - Wisotzki, Lutz
T1  - Galactic winds with MUSE: A direct detection of Fe II* emission from a z=1.29 galaxy
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Emission signatures from galactic winds provide an opportunity to directly map the outflowing gas, but this is traditionally challenging because of the low surface brightness. Using very deep observations (27 h) of the Hubble Deep Field South with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument, we identify signatures of an outflow in both emission and absorption from a spatially resolved galaxy at z = 1.29 with a stellar mass M-star = 8 x 10(9) M-circle dot, star formation rate SFR = 77(-25)(+40) M-circle dot yr(-1), and star formation rate surface brightness Sigma(SFR) = 1.6 M-circle dot kpc(-2) within the [OII] lambda lambda 3727, 3729 half-light radius R-1/2, ([OII]) = 2.76 +/- 0.17 kpc. From a component of the strong resonant Mg II and Fe II absorptions at -350 km s(-1), we infer a mass outflow rate that is comparable to the star formation rate. We detect non-resonant Fe II* emission, at lambda 2365, lambda 2396, lambda 2612, and lambda 2626, at 1.2-2.4-1.5-2.7 x 10-(18) erg s(-1) cm(-2) respectively. The flux ratios are consistent with the expectations for optically thick gas. By combining the four non-resonant Fe II* emission lines, we spatially map the Fe II* emission from an individual galaxy for the first time. The Fe II* emission has an elliptical morphology that is roughly aligned with the galaxy minor kinematic axis, and its integrated half-light radius, R-1/2, (Fe II*) = 4.1 +/- 0.4 kpc, is 70% larger than the stellar continuum (R-1/2,(star) similar or equal to 2.34 +/- 0.17) or the [O II] nebular line. Moreover, the Fe II* emission shows a blue wing extending up to -400 km s(-1), which is more pronounced along the galaxy minor kinematic axis and reveals a C-shaped pattern in a p - v diagram along that axis. These features are consistent with a bi-conical outflow.
KW  - galaxies: evolution
KW  - galaxies: formation
KW  - galaxies: starburst
KW  - galaxies: ISM
KW  - ISM: jets and outflows
KW  - ultraviolet: ISM
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201730428
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 605
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fox, Andrew J.
A1  - Richter, Philipp
A1  - Wakker, Bart P.
A1  - Lehner, Nicolas
A1  - Howk, J. Christopher
A1  - Ben Bekhti, Nadya
A1  - Bland-Hawthorn, Joss
A1  - Lucas, Stephen
T1  - The COS/UVES absorption survey of the magellanic stream - I. One-tenth solar abundances along the body of the stream
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - The Magellanic Stream (MS) is a massive and extended tail of multi-phase gas stripped out of the Magellanic Clouds and interacting with the Galactic halo. In this first paper of an ongoing program to study the Stream in absorption, we present a chemical abundance analysis based on HST/COS and VLT/UVES spectra of four active galactic nuclei (RBS 144, NGC 7714, PHL 2525, and HE 0056-3622) lying behind the MS. Two of these sightlines yield good MS metallicity measurements: toward RBS 144 we measure a low MS metallicity of [S/H] = [S II/H I] = -1.13 +/- 0.16 while toward NGC 7714 we measure [O/H] = [O I/H I] = -1.24 +/- 0.20. Taken together with the published MS metallicity toward NGC 7469, these measurements indicate a uniform abundance of approximate to 0.1 solar along the main body of the Stream. This provides strong support to a scenario in which most of the Stream was tidally stripped from the SMC approximate to 1.5-2.5 Gyr ago (a time at which the SMC had a metallicity of approximate to 0.1 solar), as predicted by several N-body simulations. However, in Paper II of this series, we report a much higher metallicity (S/H = 0.5 solar) in the inner Stream toward Fairall 9, a direction sampling a filament of the MS that Nidever et al. claim can be traced kinematically to the Large Magellanic Cloud, not the Small Magellanic Cloud. This shows that the bifurcation of the Stream is evident in its metal enrichment, as well as its spatial extent and kinematics. Finally we measure a similar low metallicity [O/H] = [O I/H I] = -1.03 +/- 0.18 in the v(LSR) = 150 km s(-1) cloud toward HE 0056-3622, which belongs to a population of anomalous velocity clouds near the south Galactic pole. This suggests these clouds are associated with the Stream or more distant structures (possibly the Sculptor Group, which lies in this direction at the same velocity), rather than tracing foreground Galactic material.
KW  - Galaxy: evolution
KW  - Galaxy: halo
KW  - ISM: abundances
KW  - Magellanic Clouds
KW  - ultraviolet: ISM
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/772/2/110
SN  - 0004-637X
VL  - 772
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Richter, Philipp
A1  - Nuza, S. E.
A1  - Fox, Andrew J.
A1  - Wakker, Bart P.
A1  - Lehner, N.
A1  - Ben Bekhti, Nadya
A1  - Fechner, Cora
A1  - Wendt, Martin
A1  - Howk, J. Christopher
A1  - Muzahid, S.
A1  - Ganguly, R.
A1  - Charlton, Jane C.
T1  - An HST/COS legacy survey of high-velocity ultraviolet absorption in the
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Context. The Milky Way is surrounded by large amounts of diffuse gaseous matter that connects the stellar body of our Galaxy with its large-scale Local Group (LG) environment. Aims. To characterize the absorption properties of this circumgalactic medium (CGM) and its relation to the LG we present the so-far largest survey of metal absorption in Galactic high-velocity clouds (HVCs) using archival ultraviolet (UV) spectra of extragalactic background sources. The UV data are obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and are supplemented by 21 cm radio observations of neutral hydrogen. Methods. Along 270 sightlines we measure metal absorption in the lines of Si II, Si III, C II, and C IV and associated H I 21 cm emission in HVCs in the velocity range vertical bar v(LSR)vertical bar = 100-500 km s(-1). With this unprecedented large HVC sample we were able to improve the statistics on HVC covering fractions, ionization conditions, small-scale structure, CGM mass, and inflow rate. For the first time, we determine robustly the angular two point correlation function of the high-velocity absorbers, systematically analyze antipodal sightlines on the celestial sphere, and compare the HVC absorption characteristics with that of damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) and constrained cosmological simulations of the LG (CLUES project).
KW  - Galaxy: halo
KW  - Galaxy: structure
KW  - Galaxy: evolution
KW  - ISM: kinematics and dynamics
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
KW  - ultraviolet: ISM
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201630081
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 607
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  -