Abstract
For the purpose of studying the properties of heavy elements associated with the Lyman α forest, we observed the gravitational lens Q1422+2309. We used the HIRES instrument on the W.M. Keck telescope to obtain a high resolution, very high signal-to-noise spectrum of this z = 3.63 quasar; the spectrum covers wavelengths from below Lyman β up to the C IV emission line. Consistent with previous estimates, we find that a moderate fraction of the Ly α forest clouds have been enriched with heavy elements at a level significantly below solar abundance. However, unlike the fairly uniform distribution of Ly α forest lines, we show that the C IV absorption lines are clustered on large velocity scales.
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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Womble, D.S., Sargent, W.L.W., Lyons, R.S. (1996). Heavy Elements in the Lyman Alpha Forest: Abundances and Clustering at Z=3. In: Bremer, M.N., van der Werf, P.P., Röttgering, H.J.A., Carilli, C.L. (eds) Cold Gas at High Redshift. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 206. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1726-2_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1726-2_27
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