Hydrogen and metal absorption lines in PKS 0405 - 123 from the halos of low redshift galaxies

Hyron Spinrad, Alexei V. Filippenko, H. K.C. Yee, Erica Ellingson, J. C. Blades, John N. Bahcall, Buell T. Jannuzi, Jill Bechtold, Adam Dobrzycki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet spectra and ground-based optical spectra of the bright quasar PKS 0405 - 123 are used to identify two absorption-line systems probably produced by the halos of foreground galaxies. The quasar lies in a rich galaxy field. Loose groups of galaxies are present in the field at 〈z1〉 =0.1669 and 〈z2〉 =0.3519. Ly α, C IV λ1549, and probably Mg II λ2798 resonance lines are detected in an absorption system at z=0.1670. An absorption system consisting of only Ly α is observed at z=0.3516. We cannot be completely certain which foreground galaxy is responsible for the metal line absorption system at z1. A likely candidate is a large, luminous, early-type spiral 40″ (projected distance 78h-1 kpc) to the east of the quasar. However, the origin of the z1 system could possibly be a small, undetected galaxy more precisely aligned along our line of sight to PKS 0405 - 123, or a very faint galaxy whose redshift has not yet been measured.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume106
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1993

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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