%0 Generic %1 williams2012warmhot %A Williams, Rik J. %A Mulchaey, John S. %A Kollmeier, Juna A. %D 2012 %K absorption whim x-ray %T Warm-hot gas in groups and galaxies toward H2356-309 %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.4080 %X We present a detailed analysis of the galaxy and group distributions around three reported X-ray absorption line systems in the spectrum of the quasar H2356-309. Previous studies associated these absorbers with known large-scale galaxy structures (i.e., walls and filaments) along the line of sight. Such absorption lines typically trace 10^5-7 K gas, and may be evidence of the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) thought to harbor the bulk of the low-redshift "missing baryons;" alternatively, they may be linked to individual galaxies or groups in the filaments. Here we combine existing galaxy survey data with new, highly complete multi-object Magellan spectroscopy to investigate the detailed galaxy distribution near each absorber. All of these three absorption systems nominally lie within the virial radii of nearby galaxies and/or groups, and could therefore arise in these virialized structures rather than (or in addition to) the WHIM. However, we find no additional galaxies near a fourth "void" absorber recently reported by Zappacosta et al., suggesting that this system may indeed trace gas unassociated with any individual halo. We therefore conclude that most X-ray absorbers are coincident with galaxy and/or group environments, though some could still trace the large-scale filamentary WHIM gas predicted by simulations.

@misc{williams2012warmhot, abstract = {We present a detailed analysis of the galaxy and group distributions around three reported X-ray absorption line systems in the spectrum of the quasar H2356-309. Previous studies associated these absorbers with known large-scale galaxy structures (i.e., walls and filaments) along the line of sight. Such absorption lines typically trace 10^{5-7} K gas, and may be evidence of the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) thought to harbor the bulk of the low-redshift "missing baryons;" alternatively, they may be linked to individual galaxies or groups in the filaments. Here we combine existing galaxy survey data with new, highly complete multi-object Magellan spectroscopy to investigate the detailed galaxy distribution near each absorber. All of these three absorption systems nominally lie within the virial radii of nearby galaxies and/or groups, and could therefore arise in these virialized structures rather than (or in addition to) the WHIM. However, we find no additional galaxies near a fourth "void" absorber recently reported by Zappacosta et al., suggesting that this system may indeed trace gas unassociated with any individual halo. We therefore conclude that most X-ray absorbers are coincident with galaxy and/or group environments, though some could still trace the large-scale filamentary WHIM gas predicted by simulations.}, added-at = {2012-09-22T17:48:17.000+0200}, author = {Williams, Rik J. and Mulchaey, John S. and Kollmeier, Juna A.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/292b45b0bad125fabae0e66430cb62153/miki}, description = {[1209.4080] Warm-hot gas in groups and galaxies toward H2356-309}, interhash = {17b21c18b8edd95235f80e09e06517b5}, intrahash = {92b45b0bad125fabae0e66430cb62153}, keywords = {absorption whim x-ray}, note = {cite arxiv:1209.4080Comment: 6 pages emulateapj, 3 figures, submitted to ApJL}, timestamp = {2012-09-22T17:48:17.000+0200}, title = {Warm-hot gas in groups and galaxies toward H2356-309}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.4080}, year = 2012 }