Probing the IGM-galaxy connection at z<0.5 II. New insights into the galaxy environments of OVI absorbers in PKS 0405-123

TL;DR

This study investigates the environments of OVI absorbers at z<0.5 using new UV spectra and galaxy surveys, revealing their close association with gas-rich, low-mass galaxies and highlighting the importance of deep surveys for understanding the IGM-galaxy connection.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the galaxy environments of OVI absorbers at low redshift through comprehensive UV and galaxy survey data, emphasizing the role of faint galaxies.

Findings

OVI absorbers are associated with gas-rich, low-mass galaxies within 200 kpc.

A strong OVI system at z=0.183 lacks nearby luminous galaxies, suggesting diverse environments.

OVI absorbers are found in regions of higher galaxy surface brightness compared to Lya-only absorbers.

Abstract

We present new absorption-line analysis and new galaxy survey data obtained for the field around PKS0405-123 at z=0.57. Combining previously known OVI absorbers with new identifications in the higher S/N UV spectra obtained with COS, we have established a sample of 7 OVI absorbers and 12 individual components at z=0.0918-0.495 along the sightline toward PKS0405-123. We complement the available UV absorption spectra with galaxy survey data that reach 100% completeness at projected distances rho<200 kpc of the quasar sightline for galaxies as faint as 0.1L* (0.2L*) out to redshifts of z=0.35 (z=0.5). The high level of completeness achieved at faint magnitudes by our survey reveals that OVI absorbers are closely associated with gas-rich environments containing at least one low-mass, emission-line galaxy. An intriguing exception is a strong OVI system at z=0.183 that does not have a galaxy found at rho<4 Mpc, and our survey rules out the presence of any galaxies of L>0.04L* at rho<250 kpc and any galaxies of L>0.3L* at rho<1 Mpc. We further examine the galactic environments of OVI absorbers and those "Lya-only" absorbers with HI column density log N(HI)>13.6 and no detectable OVI absorption features. The Lya-only absorbers serve as a control sample in seeking the discriminating galactic features that result in the observed OVI absorbing gas at large galactic radii. We find a clear distinction in the radial profiles of mean galaxy surface brightness around different absorbers. Specifically, OVI absorbers are found to reside in regions of higher mean surface brightness at rho<500 kpc (+5 mag Mpc^-2 relative to the background), while only a mild increase in galaxy surface brightness is seen at small rho around Lya-only absorbers (+2 mag Mpc^-2). The additional insights gained from our deep galaxy survey demonstrates the need to probe to low luminosities to better understand absorbing systems.