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19 April 2024 |
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Article overview
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Mapping the Cosmic Web with Ly-alpha Emission | Steven Furlanetto
; Joop Schaye
; Volker Springel
; Lars Hernquist
; | Date: |
31 Oct 2003 | Journal: | Astrophys.J. 599 (2003) L1-L4 | Subject: | astro-ph | Affiliation: | Caltech), Joop Schaye (IAS), Volker Springel (MPA), Lars Hernquist (CfA | Abstract: | We use a high-resolution cosmological simulation to predict the distribution of HI Ly-alpha emission from the low-redshift (z<0.5) intergalactic medium (IGM). Our simulation can be used to reliably compute the emission from optically thin regions of the IGM but not that of self-shielded gas. We therefore consider several models that bracket the expected emission from self-shielded regions. Most galaxies are surrounded by extended (>10^2 kpc) ``coronae’’ of optically thin gas with Ly-alpha surface brightness close to the expected background. Most of these regions contain smaller cores of dense, cool gas. Unless self-shielded gas is able to cool to T<10^4.1 K, these cores are much brighter than the background. The Ly-alpha coronae represent ``cooling flows’’ of IGM gas accreting onto galaxies. We also estimate the number of Ly-alpha photons produced through the reprocessing of stellar ionizing radiation in the interstellar medium of galaxies; while this mechanism is responsible for the brightest Ly-alpha emission, it occurs on small physical scales and can be separated using high-resolution observations. In all cases, we find that Ly-alpha emitters are numerous (with a space density ~0.1 h^3 Mpc^-3) and closely trace the filamentary structure of the IGM, providing a new way to map gas inside the cosmic web. | Source: | arXiv, astro-ph/0311006 | Services: | Forum | Review | PDF | Favorites |
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