TY - JOUR
T1 - The Red Dead Redemption Survey of Circumgalactic Gas about Massive Galaxies. I. Mass and Metallicity of the Cool Phase
AU - Berg, Michelle A.
AU - Howk, J. Christopher
AU - Lehner, Nicolas
AU - Wotta, Christopher B.
AU - O'Meara, John M.
AU - Bowen, David V.
AU - Burchett, Joseph N.
AU - Peeples, Molly S.
AU - Tejos, Nicolas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
PY - 2019/9/20
Y1 - 2019/9/20
N2 - We present a search for H i in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of 21 massive (), luminous red galaxies (LRGs) at z ∼0.5. Using UV spectroscopy of QSO sightlines projected within 500 kpc (∼) of these galaxies, we detect H i absorption in 11/21 sightlines, including two partial Lyman limit systems and two Lyman limit systems. The covering factor of gas within the virial radius of these LRGs is , while for optically thick gas () it is . Combining this sample of massive galaxies with previous galaxy-selected CGM studies, we find no strong dependence of the H i covering factor on galaxy mass, although star-forming galaxies show marginally higher covering factors. There is no evidence for a critical mass above which dense, cold (T ∼104 K) gas is suppressed in the CGM of galaxies (spanning stellar masses ). The metallicity distribution in LRGs is indistinguishable from those found about lower-mass star-forming galaxies, and we find low-metallicity gas with (1.5% solar) and below about massive galaxies. About half the cases show supersolar [Fe ii/] abundances as seen previously in cool gas near massive galaxies. While the high-metallicity cold gas seen in LRGs could plausibly result from condensation from a corona, the low-metallicity gas is inconsistent with this interpretation.
AB - We present a search for H i in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of 21 massive (), luminous red galaxies (LRGs) at z ∼0.5. Using UV spectroscopy of QSO sightlines projected within 500 kpc (∼) of these galaxies, we detect H i absorption in 11/21 sightlines, including two partial Lyman limit systems and two Lyman limit systems. The covering factor of gas within the virial radius of these LRGs is , while for optically thick gas () it is . Combining this sample of massive galaxies with previous galaxy-selected CGM studies, we find no strong dependence of the H i covering factor on galaxy mass, although star-forming galaxies show marginally higher covering factors. There is no evidence for a critical mass above which dense, cold (T ∼104 K) gas is suppressed in the CGM of galaxies (spanning stellar masses ). The metallicity distribution in LRGs is indistinguishable from those found about lower-mass star-forming galaxies, and we find low-metallicity gas with (1.5% solar) and below about massive galaxies. About half the cases show supersolar [Fe ii/] abundances as seen previously in cool gas near massive galaxies. While the high-metallicity cold gas seen in LRGs could plausibly result from condensation from a corona, the low-metallicity gas is inconsistent with this interpretation.
KW - galaxies: abundances
KW - galaxies: evolution
KW - galaxies: halos
KW - intergalactic medium
KW - quasars: absorption lines
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U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/ab378e
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ab378e
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073252796
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 883
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 1
M1 - 5
ER -