Files and links (2)
SubmittedOpen Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
Lensing, reddening and extinction effects of MgII absorbers from z=0.4 to 2
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v 385(2), pp 1053-1066
01 Apr 2008
Abstract
Using a sample of almost 7000 strong MgII absorbers with W-0 > 1 angstrom and 0.4 < z < 2.2 detected in the SDSS DR4 data set, we investigate the gravitational lensing and dust extinction effects they induce on background quasars. After carefully quantifying several selection biases, we isolate the reddening effects as a function of redshift and absorber rest equivalent width, W0. We find the amount of dust to increase with cosmic time as tau (z) proportional to (1+ z)(-1.1 +/- 0.4), following the evolution of cosmic star density or integrated star formation rate. We measure the reddening effects over a factor of 30 in E( B - V) and we find that tau proportional to (W-0)(1.9 +/- 0.1), providing us with an important scaling for theoretical modelling of metal absorbers. We also measure the dust-to-metal ratio and find it similar to that of the Milky Way. In contrast to previous studies, we do not detect any gravitational magnification by MgII systems. We measure the upper limit mu < 1.10 and discuss the origin of the discrepancy. Finally, we estimate the fraction of absorbers missed due to extinction effects and show that it rises from 1 to 50 per cent in the range 1 < W-0 < 6 angstrom. We parametrize this effect and provide a correction for recovering the intrinsic partial derivative N/partial derivative W-0 distribution.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Lensing, reddening and extinction effects of MgII absorbers from z=0.4 to 2
- Creators
- Brice Menard - Canadian Institute for Theoretical AstrophysicsDaniel Nestor - Institute of AstronomyDavid Turnshek - University of PittsburghAnna Quider - University of PittsburghGordon Richards - Drexel UniversityDoron Chelouche - Institute for Advanced StudySandhya Rao - University of Pittsburgh
- Publication Details
- Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v 385(2), pp 1053-1066
- Publisher
- Oxford Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 14
- Grant note
- ST/F001967/1 / Science and Technology Facilities Council; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ST/F001967/1 / STFC; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000253980700042
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-40549095734
- Other Identifier
- 991019168319804721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Astronomy & Astrophysics