TY - JOUR
T1 - GHOST commissioning science results - III. Characterizing an iron-poor damped Lyman α system
AU - Berg, Trystyn A.M.
AU - Hayes, Christian R.
AU - Cristiani, Stefano
AU - McConnachie, Alan
AU - Robertson, J. Gordon
AU - Sestito, Federico
AU - Simpson, Chris
AU - Waller, Fletcher
AU - Chin, Timothy
AU - Densmore, Adam
AU - Diaz, Ruben J.
AU - Edgar, Michael L.
AU - Lettura, Javier Fuentes
AU - Gómez-Jiménez, Manuel
AU - Kalari, Venu M.
AU - Lawrence, Jon
AU - Margheim, Steven
AU - Pazder, John
AU - Ruiz-Carmona, Roque
AU - Salinas, Ricardo
AU - Silva, Karleyne M. G.
AU - Silversides, Katherine
AU - Venn, Kim A.
N1 - © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2024/7/1
Y1 - 2024/7/1
N2 - The Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) is a new Echelle spectrograph available on the Gemini-South telescope as of Semester 2024A. We present the first high-resolution spectrum of the quasar J1449 -1227 (redshift z em = 3.27) using data taken during the commissioning of GHOST. The observed quasar hosts an intervening iron-poor { [Fe/H] = -2.5 } damped Lyman αsystem (DLA) at redshift z = 2.904. Taking advantage of the high spectral resolving power of GHOST ( R ≈ 55 000), we are able to accurately model the metal absorption lines of the metal-poor DLA and find a supersolar [Si/Fe], suggesting that the DLA gas is in an early stage of chemical enrichment. Using simple ionization models, we find that the large range in the C IV /Si IV column density ratio of individual components within the DLA's high-ionization absorption profile can be reproduced by several metal-poor Lyman limit systems surrounding the low-ionization gas of the DLA. It is possible that this metal-poor DLA resides within a complex system of metal-poor galaxies or filaments with inflowing gas. The high spectral resolution, wav elength co v erage, and sensitivity of GHOST make it an ideal spectrograph for characterizing the chemistry and kinematics of quasar absorption lines.
AB - The Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) is a new Echelle spectrograph available on the Gemini-South telescope as of Semester 2024A. We present the first high-resolution spectrum of the quasar J1449 -1227 (redshift z em = 3.27) using data taken during the commissioning of GHOST. The observed quasar hosts an intervening iron-poor { [Fe/H] = -2.5 } damped Lyman αsystem (DLA) at redshift z = 2.904. Taking advantage of the high spectral resolving power of GHOST ( R ≈ 55 000), we are able to accurately model the metal absorption lines of the metal-poor DLA and find a supersolar [Si/Fe], suggesting that the DLA gas is in an early stage of chemical enrichment. Using simple ionization models, we find that the large range in the C IV /Si IV column density ratio of individual components within the DLA's high-ionization absorption profile can be reproduced by several metal-poor Lyman limit systems surrounding the low-ionization gas of the DLA. It is possible that this metal-poor DLA resides within a complex system of metal-poor galaxies or filaments with inflowing gas. The high spectral resolution, wav elength co v erage, and sensitivity of GHOST make it an ideal spectrograph for characterizing the chemistry and kinematics of quasar absorption lines.
KW - galaxies: high-redshift
KW - galaxies: ISM
KW - instrumentation: spectrographs
KW - quasars: absorption lines
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196178788&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stae1033
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stae1033
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85196178788
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 531
SP - 3815
EP - 3822
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 4
ER -