X-Ray Absorption By WHIM in the Sculptor Wall

Jan, 2009
7 pages
Published in:
  • Astrophys.J. 695 (2009) 1351-1356
e-Print:

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Abstract: (arXiv)
We present XMM RGS and Chandra LETG observations of the blazar, H 2356-309, located behind the Sculptor Wall, a large-scale galaxy structure expected to harbor high-density Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). Our simultaneous analysis of the RGS and LETG spectra yields a 3-sigma detection of the crucial redshifted O vii K-alpha line with a column density (>~ 10^{16} cm^{-2}) consistent with similar large-scale structures produced in cosmological simulations. This represents the first detection of non-local WHIM from X-ray absorption studies where XMM and Chandra data are analyzed simultaneously and the absorber redshift is already known, thus providing robust evidence for the expected repository of the 'missing baryons'.