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Table · dataset · 2021

Ghostly strong Lya absorbers in SDSS DR12

Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)

We have searched the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12 for ghostly strong Ly{alpha} (DLA) systems.

Description

These systems, located at the redshift of the quasars, show strong absorption from low-ionization atomic species but reveal no HI Ly{alpha} absorption. Our search has, for the first time, resulted in a sample of 30 homogeneously selected ghostly absorbers with z_QSO_>2.0.

Thirteen of the ghostly absorbers exhibit absorption from other HI Lyman series lines. The lack of Ly{alpha} absorption in these absorbers is consistent with them being dense and compact with projected sizes smaller than the broad-line region of the background quasar. Although uncertain, the estimated median HI column density of these absorbers is logN(HI)~21.0.

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We compare the properties of ghostly absorbers with those of eclipsing DLAs that are high-column-density absorbers, located within 1500km/s of the quasar emission redshift and showing strong Ly{alpha} emission in their DLA trough. We discover an apparent sequence in the observed properties of these DLAs, with ghostly absorbers showing wider HI kinematics, stronger absorptions from high-ionization species, CII and SiII excited states, and a higher level of dust extinction.

Since we estimate that all these absorbers have similar metallicities, logZ/Z_{sun}_~-1.0, we conclude that ghostly absorbers are part of the same population as eclipsing DLAs, except that they are denser and located closer to the central active galactic nuclei.

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