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D. Fabian, B.D. Savage (U. of Wisconsin - Madison), T.M. Tripp (Princeton U.), K.R. Sembach (The Johns Hopkins U.), FUSE Science Team
FUSE & STIS spectra of the quasar PG 0953+415 (z=0.239, l=179\arcdeg.8, b=+51\arcdeg.7) reveal extremely broad velocity coverage of metal line absorption in a direction where galactic rotation effects should be negligable. Here we present intermediate resolution FUSE (FWHM ~ 20 km~s-1) spectra of the \ion{C}{3} and \ion{O}{6} absorption lines along with STIS spectra of \ion{Si}{3} and \ion{C}{4}; each showing significant absorption over more than 350 km~s-1 in velocity space. In contrast, the neutral gas traced by \ion{H}{1} emission only covers 110 km~s-1. The intermediate ionization transitions are sensitive tracers of a very diffuse state of the gas that appears to be very active kinematically and has not been previously studied. Sources of ionized energetic gas in this direction may be the blown-out top of the Local Bubble seen in soft X-rays, or warm clouds of the high halo. We examine the possible link between the intermediate and highly ionized gas and discuss the possibility that this diffuse gas is a common feature of galaxy halos.