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K. L. Cooksey (UC, Santa Cruz), J. X. Prochaska (UCO/Lick Observatory)
The baryonic content of the Universe is well known from Big Bang nucleosynthesis models, deuterium abundances, and the high-redshift Lyman-\alpha forest. However, surveys of the nearby Universe reveal a dearth of baryons in stars, galaxies, and clusters. Recent cosmological simulations have placed the most likely reservoir of baryons at low redshift---upward of 40%---in moderately overdense (\delta~0-30), collisionally ionized gas, called the warm-hot intergalactic medium. With temperatures in the range 105-7 K, the WHIM proves tricky to observe. The most reasonable tracer is the OVI doublet \lambda\lambda1031.93, 1037.62 Å, which dominates at ~!3x105 K.
Presented here are preliminary results from analysis of far-ultraviolet FUSE and HST/STIS spectra of the quasar PKS1301-102 (z\mathrm{em} = 0.286). Column densities and Doppler parameters are measured for metal-line systems, and the redshift density of OVI absorbers is determined. In addition, the FUV spectra are supported by a galaxy survey of the field surrounding PKS1302-102, made at Las Campanas Observatory. These observations will be used to determine whether the OVI absorbers are correlated with galaxies. This work was funded by FUSE grant NAG5-12496.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.