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Title: Exploring the CRAG: The HI Covering Factor of the ALFALFA Galaxies
We report the initial findings of our Survey of the Circumgalactic Regions of the ALFALFA Galaxies (CRAG). We combine the blindly detected 21-cm HI sources of the ALFALFA catalog with archival HST/COS G130M QSO spectroscopic observations taken from the HST Spectroscopic Legacy Archive to quantify and characterize the circumgalactic medium (CGM) around these local, HI-rich galaxies. We find the covering factor of HI, as probed by Lyα, to be near unity within 50 kpc of all ALFALFA galaxies, regardless of HI mass, MHI. However, we have identified a significant correlation between the extent of the HI-bearing CGM beyond 50 kpc and MHI of the ALFALFA galaxies. We find the galaxies with log(MHI/M☉) > 9.5 give rise to Lyα covering factors > 0.5 out to 300 kpc, indicating the CGM of the most HI-rich galaxies of the ALFALFA sample fills a significant volume. At the same time we find the galaxies with log(MHI/M☉) < 9.5 give rise to substantively lower Lyα covering factors beyond 50 kpc. Most notably, the log(MHI/M☉) < 7.5 galaxies give rise to a Lyα covering factor < 0.3 beyond 50 kpc and negligible covering factors beyond 150 kpc. This work has been supported by NSF grant AST-1716569.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1637339
PAR ID:
10097649
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting
Volume:
233
Page Range / eLocation ID:
137.03
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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