IAU02525
Presentation type requested: ORAL
SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF BARYONS IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE
Kenneth Sembach
Space Telescope Science Institute
There is increasing evidence that hot, highly-ionized interstellar and intergalactic gas plays a significant role in the evolution of galaxies in the local universe. Recent results from several space-based observatories demonstrate the existence of highly ionized gas in the extended gaseous corona of the Milky Way, in the Local Group, and in the low-redshift universe. The primary spectral diagnostics of this warm-hot interstellar/intergalactic medium are ultraviolet and X-ray lines of O VI and O VII. The observational data fit well into the framework of current theories for the evolution of large-scale structure in the universe, which predict that a significant fraction of the baryonic material at low-redshift is contained in highly ionized intergalactic gas.
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