2001/10/14 by J. C. Charlton, Jane C. Charlton, Charlton, Jane C. +12
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0110318
10 pages, 6 figures, To appear in "Extragalactic Gas at Low Redshift", ASP Proceedings, TBD, ed. J. Mulchaey
arxiv created 2001/10/14 · openalex publication_date 2001/10/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A new and mysterious class of object has been revealed by the detection of\nnumerous weak MgII doublets in quasar absorption line spectra. The properties\nof these objects will be reviewed. They are not in close proximity to luminous\ngalaxies, yet they have metallicities close to the solar value; they are likely\nto be self-enriched. A significant fraction of the weak MgII absorbers are\nconstrained to be less than 10 parsecs in size, yet they present a large\ncross-section for absorption, indicating that there are more than a million\ntimes more of them than there are luminous galaxies. They could be remnants of\nPopulation III star clusters or tracers of supernova remnants in a population\nof "failed dwarf galaxies" expected in cold dark matter structure formation\nscenarios.\n