Title: Warm-hot gas in groups and galaxies toward H2356-309 Authors: Rik J. Williams, John S. Mulchaey, Juna A. Kollmeier (Carnegie Observatories)
We present a detailed analysis of the galaxy and group distributions around three reported X-ray absorption line systems in the spectrum of the quasar H2356-309. Previous studies associated these absorbers with known large-scale galaxy structures (i.e., walls and filaments) along the line of sight. Such absorption lines typically trace 10^{5-7} K gas, and may be evidence of the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) thought to harbour the bulk of the low-redshift "missing baryons;" alternatively, they may be linked to individual galaxies or groups in the filaments. Here we combine existing galaxy survey data with new, highly complete multi-object Magellan spectroscopy to investigate the detailed galaxy distribution near each absorber. All of these three absorption systems nominally lie within the virial radii of nearby galaxies and/or groups, and could therefore arise in these virialised structures rather than (or in addition to) the WHIM. However, we find no additional galaxies near a fourth "void" absorber recently reported by Zappacosta et al., suggesting that this system may indeed trace gas unassociated with any individual halo. We therefore conclude that most X-ray absorbers are coincident with galaxy and/or group environments, though some could still trace the large-scale filamentary WHIM gas predicted by simulations.
Title: On the correct intrinsic VHE properties of the BL Lac H 2356-309 Authors: L. Costamante
The high-energy-peaked BL Lac H 2356-309 (z=0.165) was detected by HESS at very high energies (VHE, >100 GeV) with relatively high significance in the years 2004-2007, allowing a good determination of its gamma-ray spectrum. After correction for the interaction with the diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL), the VHE spectrum is flat (Gamma~1.9-2) over a decade in energy, locating the gamma-ray peak around or above 0.6-1 TeV. This is remarkably at odds with the interpretation and modelling provided by HESS, which do not correspond to the source properties and can be excluded with high confidence. The overall GeV-to-TeV characteristics of H 2356-309 seem intermediate between the "TeV-peaked" (Fermi-faint) and "100 GeV-peaked" (Fermi-bright) BL Lac objects, and difficult to reconcile with the shape of the synchrotron emission in a single-zone SSC scenario.