Identifying HI Emission and UV Absorber Associations Near the Magellanic Stream
Abstract
We present a new technique to identify associations of HI emission in the Magellanic Stream (MS) and ultraviolet (UV) absorbers from 92 QSO sight lines near the MS. We quantify the level of associations of individual HI elements to the main HI body of the Stream using Wasserstein distance-based models, and derive characteristic spatial and kinematic distances of the HI emission in the MS. With the emission-based model, we further develop a comparison metric, which identifies the dominant associations of individual UV absorbers with respective to the MS and nearby galaxies. For ionized gas associated with the MS probed by CII, CIV, SiII, SiIII, SiIV, we find that the ion column densities are generally 0.5 dex higher than those that are not associated, and that the gas is more ionized toward the tail of the MS as indicated by the spatial trend of the CII/CIV ratios. For nearby galaxies, we identify potential new absorbers associated with the CGM of M33 and NGC300, and affirm the associations of absorbers with IC1613 and WLM. For M31, we find the previously identified gradient in column densities as a function of impact parameter, and that absorbers with higher column densities beyond M31's virial radius are more likely to be associated with the MS. Our analysis of absorbers associated with the Magellanic Clouds reveals the presence of continuous and blended diffuse ionized gas between the Stream and the Clouds. Our technique can be applied to future applications of identifying associations within physically complex gaseous structures.