C IV absorption in an unbiased sample of 33 QSOs - Evidence for the intervening galaxy hypothesis

Observations of 27 QSOs at redshifts of z(em) approximately equals 2 with 2.5 A resolution are presented, and a homogeneous sample of 33 QSOs is prepared to examine statistical properties of C IV 1548, 1550 A absorption systems. Three QSOs out of 33 have broad absorption troughs of material ejected by the QSO at velocities up to 0.1 c, while in the other thirty QSOs, the C IV doublets are uniformly distributed in the spectra in a manner consistent with predictions for clouds randomly distributed along the line of sight in a Friedmann universe. No evidence is found for an excess of absorption line systems in the nontroughed QSOs near the emission redshift, and in Q1309-056 there exists strong statistical evidence that the systems are ejected from the QSO. It is suggested that most of the metal line absorption systems in QSOs without broad troughs arise from the halos of intervening galaxies and other objects unconnected with the QSOs.

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