We combine a FUSE sample of O vi absorbers ( z < 0.15 ) with a database of 1.07 million galaxy redshifts to explore the relationship between absorbers and galaxy environments .
All 37 absorbers with N _ { OVI } \geq 10 ^ { 13.2 } cm ^ { -2 } lie within 800 h ^ { -1 } _ { 70 } kpc of the nearest galaxy , with no compelling evidence for O vi absorbers in voids .
The O vi absorbers often appear to be associated with environments of individual galaxies .
Gas with 10 \pm 5 % solar metallicity ( O vi and C iii ) has a median spread in distance of 350–500 h ^ { -1 } _ { 70 } kpc around L ^ { \star } galaxies and 200–270 h ^ { -1 } _ { 70 } kpc around 0.1 L ^ { \star } galaxies ( ranges reflect uncertain metallicities of gas undetected in Ly \alpha absorption ) .
In order to match the O vi line frequency , ( d { \cal N } / dz ) \approx 20 for N _ { OVI } \geq 10 ^ { 13.2 } cm ^ { -2 } , galaxies with L \leq 0.1 L ^ { \star } must contribute to the cross section .
Lyman- \alpha absorbers with N _ { HI } \geq 10 ^ { 13.2 } cm ^ { -2 } cover \sim 50 % of the surface area of typical galaxy filaments .
Two-thirds of these show O vi and/or C iii absorption , corresponding to a 33–50 % covering factor at 0.1 Z _ { \odot } and suggesting that metals are spread to a maximum distance of 800 h ^ { -1 } _ { 70 } kpc , within typical galaxy supercluster filaments .
Approximately 50 % of the O vi absorbers have associated Ly \alpha line pairs with separations ( \Delta v ) _ { Ly \alpha } = 50 - 200 km s ^ { -1 } .
These pairs could represent shocks at the speeds necessary to create copious O vi , located within 100 h ^ { -1 } _ { 70 } kpc of the nearest galaxy and accounting for much of the two-point correlation function of low- z Ly \alpha forest absorbers .