Related papers: Limits on Reddening and Gas-to-Dust Ratios for Sev…
Using the new high resolution (~ 8 km/s) echelle spectrograph on the 3.5-m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory, we have begun a high sensitivity survey of the diffuse interstellar bands in a large sample of reddened stars. Now that we…
We investigate the properties of damped Ly{\alpha} absorption systems (DLAs) in semi-analytic models of galaxy formation, including partitioning of cold gas in galactic discs into atomic, molecular, and ionized phases with a molecular…
We present HST and FUSE observations of the intergalactic absorption toward PG1116+215 in the 900-3000 A spectral region. We detect 25 Ly-alpha absorbers at rest-frame equivalent widths W_r > 30 mA, yielding (dN/dz)_Ly-alpha = 154+/-18 over…
We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations to study damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) and Lyman limit (LL) absorption at redshifts z=2-4 in five variants of the cold dark matter scenario. Our standard simulations resolve the formation of dense…
We present an ultraviolet spectroscopic survey of strong H I absorbers in the intergalactic medium, probing their evolution over the last 6-7 Gyr at redshifts $0.24 \leq z \leq 0.84$. We measure column densities $N_{\rm HI} \,( {\rm…
We searched quasar spectra from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) for the rare occurrences where a strong damped Lyman-alpha absorber (DLA) blocks the Broad Line Region emission from the quasar and acts as a…
We present 4 new measurements of nitrogen abundances and one upper limit in damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) obtained by means of high resolution (FWHM \~ 7 km/s) UVES/VLT spectra. In addition to these measurements we have compiled data…
We present a spectroscopic and imaging study of the z=0.558 MgII absorption system towards the BL Lac PKS 0118-272. At the absorber redshift we detect lines of the low ionization species MgI, MgII, CaII, TiII, MnII, and FeII. The column…
We present chemical abundance measurements from high-resolution observations of 5 sub-damped Lyman-alpha absorbers at 1.7 < z < 2.4 observed with the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectrograph on the 6.5-m Magellan II Clay…
Echelle spectra of the double-lined spectroscopic binary HD 204827 were obtained on five nights, at a resolving power R = 38,000 and with a S/N ratio = 750 near 6000 A in the final, combined spectrum. The stars show E(B-V) = 1.11 and…
With the use of the data from archives, we studied the correlations between the equivalent widths of four diffuse interstellar bands (4430$\r{A}$, 5780$\r{A}$, 5797$\r{A}$, 6284$\r{A}$) and properties of the target stars (colour excess…
We combine predictions for several hierarchical cosmogonies with observational evidence on damped Lyman alpha systems to establish a correspondence between the high redshift galaxy population and the properties of damped Lyman alpha…
Although damped Lyman alpha (DLA) systems are usually considered metal-poor, it has been suggested that this could be due to observational bias against metal-enriched absorbers. I review recent surveys to quantify the particular issue of…
Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) trace warm neutral and weakly-ionized diffuse interstellar medium (ISM). Here we present a dedicated, high signal-to-noise spectroscopic study of two of the strongest DIBs, at 5780 and 5797 \AA, in optical…
Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs) are non-stellar weak absorption features of unknown origin found in the spectra of stars viewed through one or several clouds of Interstellar Medium (ISM). Research of DIBs outside the Milky Way is…
The carriers of the still (mostly) unidentified diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) have been a long-standing mystery ever since their first discovery exactly 100 years ago. In recent years, the ubiquitous detection of a large number of DIBs…
We compare the properties of a sample of local (z=0) gas-rich galaxies studied in 21 cm emission to a sample of 13 low-redshift (z < 1) damped Lyman alpha (DLA) galaxies identified as the counterparts of low-redshift DLA systems found in…
We used the photometric database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to estimate the reddening of 13 SDSS quasars selected on the basis of the presence of zinc absorption lines in an intervening Damped Ly alpha (DLA) system. In 5 of…
We study the mean absorption spectrum of the Damped Lyman alpha population at $z\sim 2.6$ by stacking normalized, rest-frame shifted spectra of $\sim 27\,000$ DLAs from the DR12 of BOSS/SDSS-III. We measure the equivalent widths of 50…
In Paper I of this series (astro-ph/9911117) we described observations of 15 extragalactic targets taken with the Hubble Space Telescope GHRS/G160M grating for studies of the low-z Lya forest. We reported the detection of 110 Lya absorbers…