Related papers: Can the soft X-ray opacity towards high redshift s…

We present simultaneous optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy of 19 Swift GRB host galaxies with VLT/X-shooter with the aim of measuring their redshifts. Galaxies were selected from The Optically Unbiased GRB Host (TOUGH) survey (15…

Unlike at lower redshift, where there is a 40% detection rate, surveys for 21-cm absorption arising within the hosts of z > 1 radio galaxies and quasars have been remarkably unsuccessful. Curran et al.(2008) suggest that this is due to the…

With recent Chandra observations, at least 60% of the 2-10 keV background is now resolved into discrete sources. Here we present deep optical, NIR, submm, and 20 cm (radio) images, as well as high-quality optical spectra, of a complete…

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are a powerful probe of the high redshift Universe. We present a tool to estimate the detection rate of high-z GRBs by a generic detector with defined energy band and sensitivity. We base this on a population model…

We describe initial results of a search for redshifted molecular absorption toward four millimetre-loud, optically faint quasars. A wide frequency bandwidth of up to 23 GHz per quasar was scanned using the Swedish-ESO Sub-millimetre…

Context: Thirteen years after the discovery of the first afterglows, the nature of dark gamma-ray bursts (GRB) still eludes explanation: while each ng-duration GRB typically has an X-ray afterglow, optical/NIR emission is only seen for…

The extreme luminosity of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows means they are detectable, in principle, to very high redshifts. Although the redshift distribution of GRBs is difficult to determine, due to incompleteness of present…

We present a carefully selected sample of short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) observed by the Swift satellite up to June 2013. Inspired by the criteria we used to build a similar sample of bright long GRBs (the BAT6 sample), we selected SGRBs…

We present the methodology for ``blind'' millimetre-wave surveys for redshifted molecular absorption in the CO/HCO$^+$ rotational lines. The frequency range $30-50$ GHz appears optimal for such surveys, providing sensitivity to absorbers at…

We study the absorption along lines of sight toward high-z radio sources caused by the 21 cm transition of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) before reionization. Using semi-analytic methods, we compute the number density of…

The super-massive black-holes in the centers of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are surrounded by obscuring matter that can block the nuclear radiation. Depending on the amount of blocked radiation, the flux from the AGN can be too faint to…

We present results of a calculation of absorption of 10-500 GeV gamma-rays at high redshifts. This calculation requires the determination of the high- redshift evolution of the full spectral energy distribution of the intergalactic photon…

BeppoSAX observations of the high redshift (z=4.72) blazar GB 1428+4217 confirm the presence of a complex soft X-ray spectrum first seen with the ROSAT PSPC. Flattening below a rest frame energy of 5 keV can be accounted for by absorption…

There exists a significant population of broad line, z~2 QSOs which have heavily absorbed X-ray spectra. Follow up observations in the submillimetre show that these QSOs are embedded in ultraluminous starburst galaxies, unlike most…

The distribution of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) is currently explored at low-z by means of UV spectroscopy of quasars. We propose an alternative approach based on UV colours of quasars as observed from GALEX surveys.…

The sources discovered in deep hard X-ray surveys with 2-8 keV fluxes of 10^-14 erg cm^-2 s^-1 make up the bulk of the X-ray background at these energies. We present here detailed multi-wavelength observations of three such sources from the…

In this work we present the first results of our imaging campaign at Keck Observatory to identify the host galaxies of "dark" gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), events with no detected optical afterglow or with detected optical flux significantly…

The results from an X-ray spectral analysis of a large sample of quasars, observed with ASCA, are presented. Data reduction leaves 62 quasars, 35 radio-loud and 27 radio-quiet, suitable for spectral analysis. Differences are found between…

The warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) at temperatures 1E5-1E7 K is believed to contain 30-50% of the baryons in the local universe. However, all current X-ray detections of the WHIM at redshifts z>0 are of low statistical significance…

Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have obtained rest frame 9-16mu spectra of 11 quasars and 9 radio galaxies from the 3CRR catalog at redshifts 1.0<z<1.4. This complete flux-limited 178MHz-selected sample is unbiased with respect to…