Related papers: The Search for Extragalactic Lithium Hydride
The discovery of a z_abs = 0.0912 damped Lyman-alpha absorption-line system in the HST-FOS ultraviolet spectrum of the quasar OI 363 (0738+313) is reported. This is the lowest redshift quasar damped Lyman-alpha system known. Its neutral…
We have made radio- and millimeter-wavelength interferometric observations of a variety of molecular absorption lines toward the gravitational lens systems B0218+357 and PKS1830-211. The absorption occurs in the lensing galaxies at…
We report new HST and ground-based observations of a damped Lyman-alpha absorption system toward the QSO 0850+4400. The redshift of the absorption system is z = 0.163770 and the neutral hydrogen column density of the absorption system is…
We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager spectroscopy of the four putative images of the lensed quasar candidate J014709+463037 recently discovered by Berghea et al. (2017). The data verify the source as a quadruply lensed, broad absorption-line…
We report {\it HST} COS spectroscopy of 10 quasars with foreground star-forming galaxies at 0.02$<$$z$$<$ 0.14 within impact parameters of $\sim$1-7 kpc. We detect damped/sub-damped Ly$\alpha$ absorption in 100$\%$ of cases where no…
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…
Using the recently completed Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope, we have detected the HI 21 cm-line absorption from the peculiar galaxy C153 in the galaxy cluster Abell 2125. The HI absorption is at a redshift of 0.2533, with a peak optical…
We present a measurement of the mean intensity of the hydrogen-ionizing background radiation field at low redshift using 906 Ly-alpha absorption lines in 151 quasar spectra from the archives of the Faint Object Spectrograph on the Hubble…
We performed a search for the HeH+ J=1-0 line (\nu_{rest} = 2010.183873 GHz) and simultaneously for the CH ^2\Pi_{3/2}(F_2)J=3/2 - ^2\Pi_{1/2}(F_2)J=1/2 lines (\nu_{rest}\approx 2006.8 and 2010.8 GHz) toward one of the highest-redshift…
We present UV and optical observations from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck of a z= 0.27395 Lyman limit system (LLS) seen in absorption against the QSO PG1630+377. We detect H I absorption with log…
We present a new, high resolution HST/GHRS spectrum of quasar Q0302-003, and use the HeII Lyman-$\alpha$ absorption, together with a high resolution Keck spectrum of the HI Lyman-$\alpha$ forest, to probe the distribution and ionization…
We report the discovery of five quasars with redshifts of 4.67 - 5.27 and z'-band magnitudes of 19.5-20.7 M_B ~ -27. All were originally selected as distant quasar candidates in optical/near-infrared photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky…
We have measured the redshift evolution of the density of Lyman limit systems (LLS) in the intergalactic medium over the redshift range 0 < z < 6. We have used two new quasar samples to (1) improve coverage at z ~ 1, with GALEX grism…
Absorption spectroscopy toward high-redshift quasars provides strong constraints on the putative variation of fundamental constants of physics on cosmological time scales. The submillimeter ground-state transitions of methylidyne (CH) and…
Recent detections of high-redshift absorption by both atomic hydrogen and molecular gas in the radio spectra of quasars have provided a powerful tool to measure possible temporal and spatial variations of physical `constants' in the…
We present results from a search for galaxies that give rise to damped Lyman alpha (DLA), subDLA, and Lyman limit system (LLS) absorption at redshifts 0.1 ~< z ~< 1 in the spectra of background quasars. The sample was formed from a larger…
We present results of a blind survey of Lyman limit systems (LLSs) detected in absorption against 105 quasars at z~3 using the blue sensitive MagE spectrograph at the Magellan Clay telescope. By searching for Lyman limit absorption in the…
We present evidence that clumps of \lya lines are physically associated with about half of the extensive metal-line systems (absorption systems with four or more observed metal-line species) found in this paper, demonstrate that all four…
We present a detailed analysis of a very unusual sub-damped Lyman alpha (sub-DLA) system at redshift z=2.304 towards the quasar Q0453-423, based on high signal-to-noise (S/N), high-resolution spectral data obtained with VLT/UVES. With a…
Absorption lines of H$_2$ and HD molecules observed at high redshift in the line of sight towards quasars are a test ground to search for variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio $\mu$. For this purpose, results from astronomical…