Related papers: Extended Ly$\alpha$ emission around quasars with e…

Starting from a summary of detection statistics of our recent X-shooter campaign, we review the major surveys, both space and ground based, for emission counterparts of high-redshift damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) carried out since the…

Observed scatter in the Lyman-alpha opacity of quasar sightlines at $z<6$ has motivated measurements of the correlation between Ly$\alpha$ opacity and galaxy density, as models that predict this scatter make strong and sometimes opposite…

The sightline to the brighter member of the gravitationally lensed quasar pair UM 673A,B intersects a damped Lyman-alpha system (DLA) at z = 1.62650 which, because of its low redshift, has not been recognised before. Our high quality…

We present results from a survey of galaxies in the fields of six z>3 Damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We report a high detection rate of up to ~80% of…

We are exploring the connection between damped Ly-alpha absorbers (DLAs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) using deep -- (5sigma)=26 m_{AB}-- broad band imaging (UBVI) of four wide fields (0.25 sq. deg. each) obtained at the Kitt Peak 4-m…

The formation and evolution of galaxies require large reservoirs of cold, neutral gas. The damped Lya systems (DLAs), seen in absorption towards distant quasars and gamma-ray bursts, are predicted to be the dominant reservoirs for this gas.…

We present the first VLT/MUSE observations of a quasar featuring a proximate molecular absorption system, SDSS J125917.31+030922.5. The proximate damped Ly$\alpha$ absorption acts as a natural coronagraph, removing the quasar emission over…

Damped Lyman-alpha systems seen in spectra of background quasars are generally thought to represent high redshift counterparts of present-day galaxies. We summarize observations of heavy element abundances in damped Lyman-alpha systems. The…

Damped Ly-alpha absorbers (DLAs) are a well-studied class of absorption line systems, and yet the properties of their host galaxies remain largely unknown. To investigate the origin of these systems, we have conducted an imaging survey of…

Recent surveys show that $z>2$ quasars are surrounded by Hydrogen Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) glows with diverse emission levels and extents. These seem to depend on the activity of embedded quasars, the number of active galactic nucleus…

By combining our UVES-VLT spectra of a sample of four damped Ly-alpha systems (DLAs) toward the quasars Q0100+13, Q1331+17, Q2231-00 and Q2343+12 with the existing HIRES-Keck spectra, we covered the total spectral range from 3150 to 10000 A…

Using a spectral stacking technique we searched for the average \lya emission from high-z Damped \lya (DLA) galaxies detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey QSO spectra. We used a sample of 341 DLAs of mean redshift <z>= 2.86 and log N(HI)…

[Abridged]. Here, we report on the discovery of the galaxy counterpart of the z_abs=2.58 DLA on the line-of-sight to the z=3.07 quasar SDSS J091826.16+163609.0. The galaxy counterpart of the DLA is detected in the OIII 5007 and OII…

We report on a sensitive search for redshifted H$\alpha$ line-emission from three high-metallicity damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) at $z \approx 2.4$ with the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrometer (NIFS) on the Gemini-North…

Bright quasars, observed when the Universe was less than one billion years old (z>5.5), are known to host massive black holes (~10$^{9}$ M$_{\odot}$), and are thought to reside in the center of massive dark matter overdensities. In this…

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…

The strong observed clustering of $z>3.5$ quasars indicates they are hosted by massive ($M_{\rm{halo}}\gtrsim10^{12}\,h^{-1}\,\rm{M_{\odot}}$) dark matter halos. Assuming quasars and galaxies trace the same large-scale structures, this…

Deep, 17.8 hours, narrow band imaging obtained at the ESO 3.5m New Technology Telescope has revealed extended (galaxy sized) Ly-alpha emission from a high redshift Lyman limit absorber. The absorber is a z(abs) approx. z(em) Lyman limit…

We analyze the Ly alpha forest properties of a sample of 15 high redshift quasars lying between z = 4.42 and z = 5.75, using high signal-to-noise spectra obtained with ESI on the Keck II 10 m telescope. The distribution of transmissions in…

We have initiated a survey using the newly commissioned X-shooter spectrograph to target candidate relatively metal-rich damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs). The spectral coverage of X-shooter allows us to search for not only Lyman-alpha…