Related papers: Dissecting cold gas in a high-redshift galaxy usin…
We report the discovery of two damped Ly-alpha absorption-line systems (DLAs) near redshift z=1 along a single quasar sightline (Q1727+5302) with neutral hydrogen column densities of N(HI) = (1.45\pm0.15)\times10^{21} and…
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array, we have detected CO(3-2) line and far-infrared continuum emission from a galaxy associated with a high-metallicity ([M/H] = -0.27) damped Ly-alpha absorber (DLA) at z =2.19289. The…
We present the direct detection of molecular hydrogen at the highest redshift known today (z_abs=4.224) in a Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system toward the quasar PSS J1443+2724. This absorber is remarkable for having one of the highest…
To search for low-redshift damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) and sub-DLA quasar absorbers, we have conducted a 21cm absorption survey of radio-loud quasars at small impact parameters to foreground galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey…
Neutral hydrogen traces gravitational potentials. In the nearby universe, 21cm emission-line surveys show that the bulk of the HI resides in well-formed, optically-luminous galaxies. At high redshift, 21cm line absorption against background…
Absorption spectroscopy of gravitationally lensed quasars (GLQs) enables study of spatial variations in the interstellar and/or circumgalactic medium of foreground galaxies. We report observations of 4 GLQs, each with two images separated…
We report results from a programme aimed at investigating the temperature of neutral gas in high-redshift damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs). This involved (1) HI 21cm absorption studies of a large DLA sample, (2) VLBI studies to…
We present a detailed analysis of a H2-bearing metal-rich sub-damped Lyman-alpha system at zabs = 0.10115 towards the radio-loud quasar J0441-4313, at a projected separation of ~7.6 kpc from a star-forming galaxy. The H2, C I and Na I…
We report the GMRT detection of HI 21cm absorption from the $z \sim 3.39$ damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorber (DLA) towards PKS 0201+113, the highest redshift at which 21cm absorption has been detected in a DLA. The absorption is spread over…
We report the serendipitous detection of an H$_{2}$-bearing damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorber at z = 0.576 in the spectrum of the QSO J0111-0316 in the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey. Spectroscopic observations from HST-COS in the…
Motivated by recent observation of Lanzetta et al. that most luminous galaxies at low redshifts produce $\lya$ absorption at impact parameter $l\lsim 160 \kpch$, we propose that these absorbers are clouds confined by the pressure of ambient…
Quasar absorption systems not only affect the way quasars are selected, but also serve as key probes of galaxies, providing insight into their chemical evolution and interstellar medium (ISM). Recently, a method based on Gaia astrometric…
We report the detection of redshifted HI~21cm absorption in the $z \sim 2.347$ damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorber (DLA) towards PKS B0438-436, with the Green Bank Telescope. This is the second-highest redshift at which 21cm absorption has been…
Lyman- and Werner-band absorption of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) is detected in $\sim$50% of low redshift ($z<1$) DLAs/sub-DLAs with $N$(H$_2$) > 10$^{14.4}$ cm$^{-2}$. However the true origin(s) of the H$_2$ bearing gas remain elusive. Here…
Damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) with molecular hydrogen have been probed in detail through both spectroscopic observations and numerical modelling. However, such H$_2$ absorbers are quite sparse at very high redshifts. We identify…
We present a detailed analysis of a red quasar at z=2.32 with an intervening damped Lyman-alpha absorber (DLA) at z=2.13. Using high quality data from the X-shooter spectrograph at ESO Very Large Telescope we find that the absorber has a…
We present the first direct evidence for cold gas in a high redshift DLA galaxy. We measured several multiplets of weak neutral carbon (CI) transitions in order to perform a curve of growth analysis. A delta chi-squared test constrains the…
We investigate how damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) at z ~ 2-3, detected in large optical spectroscopic surveys of quasars, trace the population of star-forming galaxies. Building on previous results, we construct a model based on…
We report results from a deep search for redshifted HI 21cm absorption from eight damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) detected in our earlier optical survey for DLAs towards radio-loud quasars. HI 21cm absorption was detected from the $z…
We present results from MUSE observations of a 21-cm HI absorption system detected with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder radio telescope at redshift $z = 0.4503$ towards the $z = 1.71$ quasar PKS 1610-771. We identify four…