Related papers: Broadening of Ly alpha by neutral helium in DBA wh…
There is evidence that the transiting planet HD 209458b has a large exosphere of neutral hydrogen, based on a 15% decrement in Lyman-alpha flux that was observed by Vidal-Madjar et al. during transits. Here we report upper limits on H-alpha…
Detailed analysis of the spectral lines from two low redshift damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLA) confirms that they are a heterogeneous population. Both systems have low metal abundances of approximately 0.05 to 0.1 solar. The abundance…
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…
Atmospheric parameters for hot DB (helium atmosphere) white dwarfs near effective temperatures of 25000K are extremely difficult to determine from optical spectroscopy. This is particularly unfortunate, because this is the range of variable…
To interpret H_2 quasar absorption line observations in Damped Ly-alpha clouds (DLAs), we model the H_2 spatial distribution within a DLA. Based on numerical simulations of disk structures with parameters similar to those derived for such…
Absorption of stellar H\alpha\ by the upper atmosphere of the planet HD189733b has recently been detected by Jensen et al. Motivated by this observation, we have developed a model for atomic hydrogen in the n=2 state and compared the…
Some white dwarfs undergo significant changes in atmospheric composition owing to the diffusion and mixing of residual hydrogen in a helium-rich envelope. Of particular interest are a few objects exhibiting hydrogen and helium line…
In order to interpret H2 (molecular hydrogen) quasar absorption line observations of damped Ly-alpha systems (DLAs) and sub-DLAs, we model their H2 abundance as a function of dust-to-gas ratio, including H2 self-shielding and dust…
We determine the ratio of helium- to hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf stars as a function of effective temperature from a model atmosphere analysis of the infrared photometric data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey combined with available…
White dwarf stars are traditionally found to have surface compositions made primarily of hydrogen or helium. However, a new family has recently been uncovered, the so-called Hot DQ white dwarfs, which have surface compositions dominated by…
We present the discovery of neutral gas detected in both damped Ly$\alpha$ absorption (DLA) and HI 21-cm emission outside of the stellar body of a galaxy, the first such detection in the literature. A joint analysis between the Cosmic…
Nitrogen abundances have been derived in Damped Ly alpha (DLA) galaxies at Zabs = 2.309, 2.827 and 3.025 toward the QSOs 0100+1300, 1425+6039 and 0347-3819 respectively. The behaviour of nitrogen relative to iron-peak and alpha-elements has…
In this work the processes of absorption charge-exchange and photo-association in He+H$^{+}$ collisions together with the process of ion HeH$^{+}$ photo-dissociation are considered as factors of influence on the opacity of the atmospheres…
The presence of heavy elements in the atmospheres of the hottest H-rich DA white dwarfs has been the subject of considerable interest. While theoretical calculations can demonstrate that radiative forces, counteracting the effects of…
We use self-consistent kinetic/hydrodynamic models of the heliosphere to predict H I Lyman-alpha absorption profiles for various lines of sight through the heliosphere. These results are compared with Lyman-alpha absorption lines of six…
We present the results of a spectral analysis of a large sample of subdwarf B stars selected from follow-up observations of candidates from the Hamburg Quasar Survey. Fundamental parameters (effective temperature, gravity, and helium…
Damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) are the highest \HI\ column density (\NHI) absorption line systems detected in the spectra of background quasars. DLAs dominate the neutral gas content of the Universe ($\Omega_{\rm HI}$) and are used to…
We have discovered molecular hydrogen in a fourth quasar damped Ly-alpha system (hereafter DLA). The UVES spectrograph on the 8.2m ESO Kueyen telescope has allowed the detection of H2 in gas with low metallicity, Z/Z_solar ~= 10^{-2}, and…
Damped Ly-alpha Systems (DLAs), with N(HI)>2*10^20 cm^{-2}, observed in quasars have allowed us to quantify the chemical content of the Universe over cosmological scales. Such studies can be extended to lower N(HI), in the sub-DLA range…
We have identified the H-alpha absorption feature as a new spectroscopic diagnostic of luminosity class in K- and M-type stars. From high-resolution spectra of 19 stars with well-determined physical properties (including effective…