Related papers: The densities in diffuse and translucent molecular…

The mass of molecular gas in an interstellar cloud is often measured using line emission from low rotational levels of CO, which are sensitive to the CO mass, and then scaling to the assumed molecular hydrogen H_2 mass. However, a…

This study presents a catalog of 8107 molecular clouds that covers the entire Galactic plane and includes 98% of the $^{12}$CO emission observed within $b\pm5^\circ$. The catalog was produced using a hierarchical cluster identification…

Ions (e.g., H$_3^+$, H$_2$O$^+$) have been used extensively to quantify the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR) in diffuse sightlines. However, measurements of CRIR in low-to-intermediate density gas environments are rare, especially when…

C$^+$ is a critical constituent of many regions of the interstellar medium, as it can be a major reservoir of carbon and, under a wide range of conditions, the dominant gas coolant. Emission from its 158$\mu$m fine structure line is used to…

Neither HI nor CO emission can reveal a significant quantity of so-called dark gas in the interstellar medium (ISM). It is considered that CO-dark molecular gas (DMG), the molecular gas with no or weak CO emission, dominates dark gas. We…

Hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium, observed in diverse environments ranging from diffuse to molecular dark clouds and strong photon-dominated regions near HII regions. Recently, two broad diffuse interstellar bands…

We present detailed photoionization models of well aligned optically thin C III absorption components at $2.1 < z < 3.4$. Using our models we estimate density ($n_{\rm \tiny H}$), metallicity ($[C/H]$), total hydrogen column density and…

We consider the physical conditions and origin of the z = 0.0777 absorption system observed in C III, C II, Si III, C IV, O VI, and H I absorption along the line of sight towards the quasar PHL 1811. We analysed the HST/STIS and FUSE…

We map out calcium II & sodium I absorption (Fraunhofer H, K & D lines) induced by both the interstellar medium and the circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way. Our measurements cover more than $9000$ deg$^2$ and make use of about $300,000$…

The chemical inventory of protoplanetary midplanes is the basis for forming planetesimals. Among them, solid-state reactions based on CO/CO$_2$ toward molecular complexity on interstellar dust grains have been studied in theoretical and…

Using UV spectra obtained with FUSE, HST, and/or IUE, we determine interstellar column densities of 12CO, 13CO, and/or C_2 for ten Galactic sight lines with 0.37<E(B-V)<0.72. The N(CO)/N(H_2) ratio varies over a factor of 100 in this…

We present a theoretical investigation of the chemistry of fluorine-bearing molecules in diffuse and dense interstellar gas clouds. The chemistry of interstellar fluorine is qualitatively different from that of any other element, because -…

Galactic cosmic rays are a ubiquitous source of ionisation of the interstellar gas, competing with UV and X-ray photons as well as natural radioactivity in determining the fractional abundance of electrons, ions and charged dust grains in…

We modelled recent observations of UV absorption of HD and \HH\ in the Milky Way and toward damped/sub-damped Lyman alpha systems at z=0.18 and z $>$ 1.7. N(HD)/N(\HH) ratios reflect the separate self-shieldings of HD and \HH\ and the…

We have obtained high resolution (FWHM = 4.4 km/s) Keck spectra of images A and C of the gravitationally lensed QSO Q1422+231. The images are separated by 1.3" on the sky. In an absorption system at z = 3.538 gas column density variations…

The cosmic-ray ionization rate (zeta) of dense molecular clouds is a key parameter for their dynamics and chemistry. Variations of zeta are well established, but it is unclear if these are related to source column density or to Galactic…

Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of Galactic molecular clouds is important for understanding how clouds are affected by processes such as turbulence and magnetic fields and how this structure effects star formation within them.…

A new molecular hydrogen cloud has been identified at z = 3.025 in the absorption-line spectrum of the quasar 0347-3819 observed with the UVES spectrograph at the VLT/Kueyen telescope. At the same redshift numerous metal lines and the DI…

Using high resolution infrared spectroscopy we have surveyed twenty sightlines for H3+ absorption. H3+ is detected in eight diffuse cloud sightlines with column densities varying from 0.6x10^14 cm^-2 to 3.9x10^14 cm^-2. This brings to…

We have detected new HD absorption systems at high redshifts, z_abs=2.626 and z_abs=1.777, identified in the spectra of the quasars J0812+3208 and Q1331+170, respectively. Each of these systems consists of two subsystems. The HD column…