Related papers: Optical spectroscopy of high redshift BL Lac objec…
We have optically identified a sample of 56 featureless continuum objects without significant proper motion from the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ). The steep number--magnitude relation of the sample, $n(\bj) \propto 10^{0.7\bj}$, is similar…
We introduce a new method to determine the redshift of unknown-redshift BL Lac Objects. The method relies on simultaneous multi-wavelength (MWL) observations of BL Lac objects in optical, X-ray, HE (E>100 MeV) gamma-rays and VHE (E>100…
Narrow-band searches for Lyman alpha emission are an efficient way of identifying star-forming galaxies at high redshifts. We present Keck telescope spectra confirming redshifts z = 5.7 for three objects discovered in the Large Area Lyman…
High redshift blazars are among the most powerful non-explosive sources in the Universe and play a crucial role in understanding the evolution of relativistic jets. To understand these bright objects, we performed a detailed investigation…
We present 36 spectroscopically confirmed intrinsically UV-faint Ly$\alpha$ emitting galaxies from follow-up observations with Keck/DEIMOS of gravitationally lensed high-redshift candidates. Candidates were selected to be between $5\lesssim…
We report on the optical properties of a sample of 30 BL Lac host galaxies in the redshift range $0.03<z<0.2$, as derived from HST observations. All galaxies are fully resolved in the WFPC2 (F702W filter) images, allowing a quantitative…
Blazars are some of the brightest UV and X-ray sources in the sky and are valuable probes of the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM; $T{\simeq} 10^5-10^7$ K). However, many of the brightest blazars$-$called BL Lac objects such as…
Since no spectroscopic redshift is available for the remarkable BL Lac object 1ES 0647+250, we aim to derive an estimate of its distance from the properties of its host galaxy.We obtained a deep, high-resolution near-infrared H-band image…
The large majority of sources detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are blazars, belonging in particular to the blazar subclass of BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs). BL Lacs often have featureless optical spectra, which make it…
We report on observations of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) selected from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey at mean redshift z~4, 5 and 6, obtained with FORS2 spectrograph at the ESO-VLT.This program has yielded spectroscopic…
We report observations of a luminous unresolved object at redshift z = 4.62, with a featureless optical spectrum redward of the Lyman alpha forest region, discovered from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) commissioning data. The redshift is…
Lyman alpha blobs - luminous, spatially extended emission-line nebulae, often lacking bright continuum counterparts - are common in dense environments at high redshift. Until recently, atmospheric absorption and filter technology have…
We report on our further analysis of the expanded and revised sample of potential BL Lac objects (the 2BL) optically identified from two catalogues of blue-selected (UV excess) point sources, the 2dF and 6dF QSO Redshift Surveys (2QZ and…
A significant fraction ($\sim 30$ %) of the gamma-ray sources listed in the second $\textit{Fermi}$ LAT (2FGL) catalog is still of unknown origin, being not yet associated with counterparts at lower energies. Using the available information…
We used the DEIMOS spectrograph on the Keck II Telescope to obtain spectra of galaxies in the fields of five distant, rich galaxy clusters over the redshift range 0.5 < z < 0.9 in a search for luminous, compact, blue galaxies (LCBGs).…
We present initial results from a redshift survey carried out with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph on the 10~m W. M. Keck Telescope of a field 14.6 arc-min$^2$ in solid angle. In the redshift distribution of the 106 extragalactic…
The detection and identification of distant galaxies is a prominent goal of observational cosmology because distant galaxies are seen as they were in the distant past and hence probe early galaxy formation, due to the cosmologically…
The classification of gamma-ray-detected blazar candidates of uncertain type (BCU) is a relevant problem in extragalactic gamma-ray astronomy. Here we report the optical spectroscopic characterization, using two 3-4~m class telescopes,…
We present a large sample of 501 radio-selected BL Lac candidates from the combination of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 optical spectroscopy and from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST) radio…
High synchrotron peak (HSP; $\nu_{sy}^{pk} > 10^{15}$ Hz) BL Lacs are some of the most extreme accelerators in the Universe. Those found at high redshifts ($z>1$) challenge our understanding of blazar evolution models and are crucial for…