Related papers: Quasistellar Objects: Intervening Absorption Lines
The absorption lines observed in quasar spectra have given us a detailed picture of the intergalactic medium and the metal abundance and kinematics of high redshift galaxies. In this review, we present an introduction to the field, starting…
Associated absorption lines (AALs) in quasar spectra are valuable probes of the gas kinematics and physical conditions in quasar environments. The host galaxies are by definition in an active evolution stage that might involve large-scale…
The importance of HST for the study of quasar absorption lines and of the nature of the intergalactic medium is illustrated by reviewing selected results from past HST observations. Topics reviewed include the study of Ly-alpha absorbers at…
Studies of high resolution quasar absorption lines (QALs), arising from gas in local and z < 1.5 galaxies, provide direct probes of the kinematic, chemical, and ionization conditions and evolution of Milky Way-like galaxies. Inferences…
Quasar absorption lines provide detailed information on the chemical, kinematic, and ionization conditions in galaxies and their environments, and provide a means for studying the evolution of these conditions back to the epoch of the first…
The physical state of the intergalactic medium can be probed in great detail with the intervening absorption systems seen in quasar spectra. The properties of the Hydrogen absorbers depend on many cosmological parameters, such as the…
Quasar absorption lines have long been recognized to be a sensitive probe of the abundances, physical conditions, and kinematics of gas in a wide variety of environments including low-density intergalactic regions that probably cannot be…
Strong absorption lines are common in rest-frame UV spectra of AGNs due to a variety of resonant transitions, for example the HI Lyman series lines (most notably Ly-alpha 1216) and high-ionization doublets like CIV 1549,1551. The lines are…
The physical nature of the material responsible for the high--velocity, broad-absorption line features seen in a small fraction of quasar spectra has been the subject of debate since their discovery. This has been especially compounded by…
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…
With close pairs of quasars at different redshifts, a background quasar sightline can be used to study a foreground quasar's environment in absorption. We search 149 moderate resolution background quasar spectra, from Gemini, Keck, the MMT,…
We wish to study the extent and subparsec scale spatial structure of intervening quasar absorbers, mainly those involving neutral and molecular gas. We have selected quasar absorption systems with high spectral resolution and good S/N data,…
It is difficult to describe in a few pages the numerous specific techniques used to study absorption lines seen in QSO spectra and to review even rapidly the field of research based on their observation and analysis. What follows is…
Quasar projected pairs (QPPs) can be used for investigating the circumgalactic medium of quasars through the study of intervening absorption lines in the spectrum of the background quasar that are at the same redshift of the foreground…
Further investigation of data on quasars, especially in the ultraviolet band, yields an amazingly coherent narrative which we present in this paper. Quasars are characterised by strong continuum emission and redshifted emission and…
Absorption signatures in the spectra of QSOs are one of our most powerful tools for studying galactic and intergalactic environments at high redshifts. With the discovery of QSOs out to z > 7, QSO absorption lines are now tracing the end…
If broad absorption line (BAL) quasars represent a high covering fraction evolutionary state (even if this is not the sole factor governing the presence of BALs), it is expected that they should show an excess of mid-infrared radiation…
Quasar spectra have a variety of absorption lines whose origins range from energetic winds expelled from the central engines to unrelated, intergalactic clouds. We present multi-epoch, medium resolution spectra of eight quasars at z~2 that…
We present the results of microlens ray-tracing simulations showing the effect of absorbing material between a source quasar and a lensing galaxy in a gravitational lens system. We find that, in addition to brightness fluctuations due to…
We present a new method for probing the physical conditions and metal enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium: the composite spectrum of Ly-alpha forest absorbers. We apply this technique to a sample of 9480 Ly-alpha absorbers with redshift…