Related papers: Quasistellar Objects: Intervening Absorption Lines
The analysis of absorption features along the line of sight to distant sources is an invaluable tool for observational cosmology, giving a direct insight into the physical and chemical state of the inter/circumgalactic medium. Such…
I report the discovery of blueshifted broad absorption line (BAL) troughs in at least six transitions of the Balmer series of hydrogen (Hbeta to H9) and in CaII, MgII and excited FeII in the quasar SDSS J125942.80+121312.6. This is only the…
We present the results of a search for variability in the equivalent widths (EWs) of narrow, associated (Delta v < 5,000 km/s) absorption lines found in the UV spectra of z < 1.5 quasars. The goal of this search was to use variability as a…
Associated absorption lines (AALs) are valuable probes of the gaseous environments near quasars. Here we discuss high-resolution (6.7 km/s) spectra of the AALs in the radio-loud quasar 3C 191 (redshift z=1.956). The measured AALs have…
We propose a simple unifying structure for the inner regions of quasars and AGN. This empirically derived model links together the BALs, the narrow UV/X-ray ionized absorbers, the BELR, and the Compton scattering/fluorescing regions into a…
Observations of quasar absorption systems relevant for studies of star formation at redshift 2 </= z </= 4 are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is given on the role played by dust in our understanding of the star formation history of galaxies…
The extraordinarily bright quasar PHL 1811 at a redshift z = 0.192 provides an attractive opportunity to use ultraviolet absorption-line spectroscopy to study the properties of gas systems in the local universe. An R = 20,000 far-UV…
Broad absorption line quasars (BALQs) present a large diversity in their broad absorption line (BAL) profiles. To investigate what physical parameters underlie this diversity, we construct a sample of BALQs which covers lambda_rest ~…
The law introduced by Karlsson in spectroscopy of low-redshift quasars involves the Lyman spectrum of hydrogen atoms. Thus, it appears necessary to study the concepts introduced by a standard spectroscopy of quasars, studied here, with…
The intergalactic medium at redshifts 2--6 can be studied observationally through the absorption features it produces in the spectra of background quasars. Most of the UV-absorption lines arise in mildly overdense regions, which can be…
In this work we report deep MUSE observations of a Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasar at z ~ 5, revealing a Lyman alpha nebula with a maximum projected linear size of ~ 60 kpc around the quasar (down to our 2-sigma SB limit per layer of ~…
Photoionization modeling of certain low-ionization broad absorption lines in quasars implies very compact (Delta R~0.01 pc), galaxy-scale (R kpc) absorbers blueshifted by several 1000 km s^-1. While these are likely signatures of quasar…
We discuss new high-resolution (6.7 km/s) spectra of the associated absorption lines (AALs) in the radio-loud quasar 3C 191. The measured AALs have ionizations ranging from Mg I to N V, and multi-component profiles that are blueshifted by…
We present a survey of six low to moderate redshift quasars with Chandra and XMM-Newton. The primary goal is to search for the narrow X-ray absorption lines produced by highly ionized metals in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium. All the…
We describe two studies designed to characterize the total column densities, kinetic energies, and acceleration physics of broad absorption line (BAL) outflows in quasars. The first study uses new Chandra X-ray and ground-based rest-frame…
We have modelled the evolution of the number of Ly_alpha absorbers with redshift, resulting from the evolution of the ionising background and the Hubble expansion. The contribution of quasars (QSOs) and galaxies to the HI-ionising UV…
Gravitational microlensing has proven to be a powerful probe of both the structure at the heart of quasars and the mass function of compact objects in foreground lenses. This paper examines the potential of gravitational microlensing in…
We review the ongoing debate about the relationship between low redshift Lyman Alpha absorbers and luminous galaxies. In particular, we discuss the difficulty of `assigning' a particular absorber to a particular galaxy, and consider methods…
We present new statistical study on the origin of Lyman-alpha absorption systems that are detected in QSO fields. The primary objective is to investigate environmental dependence of the relationship between galaxies and Lyman-alpha…
We show that invaluable information on the structure of quasar outflows can be obtained by considering microlensing (ML) induced variability of absorption line troughs in lensed quasars. Depending on the structure and geometry of the…