Related papers: Probing the Dark Ages with Metal Absorption Lines
We present the first results from our NASA Keck Observatory Database of Ionized Absorbers toward Quasars (KODIAQ) survey which aims to characterize the properties of the highly ionized gas of high redshift galaxies and their circumgalactic…
We present extensive metal-line absorption properties for 45 absorption systems that were selected by their Mg II absorption at redshifts between 0.4 and 1.4. For each system the properties of several chemical species are determined,…
We now have mounting evidences that the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxies is polluted with metals processed through stars. The fate of these metals is however still an open question and several findings indicate that they remain…
Spectra of quasars at high redshift with high resolution and high signal-to-noise allow in favorable circumstances detection of absorption by deuterium and ultimately measurement of its primordial abundance. Ultraviolet spectra of high…
We investigate the metal contents of Lyman-alpha clouds at 2.2<z<3.6 with 10^13.5<N(HI)<10^14 cm-2 using high resolution, high S/N spectra of 9 quasars obtained with the 10m Keck I telescope. Using an composite spectrum analysis technique,…
Stellar absorption lines of heavy elements can give us various insights into the chemical evolution of the Galaxy and nearby galaxies. Recently developed spectrographs for the near-infrared wavelengths are becoming more and more powerful…
We provide measurements of the neutral hydrogen fraction xHI at z~6, by comparing semi-analytical models of the Lyalpha forest with observations of high-z quasars and Gamma Ray Bursts absorption spectra. We analyze the transmitted flux in a…
The ultraviolet spectrum (1145--1720A) of the distant quasar Q 0302--003 (z=3.286) was observed at 1.8A resolution with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. A total integration time of 23,280 s was…
The absorption by neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) produces the Ly$\alpha$ forest in the spectra of quasars. The Ly$\alpha$ forest absorbers have a broad distribution of neutral hydrogen column density $N_{\rm HI}$ and…
We investigate the existence of a metal-rich OVI population in 10 high spectral resolution quasar spectra and define observational criteria for this class of absorbers. The low temperatures of nearly half of all OVI absorbers (redshifts 2.0…
The emission of 21-cm radiation from a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshift is discussed in connection with the thermal and ionization history of the universe. The physical mechanisms that make such radiation detectable…
We are currently undertaking a large survey for redshifted atomic and molecular absorption ... only one clear and one tentative detection were obtained: HI absorption at z = 0.097 in PKS 1555-140 and OH absorption at z =0.126 in PKS…
We present a neutral hydrogen-selected absorption-line survey of gas with HI column densities 15<log N(HI)<19 at z<1 using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Our main aim is to determine the metallicity…
We have obtained optical spectra of four galaxies associated with MgII QSO absorbers at redshifts 0.10 < z < 0.45. We calculate the gas-phase oxygen abundance of these galaxies using the empirical R23 strong line method. The absolute B-band…
Using a hydrodynamic simulation of a LCDM universe, we investigate the "X-ray forest" absorption imprinted on the spectra of background quasars by the intervening intergalactic medium (IGM). In agreement with previous studies, we find that…
The current census of observed baryons in the local Universe is still missing a significant fraction of them according to standard Big-Bang nucleosynthesis. Numerical simulations predict that most of the missing baryons are in a hot…
Investigating the Gunn-Peterson trough of high redshift quasars (QSOs) is a powerful way to reveal the cosmic reionization. As one of such attempts, we perform a series of analyses to examine the absorption lines observed with one of the…
We study the physical conditions of the circum-galactic medium (CGM) around z=0.25 galaxies as traced by HI and metal line absorption, using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations that include galactic outflows. Using lines of sight targeted…
We have searched for redshifted neutral hydrogen 21cm absorption toward sources from the Stickel et al. `red quasar' sub-sample. Five of these red quasars have been searched for redshifted HI 21cm absorption to optical depth levels of a few…
The metal absorption lines found in association with \lya absorbers of moderate to high HI column density contain valuable information about the metallicity and ionization conditions within the absorbers and offer a stronger test of models…