Related papers: Molecular Hydrogen in Damped Ly-alpha Systems: Spa…
We detail a powerful indirect method for the study of damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) at low redshift. We increase the probability of finding a low-redshift DLA to nearly 50% by targeting QSOs that are known to have strong low-redshift…
Damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) are the highest \HI\ column density (\NHI) absorption line systems detected in the spectra of background quasars. DLAs dominate the neutral gas content of the Universe ($\Omega_{\rm HI}$) and are used to…
We are exploring the connection between damped Ly-alpha absorbers (DLAs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) using deep -- (5sigma)=26 m_{AB}-- broad band imaging (UBVI) of four wide fields (0.25 sq. deg. each) obtained at the Kitt Peak 4-m…
We present an analysis of the molecular hydrogen absorption system at z$_{\rm abs}$ = 2.811 in the spectrum of the blazar Q0528-250. We demonstrate that the molecular cloud does not cover the background source completely. The partial…
We investigated abundance ratios along the profiles of six high-redshift Damped Lyman-alpha systems, three of them associated with H2 absorption, and derived optical depths in each velocity pixel. The variations of the pixel abundance…
We report {\it HST} COS spectroscopy of 10 quasars with foreground star-forming galaxies at 0.02$<$$z$$<$ 0.14 within impact parameters of $\sim$1-7 kpc. We detect damped/sub-damped Ly$\alpha$ absorption in 100$\%$ of cases where no…
Studies of elemental abundances are a fundamental tool for unveiling the nature of the high-redshift (proto-)galaxies associated to Damped Ly alpha systems (DLAs). The present contribution analyses the impact of dust and ionization effects…
An independent analysis of the molecular hydrogen absorption system at z = 2.059 in the spectrum of the quasar J2123-0050 is presented. The H_2 system consists of two components (A and B) with column densities log N^A(H_2) = 17.94+/-0.01…
The Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs), seen in absorption in the spectrum of quasars, are believed to contain a large fraction of the neutral gas in the Universe. Paradoxically, these systems are more difficult to observe at z_abs<1.7,…
A comprehensive analysis of 355 high-quality WSRT HI 21-cm line maps of nearby galaxies shows that the properties and incident rate of Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) absorption systems observed in the spectra of high redshift QSOs are in good…
Quasar absorption systems not only affect the way quasars are selected, but also serve as key probes of galaxies, providing insight into their chemical evolution and interstellar medium (ISM). Recently, a method based on Gaia astrometric…
Damped Ly\alpha\ systems (DLAs) observed in the quasar spectra are characterized by a high neutral hydrogen column density $N_{HI}>2\times 10^{20}{\rm\ cm^{-2}}$. The absorption wing profiles are often fitted using the Voigt function due to…
Despite previous intensive ground-based imaging and spectroscopic campaigns and wide-band HST imaging of the z=0.927 QSO 3C336 field, the galaxy that hosts the damped Ly-alpha system along this line-of-sight has eluded detection. We present…
We derive the distribution of neutral and ionized gas in high redshift clouds which are optically thick to hydrogen ionizing radiation, using published data on Lyman-limit and Damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems in the redshift range 1.75…
We report the detections of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$), vibrationally-excited H$_2$ (H$^*_2$), and neutral atomic carbon (CI), in two new afterglow spectra of GRBs\,181020A ($z=2.938$) and 190114A ($z=3.376$), observed with X-shooter at the…
In this paper we show how to use data on Lyman-limit and Damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems to derive the hydrogen ionization fractions and the distribution of the face-on total gas column density. We consider axially symmetric, randomly…
Using three dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer models of photoionisation and dust scattering, we explore different components of the widespread diffuse H$\alpha$ emission observed in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and…
We present a new ultra-violet spectrum of the QSO 0013-004 with 0.9 \AA resolution obtained with the MMT Blue spectrograph. The \upsilon = 0 - 0, 1 - 0, 2 - 0 and 3 - 0 Lyman bands of H_2 associated with the z = 1.9731 damped Ly alpah…
We present results of our HST Cycle 11 Survey for low-redshift (z<1.65) DLAs in the UV spectra of quasars selected from the SDSS Early Data Release. These quasars have strong intervening MgII-FeII systems which are known signatures of high…
Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 5, we survey proximate damped Lya systems (PDLAs): absorption line systems with HI column density N(HI)> 2x10^20 cm^{-2} at velocity separation dv < 3000 km/s from their background quasar.…