Related papers: The metal systems in Q0000--2619 at high resolutio…
Spectra of the \ze~$=4.12$ quasar Q$0000-2619$ have been obtained in the range $\lambda\lambda = 4880-8115$ \AA~with a resolution of 13 \kms~and signal--to--noise ratio of $s/n=15-60$ per resolution element. The mode of the distribution of…
We present evidence that clumps of \lya lines are physically associated with about half of the extensive metal-line systems (absorption systems with four or more observed metal-line species) found in this paper, demonstrate that all four…
Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) and sub-DLAs seen toward background quasars provide the most detailed probes of elemental abundances. Somewhat paradoxically these measurements are more difficult at lower redshifts due to the atmospheric…
The APM multicolor survey for bright z > 4 objects, covering 2500 deg^2 of sky to m(R)~19, resulted in the discovery of thirty-one quasars with z > 4. High signal-to-noise optical spectrophotometry at 5A resolution has been obtained for the…
We present a detailed analysis of three metal absorption systems observed in the spectrum of the HDF-South quasar J2233-606 (z_em = 2.238), taking advantage of new VLT-UVES high resolution data (R=45000, S/N = 40-60, \lambda\lambda…
We present high resolution, high SNR spectra of the QSO Q2206-199 obtained with HIRES on the 10m W.M. Keck Telescope. Our analysis focuses on the two previously identified damped \lya systems found at $z=1.920$ and $z=2.076$. For each…
We have obtained high signal:to:noise optical spectroscopy at 5\AA\ resolution of 27 quasars from the APM z$>$4 quasar survey. The spectra have been analyzed to create new samples of high redshift Lyman-limit and damped Lyman-$\alpha$…
We present high signal-to-noise, 5 A resolution (FWHM) spectra of 66 z \ga 4 bright quasars obtained with the 4 m Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and 4.2 m William Hershel telescopes. The primary goal of these observations was to…
We present an analysis of the absorption-line system in the Very Large Telescope/Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph spectrum at a redshift of $z_{\rm a}={3.1448}$ associated with the quasar SDSS J122040.23+092326.96, whose…
Damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs), seen in absorption against a background quasar, provide the most detailed probes available of element abundances in the Universe over > 90 % of its age. DLAs can be used to observationally measure the…
We have detected in high resolution spectra of the quasar Q0347--3819 obtained with the UVES spectrograph at the VLT/Kueyen telescope over 80 absorption features in the Lyman and Werner H2 bands at the redshift of a damped Ly-alpha system…
We present abundance measurements for two super Lyman Limit systems (SLLS; quasar absorption line systems with 10^19 cm^-2 < N_HI < 10^20.3 cm^-2) selected from a set of metal-strong absorbers in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar…
We present elemental abundance measurements for 9 damped Ly-alpha systems (DLAs) and 1 sub-DLA at 0.1 < z < 1.5 from recent observations with the Multiple Mirror Telescope. Most of these absorbers are found to be metal-poor, while 2 are…
We present optical spectra of QSO HS~1946+7658 with either high resolution (FWHM=10 km/s) or high signal to noise ratio (SNR=40-100). We find 113 Lyman alpha and six metal line systems. The metal systems at Zabs=2.844 and 3.050 have complex…
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…
We identify a strong Ly-alpha damping wing profile in the spectrum of the quasar P183+05 at z=6.4386. Given the detection of several narrow metal absorption lines at z=6.40392, the most likely explanation for the absorption profile is that…
Detailed Monte Carlo Inversion analysis of the spectral lines from three Lyman limit systems (LLS) [N(HI) > 10^{17} cm^-2] and nine lower N(HI) systems [2 10^{14} < N(HI) < 2 10^{16} cm^-2] observed in the VLT/UVES spectra of Q0347-3819 (in…
Ratios of different ions of the same element encode ionization information independently from relative abundances in quasar absorption line systems, crucial for understanding the multiphase nature and origin of absorbing gas, particularly…
We present a survey for low-ionization metal absorption line systems towards 17 QSOs at redshifts z_em=5.8-6.4. Nine of our objects were observed at high resolution with either Keck/HIRES or Magellan/MIKE, and the remainder at moderate…
The metallicity in portions of high-redshift galaxies has been successfully measured thanks to the gas observed in absorption in the spectra of quasars, in the Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs). Surprisingly, the global mean metallicity…