Related papers: Quasar Absorption Lines and the Intergalactic Medi…
The galaxy-IGM part of the Lyman-break survey currently consists of measured redshifts for more than 1000 galaxies with redshift 1.5<z<3.5 along the sightlines to 25 background QSOs. One of the goals of the survey was to measure the…
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…
We present further observational results on our Lya-only absorber identification project at low and intermediate redshifts. We combine CFHT/MOS imaging and spectroscopic observations of 25 galaxies in the field of the quasar 3C286 (z_e =…
High resolution rest frame UV quasar absorption spectra covering low and high ionization species, as well as the Lyman series lines, provide remarkably detailed information about the gaseous phases of galaxies and their environments. For…
We examine the relationship between galaxies and the intergalactic medium at z < 1 using a group of three closely spaced background QSOs with z_em ~1 observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Using a new grouping algorithm, we identify…
Ionizing sources embedded in the neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) before cosmological reionization generate discrete HII regions. We show that a sufficiently bright quasar (for example, one tenth as luminous as that recently discovered by…
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…
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…
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 report the discovery of a further line of sight allowing detection of HeII Ly alpha absorption by the intergalactic medium. A HST/STIS survey of 32 bright z ~ 3 quasars selected from the Hamburg Quasar Surveys yielded one detection…
High-resolution UV spectroscopy of low-z QSOs with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer has indicated that O VI absorption-line systems provide a valuable probe of the low-z intergalactic…
The transmission grating spectrometers on AXAF have sufficient sensitivity and energy resolution to detect resonance X-ray absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars. Such lines would be produced in an ionized, and somewhat…
Very recently a new inversion method has been developped to analyze the intergalactic medium seen in absorption in quasar spectra (the so-called Lyman-alpha forest). This method is applied to recover the temperature of the gas and the…
Absorption lines at high redshift in front of quasars are rare in the mm domain. Only five associated and five intervening systems have been reported in the literature. These bring very useful information complementary to emission lines,…
The origin and evolution of structure in the Universe is one of the major questions occupying astronomers today. An understanding of the Lyalpha absorbers seen in QSO spectra is an important part of this program since such absorbers can be…
The properties of circum-galactic gas in the halo of quasar host galaxies are investigated analyzing Mg II 2800 and C IV 1540 absorption-line systems along the line of sight close to quasars. We used optical spectroscopy of closely aligned…
We present HST spectra for a sample of six QSOs with intermediate redshift (z_a < 1) damped Ly-alpha systems. These observations aim at measuring the HI column density and detect metal lines in order to investigate the metal enrichment of…
We present the target selection, observations, and data reduction and analysis process for a program aimed at discovering numerous, weak (equivalent width < 100 mA) Lya absorption lines in the local Universe (0.003 < z < 0.069). The purpose…
Millimetre-band scans of the frequency space towards optically dim quasars is potentially a highly efficient method for detecting new high redshift molecular absorption systems. Here we describe scans towards 7 quasars over wide bandwidths…
The enrichment of the intergalactic medium (IGM) with heavy elements provides us with a record of past star formation and with an opportunity to study the interactions between galaxies and their environments. We summarize current data…