Related papers: Deuterium abundance and cosmology
This is a brief overview of the elemental abundance patterns that have been observed in the different Galactic stellar populations. Main focus is on studies that are based on high-resolution spectra of dwarf and subgiant stars, and in some…
We use high resolution spectra obtained with FUSE and STIS to obtain interstellar column densities of H I, D I, O I, S II, Fe II and P II toward the QSO HE 0226-4110 ( l = 253.4 deg , b = -65.77 deg). We obtain D/H = 21(+8, -6) ppm.…
Understanding the origins and distribution of matter in the Universe is one of the most important quests in physics and astronomy. Themes range from astro-particle physics to chemical evolution in the Galaxy to cosmic nucleosynthesis and…
There has been remarkable progress recently in both observational and theoretical studies of galaxy formation and evolution. Largely due to a combination of deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, Keck spectroscopy, and COBE far-IR background…
The primordial D/H ratio now provides the best measure of the cosmological density of baryons. We describe in detail how we deduce the D/H ratio from absorption lines in the spectra of quasars, and we present our first two measurements of…
In the course of their evolution, white-dwarf stars go through at least one phase of variability in which the global pulsations they undergo allow astronomers to peer into their interiors, this way making possible to shed light on their…
Recent astronomical discoveries of supermassive black holes (quasars), gamma-bursters, supernovae, and dust at high redshifts, z = (5 --10), are reviewed. Such a dense population of the early universe is at odds with the conventional…
This paper summarizes a project designed to study abundances in a sample of planetary nebulae representing a broad range in progenitor mass and metallicity. We collect abundances of C, N, and O determined for the entire sample and compare…
The enclosed paper was submitted for publication in Ap.J Lett. in February 1992. It has been rejected on the grounds that it predicts primordial Deuterium abundance which is contradicted by observations and because it disagreed with…
Lyman series absorption features and corresponding metal lines in three high-resolution quasar spectra are fitted in the standard way with thermally broadened discrete redshift components. A candidate sample is assembled, of 10 velocity…
Deuterium is the best indicator of the baryon density; however, only its present abundance is known (and only locally) and its chemical evolution is intertwined with that of $^3$He. Because galactic abundances are spatially heterogeneous,…
We discuss some of our current knowledge of the mass distribution of DA and non-DA stars using various methods for measuring white dwarf masses including spectroscopic, trigonometric parallax, and gravitational redshift measurements, with a…
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…
White dwarf planetary systems provide a unique way to measure the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. Extrasolar asteroids/comets/moons which have survived the evolution of their host star can end up in the atmosphere of the white…
White dwarfs, the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, serve as critical tools for cosmochronology, studies of planetary system evolution, and laboratories for non-standard physics, including exotic cooling channels and…
The z ~ 0.701 absorption system towards the QSO PG1718+4807 is the only example of a QSO absorption system which might have a deuterium/hydrogen ratio approximately ten times the value found towards other QSOs. We have obtained new STIS…
Reliable modeling of the atmospheres of cool white dwarfs is crucial for understanding the atmospheric evolution of these stars and for accurate white dwarfs cosmochronology. Over the last decade {\it ab initio} modeling entered many…
Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis at the baryon density determined by the microwave anisotropy spectrum predicts an excess of \li7 compared to observations by a factor of 4-5. In contrast, BBN predictions for D/H are somewhat below (but…
Quasars (Quasi Stellar Objects, abbreviated as QSOs) are still nowadays, close to half a century after their discovery, objects which are not completel y understood. In this brief review a description of the pending problems,…
We report on a deep search with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope towards the galactic anticenter for the 327 MHz hyperfine transition of DI. This is a favorable direction for a search because: (i) the HI optical depth is high due to…