Related papers: A HST Spectroscopic study of QSOs with intermediat…
We present a detailed analysis of a high resolution spectrum of the damped Ly$\alpha$ system at $z_{\rm abs}$~=~2.8112toward PKS~0528-250. The absorption redshift is slightly larger than the emission redshift of the quasar. We estimate the…
We estimate the intrinsic neutral gas density in Damped Lyman Alpha systems ($\Omega_{HI}^{(DLA)}$) in the redshift range $ 2.2 \lesssim z \lesssim 5$ from the DLA SDSS DR_3 sample of optically selected quasars. We take into account…
The presence of dust in quasar absorbers, such as damped Lyman alpha (DLA) systems, may cause the background QSO to appear reddened. We investigate the extent of this potential reddening by comparing the optical-to-infrared (IR) colors of…
Damped Lyman-{\alpha} Absorbers (DLAs) as a class of QSO absorption-line systems are currently our most important source of detailed information on the cosmic chemical evolution of galaxies. However, the degree to which this information is…
We present the current status of ongoing searches for molecular hydrogen in high-redshift (1.8 < zabs <= 4.2) Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) capitalising on observations performed with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) Ultraviolet and…
We present a high signal-to-noise high resolution spectrum of the radio-quiet QSO HS1700+6416 (z = 2.72). Analysis of the absorption line systems with metals yields the following results. (1) The dense cluster of C IV doublets at 2.432 <…
We present new imaging and spectroscopic observations of the fields of five QSOs with very strong intervening CaII absorption systems at redshifts z<0.5 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Recent studies of these very rare absorbers…
The cosmic chemical enrichment as measured from damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) will be underestimated if dusty and metal-rich absorbers have evaded identification. Here we report the discovery and present the spectroscopic observations…
We have discovered molecular hydrogen in a fourth quasar damped Ly-alpha system (hereafter DLA). The UVES spectrograph on the 8.2m ESO Kueyen telescope has allowed the detection of H2 in gas with low metallicity, Z/Z_solar ~= 10^{-2}, and…
We present a spectroscopic investigation with VLT/X-shooter of seven candidate extremely strong damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorption systems (ESDLAs, $N(\text{HI})\ge 5\times 10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$) observed along quasar sightlines. We confirm the…
We present results from 12 km/s resolution echelle spectroscopy of the bright $z=4.694$ QSO BR1202-0725. A preliminary analysis shows that high metallicity narrow line absorption clouds are present up to the redshift of the quasar. A damped…
We have studied a sample of 809 Mg II absorption systems with 1.0 < z_abs < 1.86 in the spectra of SDSS QSOs, with the aim of understanding the nature and abundance of the dust and the chemical abundances in the intervening absorbers.…
We present a detailed study of HI and metals for 110 MgII absorption systems discovered at 1.98 <= z <= 5.33 in the infrared spectra of high redshift QSOs. Using new measurements of rest-frame UV lines from optical spectra of the same…
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,…
Spectroscopy of QSO absorption lines provides essential observational input for the study of nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution of galaxies at high redshift. But new observations may indicate that present chemical abundance data are…
We estimate the mean dust-to-gas ratio of MgII absorbers as a function of rest equivalent width W_0 and redshift over the range 0.5<z<1.4. Using the expanded SDSS/HST sample of low-redshift Lyman-alpha absorbers we first show the existence…
We present results from a search for strong H2 absorption systems proximate to quasars (zabs~zem) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 14. The search is based on the Lyman-Werner band signature of damped H2 absorption lines…
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…
We present HST STIS observations of four quasar pairs with redshifts 0.84<z_em<1.56 and angular separation 2-3 arcmin corresponding to ~ 1-1.5 h^-1_50 Mpc transverse proper distance at z ~ 0.9. We study the distribution of velocity…
We have studied a sample of 415 associated (z_ab z_em; relative velocity with respect to QSO <3000km/s) Mg II absorption systems with 1.0<=z_ab<=1.86, in the spectra of SDSS DR3 QSOs, to determine the dust content and ionization state in…