Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/12/2003
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Title: Mining for Metals in the Early Universe

Speaker: Dr. Sara Ellison

Institute: University of Victoria
Department of Physics & Astronomy

Location: ABB 102

Description:

Quasar absorption line spectroscopy potentially offers an unbiased probe of neutral hydrogen reservoirs from zero to high redshift. In this talk I will summarise the current knowledge of metal enrichment that has been surveyed in the interstellar and intergalactic media via this technique. I will discuss the “missing metals” problem and potential biases in absorption line system surveys due to dust extinction and gravitational lensing. Finally, I will discuss recent work that has allowed us to extend the technique of QSO spectroscopy to probe the sizes and kinematics of the absorbing galaxies.