The UCSD HIRES/Keck I Damped Lyα Abundance Database. I. The Data

Abstract

We present new chemical abundance measurements of 16 damped Lyα systems at z > 1.5 and update our previous abundance analyses. The entire database presented here was derived from HIRES observations on the Keck I telescope, reduced with the same software package, and analyzed with identical techniques. Altogether, we present a large, homogeneous database of chemical abundance measurements for protogalaxies in the early universe, ideal for studying a number of important aspects of galaxy formation. In addition, we have established an on-line directory for this database and will continuously update the results.