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DISCOVERY OF A DAMPED Lyα ABSORBER AT z = 3.3 ALONG A GALAXY SIGHT-LINE IN THE SSA22 FIELD
Using galaxies as background light sources to map the Ly alpha absorption lines is a novel approach to study Damped Ly alpha Absorbers (DLAs). We report the discovery of an intervening z= 3.335 + or - 0.007 DLA along a galaxy sight-line identified among 80 Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) spectra obtained w...
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Published in: | The Astrophysical journal 2016-02, Vol.817 (2), p.161 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Using galaxies as background light sources to map the Ly alpha absorption lines is a novel approach to study Damped Ly alpha Absorbers (DLAs). We report the discovery of an intervening z= 3.335 + or - 0.007 DLA along a galaxy sight-line identified among 80 Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) spectra obtained with our Very Large Telescope/Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph survey in the SSA22 field. The measured DLA neutral hydrogen (H i) column density is log(N sub(H i)/cm super(-2)) = 21.68 + or - 0.17. The DLA covering fraction over the extended background LBG is >70% (2[sigma]), yielding a conservative constraint on the DLA area of [> ~]1 kpc super(2). Our search for a counterpart galaxy hosting this DLA concludes that there is no counterpart galaxy with star formation rate larger than a few M sub([middot in circle]) yr super(-1), ruling out an unobscured violent star formation in the DLA gas cloud. We also rule out the possibility that the host galaxy of the DLA is a passive galaxy with M[low *] [> ~] 5 x 10 super(10)M sub([middot in circle]) or a heavily dust-obscured galaxy with E (B- V) [> ~] 2. The DLA may coincide with a large-scale overdensity of the spectroscopic LBGs. The occurrence rate of the DLA is compatible with that of DLAs found in QSO sight-lines. |
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ISSN: | 0004-637X 1538-4357 |
DOI: | 10.3847/0004-637X/817/2/161 |