Abstract
ABSTRACT Using galaxies as background light sources to map the Lyα absorption lines is a novel approach to study Damped Lyα Absorbers (DLAs). We report the discovery of an intervening z = 3.335 ± 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 H i /cm−2) = 21.68 ± 0.17. The DLA covering fraction over the extended background LBG is >70% (2σ), yielding a conservative constraint on the DLA area of ≳1 kpc2. 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 ⊙ yr−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 * ≳ 5 × 1010 M ⊙ 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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