Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:03:37.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Star Formation in Damped Lyman α Selected Galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2007

Lise Christensen*
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Santiago, Chile email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

I present results from an ongoing survey to study galaxies associated with damped Lyman-α (DLA) systems at redshifts z>2. Integral field spectroscopy is used to search for Lyα emission line objects at the wavelengths where the emission from the quasars have been absorbed by the DLAs. The DLA galaxy candidates detected in this survey are found at distances of 10–20 kpc from the quasar line of sight, implying that galaxies are surrounded by neutral hydrogen at large distances. If we assume that the distribution of neutral gas is exponential, the scale length of the neutral gas is ~6 kpc, similar to large disk galaxies in the local Universe. The emission line luminosities imply smaller star formation rates compared to other high redshift galaxies found in luminosity selected samples.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

References

Chen, H.-W., Kennicutt, R. C., & Rauch, M. 2005, ApJ, 620, 703CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, L., Wisotzki, L., Roth, M. M., et al. , 2007, A&A, 468, 587Google Scholar
Dessauges-Zavadsky, M., Calura, F., Prochaska, J. X., D'Odorico, S., & Matteucci, F. 2007, A&A, 470, 431Google Scholar
Fynbo, J. U., Møller, P., & Warren, S. J. 1999, MNRAS, 305, 849CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennicutt, R. C. 1998, ARA&A, 36, 189Google Scholar
Kulkarni, V. P. & Fall, S. M. 2002, ApJ, 580, 732CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulkarni, V. P., Woodgate, B. E., York, D. G., et al. , 2006, ApJ, 636, 30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ledoux, C., Petitjean, P., & Srianand, R. 2003, MNRAS, 346, 209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, P., Warren, S. J., Fall, S. M., Fynbo, J. U., & Jakobsen, P. 2002, ApJ, 574, 51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagamine, K., Wolfe, A. M., Hernquist, L., & Springel, V. 2007, ApJ, 660, 945CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prochaska, J. X., Herbert-Fort, S., & Wolfe, A. M. 2005, ApJ, 635, 123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, M. M., Kelz, A., Fechner, T., et al. , 2005, PASP, 117, 620CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steidel, C. C., Giavalisco, M., Pettini, M., Dickinson, M., & Adelberger, K. L. 1996, ApJL, 462, L17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storrie-Lombardi, L. J., McMahon, R. G., & Irwin, M. J. 1996, MNRAS, 283, L79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weatherley, S. J., Warren, S. J., Møller, P., et al. , 2005, MNRAS, 358, 985CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, A. M. & Chen, H.-W. 2006, ApJ, 652, 981CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, A. M., Prochaska, J. X., & Gawiser, E. 2003, ApJ, 593, 215CrossRefGoogle Scholar