Computer Science
Scientific paper
Dec 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997hst..prop.7449l&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #7449
Computer Science
Hst Proposal Id #7449 Quasar Absorption Lines
Scientific paper
The line of sight to QSO 3C 336 {z_em = 0.927} is one of the richest and best-studied available for absorption line investigation. Despite intensive ground-based and HST imaging and spectroscopy, however, the galaxy responsible for the highest column density system - a damped Ly-alpha cloud at z=0.656 - remains unidentified. The spectra imply a low metal enrichment for the cloud, with Fe/H -1.2, in conflict with the general scenario that damped Ly-alpha clouds progressively turn gas into stars over cosmic time. We propose deep narrowband NICMOS imaging of the QSO line of sight using the F108N filter, which fortuitously includes H-alpha at z=0.656, to attempt to detect the putative absorbing galaxy. With its excellent resolution and dynamic range, this observing combination affords the best opportunity available to find the elusive source. Imaging the absorber directly is crucial to constrain its size, morphology, and star formation activity. With 4 orbits in the narrow-band filter and 1 in a broad-band comparison {plus 1 orbit for PSF calibration}, our observations should be sensitive {5-sigma} to any compact galaxy with a star formation rate greater than 1 M_sun up to within 0.2 arcsec, or 0.9 h_100^-1 kpc, of the QSO sightline. If the absorber is indeed a dwarf galaxy almost exactly superposed on the QSO image, then NICMOS + redshifted H-alpha filter provides the only way to image the system directly. This is important for interpretation of the extensive spectroscopic information already gathered on this absorption cloud, including from HST.
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