Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006hst..prop10925s&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10925. Cycle 15
Physics
Scientific paper
We propose to acquire broad-band and H-alpha imaging of three bright, very nearby host galaxies for damped Ly-alpha absorbers DLAs. Our targets are the only DLA hosts at z < 0.03 i.e., spatial resolutions of < 1.2 kpc. The purpose of these observations is to discover the detailed morphology and kinematics and thus the origins of the gas giving rise to DLAs. While ground-based spectroscopy of DLAs is used to infer indirectly the evolution of galaxy metallicity and thick disk kinematics out to z > 4, only with HST imaging of the very lowest redshift DLA galaxies can we discover these relationships directly. In conjunction with H I 21-cm VLA emission maps, broad-band and H-alpha images of these DLAs will allow us to determine: 1 the sites of active star formation in the host galaxies and their relationship to the QSO sightline, 2 the presence of stellar streams, supernova shells, or bipolar "superwind" outflows in DLA host galaxies, and 3 the detailed spiral structure of the host galaxies, which will allow us to use the lower resolution H I 21-cm emission line images to determine unambiguous DLA kinematics with respect to the host galaxy i.e., is the DLA rotating with the disk?. Thus, the high resolution imaging will allow us to correctly interpret the kinematics and metallicity information provided by the H I 21-cm VLA maps and HST UV spectroscopy to better inform the high-z results.
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