A Metal-Strong and Dust-Rich Damped \lya Absorption System toward the Quasar SDSS J115705.52+615521.7

Abstract

(Abridged for arXiv) We report the discovery of an unusual, extremely dust-rich and metal-strong damped \lya absorption system (DLA) at a redshift $z_a=2.4596$ toward the quasar SDSS J115705.52+615521.7 (hereafter J1157+6155) with an emission-line redshift $z_e=2.5125$. Its neutral hydrogen column density $N_{\hi} = 10^{21.8\pm0.2}$ cm${}^{-2}$ is among the highest values measured in quasar DLAs. The measured metal column density is $N_{ZnII}\approx 10^{13.8}$ cm${}^{-2}$, which is about 1.5 times larger than the largest value in any previously observed quasar DLAs. The best-fit curve is a MW-like law with a significant broad feature centered around 2175 Å in the rest frame of the absorber. The measured extinction $A_V\approx 0.92$ mag is unprecedentedly high in quasar DLAs. After applying an extinction correction, the $i$ band absolute magnitude of the quasar is as high as $M_i\approx -29.4$ mag, placing it one of the most luminous quasars ever known. This discovery is suggestive of the existence of a rare yet important population of dust-rich DLAs with both high metallicities and high column densities, which may have significant impact on the measurement of the cosmic evolution of neutral gas mass density and metallicity.

arXiv comment15 pages, 10 figures, 1 table

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