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.