SIMBAD references

Absorption lines in quasar spectra allow us to locate and study intervening galaxies. In order to obtain a clearer picture of these absorber galaxies, we have used the Near-Infrared Camera Fabry-Perot System at Apache Point Observatory to obtain near-infrared broadband images in one or more filters (J and K_s) of six quasar fields containing metal-rich low-z damped or sub-damped Lyα systems. These data allow us to search for the galaxies and constrain their luminosities. Candidate absorber galaxies are detected at 2".01-7".38 separation from the quasar in three out of six fields in the J and K_s bands at >3σ level with luminosities ranging from log(L/L _☉) = 10.44-10.36 in the J band (for E-Sc type galaxies) and log(L/L _☉) = 11.59-10.03 in the K_s band for our detections. We place limits on the remaining fields with no detections of log(L/L_☉) <10.83-9.75 for the J band and log(L/L_☉) <10.43-10.05 for the K_sband. We are also able to utilize Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra for each field to calculate optical fluxes and limits as well as limits on star formation rate via [O II]λ3727 emission in spectra. Our data, combined with other recent imaging results for metal-rich absorbers, suggest a possible positive correlation between absorber metallicity and galaxy luminosity, although the samples are still small.