The HI Content and Extent of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies - Could LSB Galaxies be Responsible for Damped Ly-alpha Absorption?

Abstract

Low surface brightness galaxies, those galaxies with a central surface brightness at least one magnitude fainter than the night sky, are often not included in discussions of extragalactic gas at z < 0.1. In this paper we review many of the properties of low surface brightness galaxies, including recent studies which indicate low surface brightness systems may contribute far more to the local HI luminosity function than previously thought. Additionally, we use the known (HI) gas properties of low surface brightness galaxies to consider their possible contribution to nearby damped Lyman-alpha absorbers.