Discovery of a z = 0.808 damped Lyα system candidate in a UV selected quasar spectrum

We present the observation of a new intermediate redshift damped Lyα absorption system candidate, discovered in the course of a spectroscopic follow-up for identifying the sources detected in a 150Å-wide bandpass UV-imaging survey at 2000 Å. The system displays very strong Mg ii and Fe ii lines and a high Fe ii/Mg ii ratio, which, following photoionization models, indicates a very high neutral hydrogen column density. Such systems being very rare at redshifts ≤ 1.7, but of prime importance for the understanding of the evolution of star formation in galaxies, the newly discovered candidate deserves further investigation in a near future.