The Z = 0:8596 Damped Lyman Alpha Absorbing Galaxy toward Pks 0454+039 1

We present Hubble Space Telescope and ground{based data on the z abs = 0:8596 metal line absorption system along the line of sight to PKS 0454+0356. The system is a moderate redshift damped Lyman alpha system, with N(HI) = (5:7 0:3) 10 20 cm 2 as measured from the Faint Object Spectrograph spectrum. We also present ground{ based images which we use to identify the galaxy which most probably gives rise to the damped system; the most likely candidate is relatively underluminous by QSO absorber standards (M B 19:0 for q 0 = 0:5 and H 0 = 50 km s 1 Mpc 1), and lies 8:5h 1 kpc in projection from the QSO sightline. Ground{based measurements of Zn II, Cr II, and Fe II absorption lines from this system allow us to infer abundances of Zn/H]=1:1, Cr/H]=1:2, and Fe/H]=1:2, indicating overall metallicity similar to damped systems at z > 2, and that the depletion of Cr and Fe onto dust grains may be even less important than in many of the high redshift systems of comparable metallicity. Limits previously placed on the 21-cm optical depth in the z = 0:8596 system, together with our new N(H I) measurement, suggest a very high spin temperature for the H I, T S > 580 K.