We present HST /WFPC2 broadband and ground-based { H } \alpha images , H i 21-cm emission maps , and low-resolution optical spectra of the nearby galaxy ESO 1327–2041 , which is located 38 \arcsec ( 14 h _ { 70 } ^ { -1 } kpc in projection ) west of the quasar PKS 1327–206 .
Our HST images reveal that ESO 1327–2041 has a complex optical morphology , including an extended spiral arm that was previously classified as a polar ring .
Our optical spectra show { H } \alpha emission from several H ii regions in this arm located \sim 5 \arcsec from the quasar position ( \sim 2 h _ { 70 } ^ { -1 } kpc in projection ) and our ground-based { H } \alpha images reveal the presence of several additional H ii regions in an inclined disk near the galaxy ’ s center .
Absorption associated with ESO 1327–2041 is found in H i 21-cm , optical , and near-UV spectra of PKS 1327–206 .
We find two absorption components at cz _ { abs } = 5255 and 5510 { km s } ^ { -1 } in the H i 21-cm absorption spectrum , which match the velocities of previously discovered metal-line components .
We attribute the 5510 { km s } ^ { -1 } absorber to disk gas in the extended spiral arm and the 5255 { km s } ^ { -1 } absorber to high-velocity gas that has been tidally stripped from the disk of ESO 1327–2041 .
The complexity of the galaxy/absorber relationships for these very nearby H i 21-cm absorbers suggests that the standard view of high redshift damped { Ly } \alpha absorbers is oversimplified in many cases .