ASKAP radio in GAMA galaxies at 0.42 < z < 1.00

These observations were carried out as part of a pilot survey for the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) First Large Absorption Survey in HI (FLASH). From a sample of 326 radio sources with 855.5 MHz peak flux density above 10 mJy, we detected two associated HI absorption systems, in SDSS J090331+010847 at z = 0.522 and SDSS J113622+004852 at z = 0.563.

Both galaxies are massive (stellar mass > 10^11^ M_{Sun}_) and have optical spectra characteristic of luminous red galaxies, though spectral energy distribution fitting implies that SDSS J113622+004852 contains a dust-obscured starburst with star formation rate ~ 69 M_{Sun}_.yr^-1^. The HI absorption lines have a high optical depth, with {tau}_pk_ of 1.77 +/- 0.16 for SDSS J090331+010847 (the highest value for any z > 0.1 associated system found to date) and 0.14 +/- 0.01 for SDSS J113622+004852.