Redshifts of 10 quasar candidates in the field of the rich absorption line quasar Q 0122 − 380 ⋆

We have obtained low resolution (∼20 Å FWHM) slit spectra of 10 quasar candidates located within one degree of the z = 2.181 quasar Q0122−380 with the objective of searching for signs of large scale structure matching the intervening rich absorption complexes seen over the redshift range 1.81 <∼ z <∼ 1.97 toward this object. Of the 8 confirmed quasars, 4 turn out to have redshifts z < 1.8, placing them well in front of the redshift range of interest. Two of the three confirmed quasars at redshift z > 1.8 show no obvious absorption matching that of Q0122−380 at our spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. The third object at a redshift of z = 1.868 displays strong zabs ∼ zem absorption systems at z ≃ 1.84 and z ≃ 1.86 and a possibly BAL-like trough at z ≃ 1.76. If not intrinsic in nature, the former two systems could potentially be related to the absorption seen in Q0122−380, albeit over a distance of 50.2 (D⊥ ≃ 15 h −1 Mpc at z ≃ 1.9).