Discovery of a Damped Ly alpha Absorber Originating in a Spectacular Interacting Dwarf Galaxy Pair at z=0.026

We present the discovery of neutral gas detected in both damped Ly alpha absorption (DLA) and H i 21 cm emission outside of the stellar body of a galaxy, the first such detection in the literature. A joint analysis between the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey and the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey reveals an H i bridge connecting two interacting dwarf galaxies (log (M (star)/M (circle dot)) = 8.5 +/- 0.2) that host a z = 0.026 DLA with log[N(H i)/cm(-2)] = 20.60 +/- 0.05 toward the QSO J2339-5523 (z (QSO) = 1.35). At impact parameters of d = 6 and 33 kpc, the dwarf galaxies have no companions more luminous than approximate to 0.05L (*) within at least Delta v = +/- 300 km s(-1) and d approximate to 350 kpc. The H i 21 cm emission is spatially coincident with the DLA at the 2 sigma-3 sigma level per spectral channel over several adjacent beams. However, H i 21 cm absorption is not detected against the radio-bright QSO; if the background UV and radio sources are spatially aligned, the gas is either warm or clumpy (with a spin temperature to covering factor ratio T ( s )/f ( c ) > 1880 K). Observations with VLT-MUSE demonstrate that the alpha-element abundance of the ionized interstellar medium (ISM) is consistent with the DLA (approximate to 10% solar), suggesting that the neutral gas envelope is perturbed ISM gas. This study showcases the impact of dwarf-dwarf interactions on the physical and chemical state of neutral gas outside of star-forming regions. In the SKA era, joint UV and H i 21 cm analyses will be critical for connecting the cosmic neutral gas content to galaxy environments.