Exploring superwinds through Ly-α emission from high redshift galaxies

In this talk I present recent observations of spatially resolved gas emission from high redshift galaxies. I start by presenting observations of the Ly-α blobs. I describe the emission that is seen and focus on the strong absorption feature seen in LAB2. I argue that this is evidence for a shell of material swept by during a powerful episode of star formation. The LAB emitters are, however, extremely unusual. To probe the resolved properties of typical galaxies requires a much greater collecting area. This can be achieved by harnessing the power of gravitational lensing. I describe observations of a redshift 5 arc that are allowing us to probe the nature of superwind outflows in typical high redshift galaxies.