  The neutron-deficient Ca isotopes continue to attract attention due to their
importance for testing isospin symmetry and their relevance in capture
reactions of interest for nova nucleosynthesis and the shape of light curves in
Type I X-ray bursts. To date, spectroscopic information on 38,39 Ca is largely
limited to data on lower-spin excited states. Here, we report in-beam
{\gamma}-ray spectroscopy of complementary higher-spin, complex-structure
states in 39 Ca populated in fast-beam-induced, momentum-dissipative processes
leading to neutron pickup onto excited configurations of the projectile, 9
Be(38 Ca , 39 Ca + {\gamma})X. Such a dissipative reaction was recently
characterized for the case of inelastic scattering of 38 Ca off 9 Be, 9 Be(38
Ca, 38 Ca + {\gamma})X. Additional data and discussion on the nuclear structure
of 38 Ca is also presented. An explanation for the more-complex-structure
states, populated with small cross sections in one-nucleon knockout reactions,
and observed in the tails of their longitudinal momentum distributions, is also
offered.
