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J.M.M. Horn, M. Morris (UCLA), P. Wannier (JPL)
We report on measurements of the atomic and molecular gas content of the blue compact galaxy (BCG) II\,Zw\,44 and its two companion galaxies UGC\,5529 and Z1012.5\,+2118. The region around these galaxies has been mapped in H\,I with the Arecibo radiotelescope, and is found to be extended over a ~0.5\,Mpc region for a distance of about 80\,Mpc. The total inferred atomic mass exceeds 1010\,M\odot. This extremely large cloud of atomic gas raises the question of whether the galaxies are forming out of this gas cloud or whether the gas has been pulled from the galaxies as a result of tidal encounters. Deep CO 1-0 measurements have been taken with the NRAO 12\,m telescope, revealing emission in BCG II\,Zw\,44, but not in the companion galaxies.