Tracing interactions in HCGs through the HI

Abstract

We present a global study of HI spectral line mapping for 16 Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) combining new and unpublished VLA data, plus the analysis of the HI content of individual galaxies. Sixty percent of the groups show morphological and kinematical signs of perturbations (from multiple tidal features to concentration of the HI in a single enveloping cloud) and sixty five of the resolved galaxies are found to be HI deficient with respect to a sample of isolated galaxies. In total, 77% of the groups suffer interactions among all its members which provides strong evidence of their reality. We find that dynamical evolution does not always produce HI deficiency, but when this deficiency is observed, it appears to correlate with a high group velocity dispersion and in some cases with the presence of a first-ranked elliptical. The X-ray data available for our sample are not sensitive enough for a comparison with the HI mass; however this study does suggest a correlation between HI deficiency and hot gas since velocity dispersions are known from the literature to correlate with X-ray luminosity.