Research Note

Interacting and merging galaxies from the second Byurakan survey^*

I. HI-observations

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany e-mail: huchtmeier@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
² Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory and Isaac Newton Institute of Chile, Armenian Branch, Byurakan 378433, Armenia e-mail: artptrs@yahoo.com
³ NCRA-TIFR, Pune University Campus, Pune 411 007, India e-mail: krishna@ncra.tifr.res.in
⁴ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD21218, USA e-mail: mclean@stsci.edu
⁵ Institut d'Astrophysique, Paris, France e-mail: kunth@iap.fr

Received: 1 August 2008
Accepted: 16 September 2008

Abstract

We present new results from HI observations of 53 previously undetected interacting and merging galaxies from the Second Byurakan Survey (SBS), in which 30 systems have been detected (detection rate 56%). High-resolution gray-scale optical images and isophotal maps of the HI detected galaxy systems are presented, in addition to comments on these systems. The possibility of confusion arising from known objects within the telescope beam is discussed for each case. For nine unconfused mergers, global HI parameters are determined. These objects are found to be HI-rich and have normal values of (total) mass-to-luminosity ratios. At least 18 objects in the present sample are found to have radio continuum counterparts above the milli-Jansky level near 1 GHz. Throughout this paper we use a value of H₀ = 72 km s^-1 Mpc^-1 for the Hubble constant.