6 Conclusions

We have identified a new compact group of galaxies at low Galactic latitude and analyzed the main spectroscopic and morphological features of its members. The general properties of the system have been found in good agreement with those of Hickson Compact Groups. In summary this group, named as CG J0247+44.9, is composed by six members, including the close interacting S0+S pair, IRAS 02443+4437, whose enhanced infrared emission is dominated by the spiral component. Four out of the six galaxies show some kind of activity, ranging from a moderate level of star formation to a Seyfert nucleus. The closest galaxy to the geometrical center of the group is an E/S0 with internal structures suggestive of a past history of interaction or even merger. The early-type morphology (S0/Sa) is dominant in the group, which comprises only two late-type spirals. In the framework of hierarchical evolution, where spirals are transformed into ellipticals through interactions and mergers, this property combined with the short crossing time and the relatively high velocity dispersion suggests that the group is dynamically old. However the evident strong signs of interactions in the close pair indicate that the system is still evolving. High spatial and spectral resolution kinematics would be necessary to better establish the dynamical state of this galaxy group and the interaction history of its members.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Harald Ebeling for having provided us with the analysis of ROSAT data and for the useful discussion, and to Ronald Weinberger for a careful reading of the manuscript and useful suggestions. SC is grateful to the Institut für Astrophysik Innsbruck, for warm hospitality and to the Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam for the access to the IRAS data processing with the maximum entropy program. ST acknowledges support by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under project no. P15065. We wish also to thank the technicians of Asiago Observatory for their assistance during the observations.