Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 144, 429-439

Possibly interacting Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov galaxies

I. Observations of VV 432, VV 543 and VV 747

A.V. Zasov¹ - A.Y. Kniazev² - S.A. Pustilnik² - A.G. Pramsky² - A.N. Burenkov² - A.V. Ugryumov² - J.-M. Martin³

Send offprint request: A.V. Zasov, e-mail: zasov@sai.msu.su

1 - State Astronomical Institute of the Moscow State University, Universitetsky Pr. 13, Moscow 119899, Russia
e-mail: zasov@sai.msu.su
2 - Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachai-Circessia 357147, Russia
e-mail: akn@sao.ru sap@sao.ru pramsky@sao.ru ban@sao.ru and@sao.ru
3 - Département de Radioastronomie ARPEGES, Observatoire de Paris, F-92195 Meudon Cedex, France
e-mail: jmmartin@obspm.fr

Received December 15, 1999; accepted March 27, 2000

Abstract:

Among the galaxies which were included in the Atlas and Catalogue of Interacting galaxies by Vorontsov-Vel'yaminov (hereafter VV) as multiple systems ("nests'', "chains'' and similarly looking systems), there are many objects, where the interaction is not evident. Some of them are single objects, including low-mass galaxies with active star formation (SF). In this work we present the description of observations and results of the long-slit spectrophotometry with the Russian 6m telescope of three VV-galaxies looking like double or multiple systems, and H I observations of one of them in order to elucidate their nature, determine their metallicity, kinematic properties and the evolution status. Galaxies VV 432 and VV 747 are found to be dwarf systems with low oxygen abundance (O/H $\approx$ 1/22 and 1/12 of the solar value, respectively). Their velocity curves indicate quite slow rotation with respective maximum velocities of about 60 and 80 km s^-1, in agreement with their low luminosities. The distance to VV 432 is rather uncertain. If it is a member of Virgo Cluster, this is the most metal-deficient known galaxy of this aggregate. For galaxy VV 543 the measured emission-line redshift 0.047 appeared ten times larger than it was given in the original paper and is cited in databases. This "system'' evidently represents an optical pair of two galaxies with large velocity difference. The fainter western component is an H II-galaxy, while the brighter one is an absorption-line early-type galaxy with the radial velocity being 1600 km s^-1 lower.

Key words: galaxies: interacting -- galaxies: abundances -- galaxies: starburst -- galaxies: individual (VV 432, VV 543, VV 747)