H-I-2334+26 - AN EXTENDED H-I CLOUD NEAR ABELL-2634

We report the serendipitous discovery of a large H I cloud with an associated H I mass of 6(±1.5)×109h-2 script M sign⊙ and a heliocentric velocity 8800 km s-1, located near the periphery of the cluster of galaxies Abell 2634. Its velocity field appears to be very quiescent, as no gradients in the peak velocity are seen over its extent of 143h-1 by 103h-1 kpc. The distribution of gas is poorly resolved spatially, and it is thus difficult at this time to ascertain the nature of the cloud. At least two relatively small, actively star-forming galaxies appear to be embedded in the H I gas, which may (a) be an extended gaseous envelope surrounding one or both galaxies, (b) have been spread over a large region by a severe episode of tidal disruption, or (c) have been affected by the ram pressure resulting from its motion through the intracluster gas of A2634.