WALLABY pilot survey: an ‘almost’ dark cloud near the Hydra cluster

Abstract

ABSTRACT We explore the properties of an ‘almost’ dark cloud of neutral hydrogen (H i) using data from the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Survey (WALLABY). Until recently, WALLABY J103508 − 283427 (also known as H1032 − 2819 or LEDA 2793457) was not known to have an optical counterpart, but we have identified an extremely faint optical counterpart in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Survey Data Release 10. We measured the mean g-band surface brightness to be 27.0 ± 0.3 mag arcsec−2. The WALLABY data revealed the cloud to be closely associated with the interacting group Klemola 13 (also known as HIPASS J1034 − 28 and the Tol 9 group), which itself is associated with the Hydra cluster. In addition to WALLABY J103508 − 283427/H1032 − 2819, Klemola 13 contains 10 known significant galaxies and almost half of the total H i gas is beyond the optical limits of the galaxies. By combining the new WALLABY data with archival data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array, we investigate the H i distribution and kinematics of the system. We discuss the relative role of tidal interactions and ram pressure stripping in the formation of the cloud and the evolution of the system. The ease of detection of this cloud and intragroup gas is due to the sensitivity, resolution, and wide field of view of WALLABY, and showcases the potential of the full WALLABY survey to detect many more examples.