The Enigmatic ALFALFA (Almost) Dark Galaxy AGC 229101

2019 
We present deep HI and optical imaging of AGC 229101, an enigmatic and potentially unique source detected in the ALFALFA survey. Though it has an HI mass >109 solar masses, it is not detected in SDSS imaging, and has a very narrow HI line width. Deep follow up imaging with pODI on the WIYN 3.5m at KPNO detects a very blue, very low surface brightness optical counterpart with a stellar mass 80 kpc as projected on the sky. We compare the properties of AGC 229101 to other extreme HI-rich sources, and demonstrate that its properties appear to be unique relative to others sources in ALFALFA. We discuss potential explanations, including a tidal encounter between neighboring sources, a merger of two independent, almost dark sources, and gas in-fall along a filament.
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