HIZOA J0836-43is one of the most HI-massive galaxies in the local (z<0.1) Universe. Not only are such galaxies extremely rare, but this coelacanth galaxy exhibits characteristics -- in particular its active, inside-out stellar disk-building -- that a
ppear more typical of past (z ~ 1) star formation, when large gas fractions were more common. Unlike most local giant HI galaxies, it is actively star forming. Moreover, the strong infrared emission is not induced by a merger event or AGN, as is commonly found in other local LIRGs. The galaxy is suggestive of a scaled-up version of local spiral galaxies; its extended star formation activity likely being fueled by its large gas reservoir and, as such, can aid our understanding of star formation in systems expected to dominate at higher redshifts. The multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopic observations that have led to these deductions will be presented. These include NIR (J H K) and MIR (Spitzer; 3-24micron) imaging and photometry, MIR spectroscopy, ATCA HI-interferometry and Mopra CO line emission observations. But no optical data, as the galaxy is heavily obscured due to its location in Vela behind the Milky Way.
Current studies of the peculiar velocity flow field in the Local Universe are limited by the lack of detection of galaxies behind the Milky Way. The contribution of the largely unknown mass distribution in this Zone of Avoidance (ZoA) to the dynamics
of the Local group remains contraversial. We have undertaken a near infrared (NIR) survey of HI detected galaxies in the ZoA. The photomety derived here will be used in the NIR Tully-Fisher (TF) relation to derive the peculiar velocities of this sample of galaxies in the ZoA.
This paper presents the analysis of a deep near-infrared J,H,Ks-imaging survey (37.5 sq deg) aimed at tracing the galaxy distribution of the Great Attractor (GA) in the Zone of Avoidance along the so-called Norma Wall. The resulting galaxy catalog is
complete to extinction-corrected magnitudes Ks^o = 14.8 mag for extinctions less than A_K = 1.0 mag and star densities below log N(Ks<14.0) < 4.72. Of the 4360 cataloged galaxies, 99.2% lie in the hereby constrained 89.5% of the survey area. Although the analyzed galaxy distribution reveals no new major galaxy clusters at the GA distance (albeit some more distant ones), the overall number counts and luminosity density indicate a clear and surprisingly smooth overdensity at the GA distance that extends over the whole surveyed region. A mass estimate of the Norma Wall overdensity derived from (a) galaxy number counts and (b) photometric redshift distribution gives a lower value compared to the original prediction by Lynden-Bell et al. 1988 (~14%), but is consistent with more recent independent assessments.
Little is known about the properties of extremely massive HI-galaxies. They are extremely scarce and are - according to hierarchical structure formation - only forming now (z < 1). The forthcoming deep HI SKA Pathfinders surveys will uncover many mor
e of them. This will lead to a better understanding of their evolution and frequency, and the shape of the bright end of the HI mass function. The recently discovered galaxy HIZOA J0836-43 is one of the most HI-rich galaxies (M(HI)=7.5 x 10^10Msun - and the nearest of its kind. As such it is an ideal local probe of these elusive galaxies. Results from a detailed investigation in the near- (IRSF) and far-infrared (Spitzer) of this local HI-massive galaxy are presented. Unlike other giant HI galaxies, it is not of low surface brightness. The galaxy is found to be a luminous starbursting galaxy at an unexpected early stage of stellar mass building, more typical of star-forming galaxies at higher redshift (z~0.7). With regard to its environment, hence possible clues to its formation, the near infrared imaging survey finds HIZOAJ0836-43 to lie in a region underdense in L* galaxies - consistent with the observation that HI-massive galaxies are preferentially found in low density regions - in the presence, however, of an uncommonly large number of low stellar mass galaxies.
The Parkes deep HI ZOA survey has been extended between 2002 and 2004 towards higher latitudes in the Galactic Bulge region. This area of extreme star crowding and high extinction levels remains impenetrable at any other waveband regime. Preliminar
y results of the 3 dimensional distribution based on the combined HI-surveys are presented. We focus on the extent and content of the Local Void as outlined by these HI surveys, followed by a preliminary discussion of the properties of the few galaxies detected in the Local Void.
