COMPLEX-H - A CASE OF HVC-GALAXY COLLISION

This work has been undertaken with the intention of studying the inter action between HI high velocity clouds (HVCs) and the galactic HI. For this purpose we have selected the HVC complex known as Complex H, whi ch includes HVC131+1-200, because its low galactic latitude and its si ze make such interaction very likely. Furthermore, the low latitude le ssens the uncertainty about its vertical height above the plane. In or der to verify the existence of such interaction, we studied the availa ble observations of the complex and we observed, in the HI 21 cm line, a region centered on HVC 131+1-200 with the 100 m Effelsberg telescop e. Our map for the distribution of the high velocity HI shows, within the observed region, four peaks, two of them not seen before, and, in some places, steep gradients in the column densities. The latter sugge sts the existence of shocks which might represent the effects of the i nteraction on the high velocity cloud. We studied the distribution of the HI at low and intermediate velocities, using the existing surveys of galactic HI covering the region of Complex H, and we found a hole, approximately constant in size and position, within the velocity range of -109 to -98 km s(-1). Determining kinematical distances, the hole appears to be at about 22 kpc from the galactic center and 15.4 kpc fr om the Sun. We present arguments that suggest that this hole and Compl ex H are the results of the collision of a HVC with the galactic HI in a warped region of the Galaxy.