Kinematically lopsided spiral galaxies

Asymmetries in the distribution of light and neutral hydrogen are often obs erved in spiral galaxies, Here, attention is drawn to the presence of large -scale asymmetries in their kinematics. Two examples of kinematically lopsi ded galaxies are presented and discussed. The shape of the rotation curve - rising more steeply on one side of the galaxy than on the other - is the s ignature of the kinematic lopsidedness. It is shown that kinematic lopsided ness may be related to lopsidedness in the potential, and that even a mild perturbation in the latter can produce significant kinematic effects. Proba bly at least half of all spiral galaxies are lopsided.