The distribution of atomic gas and dust in nearby galaxies — I. Presentation of matched-resolution VLA H i and SCUBA 850-μm maps

Abstract

We present matched-resolution VLA H I and SCUBA 850-mm maps of 20 IRAS-bright galaxies. Of the galaxies observed, two were not detected in H I and two were detected in absorption. The H I distributions of the galaxies have a range of morphologies. Some of the systems appear H I deficient in the central regions which could be due to a high conversion rate of H I into molecules or H I absorption. In contrast to the H I, the 850-mm emission has a smooth distribution which is concentrated towards the optical centre of each galaxy. We also find evidence for 850-mm emission extending to the periphery of the optical disc in some of the galaxies. Finally, we note that the relative lack of 850-mm emission when compared with H I does not necessarily mean that the atomic gas and dust do not have similar mass distributions.