We report an upper limit of 2 x 105 solar masses for the HI mass of
the southern dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy SGC 0224.3-7345
(also known as PGC 009140 and [KK2000]03 = KKs 3). This small galaxy, shown
above in the center of the Digitised Sky Survey B-band image (left), is located
just outside the Local Group (Whiting et al. 2002, 2007).
The newly measured distance of 2.12 Mpc (by Karachentsev, Makarova, Makarov, Tully and Rizzi 2014, MNRAS Letters, in press) puts it at the same distance as the
Sculptor Group galaxies NGC 55 and NGC 300 (Westmeier et al. 2011, 2013).
High resolution 21-cm HI observations towards the dSph galaxy were obtained
with CSIRO's Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA; right image). No
hydrogen gas (HI) is detected at the position of the dwarf galaxy, which lies
behind the Magellanic Bridge. Contours show HI emission from a tidal filament
connecting the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (Muller et al. 2003), at a velocity of
about 200 km/s.
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