The galaxy NGC4418 harbours a compact (<20pc) core with a very high bolometric luminosity (~10^11^L_{sun}_). As most of the galaxy's energy output comes from this small region, it is of interest to determine what fuels this intense activity. An interaction with the nearby blue irregular galaxy VV655 has been proposed, where gas aquired by NGC4418 could trigger intense star formation and/or black hole accretion in the centre. We aim to constrain the interaction hypothesis by studying neutral hydrogen structures which could reveal tails and debris connecting NGC4418 to the nearby galaxy VV655. We present observations at 1.4GHz with the Very Large Array (VLA) of radio continuum as well as emission and absorption from atomic hydrogen. Gaussian distributions are fitted to observed HI emission and absorption spectra.We estimate the star formation rate (SFR) of NGC4418 and VV655 from the 1.4GHz radio emission and compare with estimates from archival 70um Herschel observations.

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/607/A43/list (List of fits files)