A high resolution HI study of selected virgo galaxies: Preliminary results on gas morphology & extra-planar gas

We present preliminary results of VLA H I imaging of selected Virgo cluster galaxies. The goal is to study environmental effects on galaxy evolution. Our sample of 41 galaxies is spread throughout the cluster and spans a wide range in star formation properties. Here we present the total H I maps of 13 galaxies. We find a number of galaxies with extended H I tails., almost all pointing away from the cluster center. Truncated H I disks are found close to the center but also in the outer region. Some galaxies near the cluster center show compression of the gas on one side. Multi-wavelength data of NGC 4569 and kinematics on NGC 4396 indicate that some of the H I is extra-planar. These preliminary results on the H I morphology already suggest that a variety of environmental effects such as ICM-ISM interactions, harassment, tidal interactions or mergers may be at work to affect the evolution of galaxies.