MCG +00‐32‐16: An Irregular Galaxy Close to the Lowest Redshift Absorber on the 3C 273 Line of Sight

MCG+00-32-16 is the galaxy closest in position-velocity space to the lowestredshift Ly$\alpha$ absorber along the line-of-sight to the quasar 3C 273. Itsprojected separation is 204 (d/19 Mpc) kpc, where d is the distance from theMilky Way to the galaxy, and the redshift difference is only 94 km/s; HI1225+01 is slightly closer in projected separation to the absorber, but has agreater redshift difference. We present HI synthesis array mapping and CCDphotometry in B and R for MCG+00-32-16. The HI disk is rotating in such a waythat the side of the galaxy closer to the sight-line to the quasar has thelarger velocity difference from the absorber. The absorber may be a ``faileddwarf'' member of a poor galaxy group of which MCG+00-32-16 and HI 1225+01 arethe only members to have formed stars.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journa