2026/07/23 by Qingzheng Yu, Taotao Fang, Enrico M. Di Teodoro +2
#astro-ph.GA
The evolution of galaxies is strongly influenced by their ability to exchange gas with their surroundings, yet direct observational constraints on these processes remain scarce. Using ultra-deep neutral hydrogen (HI) observations with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), we detect a diffuse HI structure extending over ∼1 Mpc around the compact galaxy group HCG 100, with integrated column densities down to ∼8.6×1017 cm-2. This structure is among the most extended and lowest-density neutral gas systems ever observed in emission. The HI gas forms a coherent envelope connecting the compact group to neighboring galaxies and shows a large-scale coherent velocity gradient around HCG 100 extending across ∼0.6 Mpc. The extended structure contains ∼1.4×1010 M_\odot of diffuse neutral gas, implying that up to ∼40-50% of the HI gas resides outside galaxies. Such a large diffuse HI structure may arise either from large-scale tidal debris or gas accretion from the surrounding cosmic web. Our results demonstrate that massive reservoirs of diffuse neutral gas can persist on megaparsec scales around galaxy groups for extended periods, providing a previously unseen component of baryon cycling in dense environments.