A low-mass HI companion of NGC 1569?

High-sensitivity maps of the large-scale structure of atomic hydrogen in the starburst dwarf galaxy NGC 1569 show evidence for an HI cloud with a mass of710 6 M, at a projected distance of 5 kpc from the parent galaxy. This cloud may be a condensation in a low-column-density HI halo or a companion galaxy/HI-cloud. NGC 1569 and its companion are connected by a low surface brightness HI bridge. At the edge of NGC1569, the HI bridge coincides with H arcs, also detected in soft X- rays.