FCC046: a candidate gaseous polar ring dwarf elliptical galaxy in the
  Fornax Cluster
  FCC046 is a Fornax Cluster dwarf elliptical galaxy. Optical observations have
shown that this galaxy, besides an old and metal-poor stellar population, also
contains a very young centrally concentrated population and is actively forming
stars, albeit at a very low level. Here, we report on 21cm observations of
FCC046 with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) which we conducted in
the course of a small survey of Fornax Cluster early-type dwarf galaxies. We
have discovered a ~10^7 Mo HI cloud surrounding FCC046. We show that the
presence of this significant gas reservoir offers a concise explanation for
this galaxy's optical morphological and kinematical properties. Surprisingly,
the HI gas, as evidenced by its morphology and its rotational motion around the
galaxy's optical major axis, is kinematically decoupled from the galaxy's
stellar body. This is the first time such a ring of gaseous material in
minor-axis rotation is discovered around a dwarf galaxy.
