An Isolated HII Region near ESO 481-G017
  We obtained VLA 21-cm observations of the galaxy ESO 481-G017 to determine
the environment and trigger of remote star formation traced by a HII region
found 43 kpc from the galaxy (in projection). ESO 481-G017 is an early type
spiral galaxy with a HI mass of 1.1*10^9 Msun and a distance of 55 Mpc. The
isolated HII region has a H-alpha luminosity of 10^38.1 erg s^-1 and minimal
continuum emission suggesting that new stars have formed where little or no
stars previously existed. The difference in velocity between the HI disk of ESO
481-G017 (3840-4000 km s^-1) and the isolated HII region (4701 +/- 80 km s^-1)
indicates the origin of the HII region may be stars forming in a tidal feature
or newly triggered star formation in a very low luminosity companion galaxy.
The VLA observations shed light on the nature of this young object.
