| Abstract | The nearest void in the distribution of galaxies, in a direction perpendicular to the fundamental plane of the Local Supercluster, has been sampled in the neutral hydrogen spectral line for low-mass gas clouds or H I-rich dwarf galaxies. None were found, to a smaller H I mass limit than has been previously reported for a low density region in the large-scale distribution of galaxies. We can give a formal upper limit of about 5% of closure density in the form of gas clouds with M_H_>~5X10^6^M_sun_ if they are assumed to "fill the voids." In fact, it is more likely that the ratio of gas-rich dwarfs to spirals is no higher in voids than in superclusters, and that dwarf irregular galaxies with M_H_ below 10^8^ M_sun_ are less common than galaxies of greater mass. Two new members of a previously detected group of galaxies at a redshift of ~2500 km s^-1^, representing an "island" in the void, were detected, along with four galaxies in the background. |
