Discovery and follow-up of a nearby galaxy from the Arecibo zone of avoidance survey

The Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Zone of Avoidance (ALFA ZOA) Survey has discovered a nearby galaxy, ALFA ZOA J1952+1428, at a heliocentric velocity of +279km s^-1. The galaxy was discovered at low Galactic latitude by 21cm emission from neutral hydrogen (H I). We have obtained follow-up observations with the Expanded Very Large Array and the 0.9m Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy optical telescope. The H I distribution overlaps an uncataloged, potential optical counterpart. The H I linear size is 1.4kpc at our adopted distance of D = 7Mpc, but the distance estimate is uncertain as Hubble's law is unreliable at low recessional velocities. The optical counterpart has m_B = 16.9mag and B - R = 0.1mag. These characteristics, including = 10^7.0 M_⊙ and L _B = 10^7.5 L_⊙, if at 7Mpc, indicate that this galaxy is a blue compact dwarf, but this remains uncertain until further follow-up observations are complete. Optical follow-up observations are ongoing and near-infrared follow-up observations have been scheduled.