The Cambridge Half-Mile telescope has been used in conjunction with a 160-channel cross-correlation receiver to map the neutral hydrogen emission in NGC 3077 with a synthesized beam of width |1^ · 5 × 1^ · 6.| The H I distribution is found to be severely distorted, with the projected centroid lying about 4 kpc SE of the optical centre in a region where star formation may be occurring, and a streamer of H I extending ~ 10 kpc northwards. The observed H I mass is |4 · 1 × 10⁸ M_| of which a quarter is in the streamer. A small gradient of radial velocity exists across the galaxy which, if interpreted as rotation, suggests an indicative mass of |(6 ± 2) × 10⁹ M_.| A computer model is proposed to explain the distorted H I distribution in terms of tidal forces exerted during a close (12 kpc) encounter between NGC 3077 and M81, (2 to 6) × 108 yr ago.
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G. A. Cottrell (1976) studied this question.