Neutral hydrogen in the polar ring galaxy UGC 9796

We have used the Very Large Array to observe the polar ring galaxy UGC 9796 (II Zw 73; PRC A-06) in the 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen. All the neutral gas in this galaxy is associated with the polar ring. Our observations show that similar or equal to 5 x 10(9) M-circle dot of H I rotates in a plane projected about 25 degrees from perpendicular to the equatorial plane of the early-type host galaxy, consistent with earlier observations in the H alpha line. The outermost gas appears to bend away from the minor axis of the host system, in the same sense as the stellar ring. UGC 9796 is in a very gas-rich environment: our 21 cm images show five gas-rich companion galaxies in the same field within 100 km s(-1), with a total of similar or equal to 2 x 10(10) M-circle dot between them. However, we see no H I streamers connecting the systems or any other evidence for an ongoing interaction between UGC 9796 and its companions.