2000MNRAS.312..247B

NGC 3783 is a nearby SBa, type 1 Seyfert galaxy. We present Hi and radio continuum images of the galaxy made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). We find that NGC 3783 has an Hi mass of 8.4x10⁹M_☉, an Hi diameter of 1.9 D₀ (D₀=37kpc for h=0.5), and a nuclear depression in the Hi surface density. The Hi rotation curve is dominated by differential rotation, with little evidence of warping. The rotation curve suggests a mass-to-light ratio ML_B=7.2 and a bar-pattern speed of 19±7km.s^–1.kpc^–1. The total mass of gas in the inner 50arcsec is ≳10per cent of the dynamical mass, and consistent with models that require significant gas content to fuel the Seyfert nucleus. There is no evidence that the nuclear activity in NGC 3783 is being stimulated by an interaction or merger: it may be a self-generated, perhaps bar-driven, process.