Spectroscopic and Photometric Nearby Field Galaxy Survey
Poster paper presented at IAU Symposium 171, June 26-30 1995,
Heidelberg
SPECTRA AND IMAGES
We are in the process of obtaining integrated spectra at higher
resolution (4.5-6.0 Å ) and for a larger sample (196) than is
available in the literature (e.g. Kennicutt 1992). The FAST
spectrograph at the F.L.Whipple Observatory's 60'' Telescope
(Mt. Hopkins, Arizona) is mounted
with a thinned Loral 2720 x 512 CCD giving a spectral range of either
3250--7250Å or 3600--7500Å at 1.5Å per pixel and a
total throughput of telescope, spectrograph and CCD of ~ 55% at
4800Å .
Integrated spectra are obtained by aligning the slit with the major axis
of the galaxy, and moving the galaxy across the slit over a total
angular distance of 0.5D_25 (the blue isophotal diameter),
allowing us to properly weight the faint outer areas of the galaxy. (We
reduce the overhead of the current manual instrument rotator by grouping
the galaxies by the position angle of the major axis.) To reduce
effective read-out-noise we bin the CCD at read-out by 8 pixels in the
spatial direction. We also obtain an exposure centered on the nucleus,
to determine the nuclear characteristics.
We are also in the process of obtaining B and R filter images
using the Loral 2048 x 2048 CCD camera at the Cassegrain focus of the
FLWO 48'' Telescope. U images will be obtained later when the
thinned 4-Shooter will have become available.