The KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey. II. Hα-selected Survey List 1

Abstract

The KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS) is a new objective-prism survey for extragalactic emission-line objects. It combines many of the features of previous slitless spectroscopic surveys with the advantages of modern CCD detectors and is the first purely digital objective-prism survey for emission-line galaxies. Here we present the first list of emission-line galaxy candidates selected from our red spectral data, which cover the spectral range 6400 to 7200 A. In most cases, the detected emission line is Hα. The current survey list covers a 1°-wide strip located at δ = 29°30' (B1950.0) and spanning the right ascension range 12h15m to 17h0m. An area of 62.2 deg2 is covered. A total of 1128 candidate emission-line objects have been selected for inclusion in the survey list (18.1 deg-2). We tabulate accurate coordinates and photometry for each source, as well as estimates of the redshift and emission-line flux and equivalent width based on measurements of the digital objective-prism spectra. The properties of the KISS emission-line galaxies are examined using the available observational data.