Hα objective prism survey of Abell 1060

¹ Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK
² Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BZ, UK

Send offprint request to: S.M. Bennett

Received: 22 January 1998
Accepted: 24 March 1998

Abstract

As part of a continuing study of the effect of cluster environment on the star formation properties of galaxies, we have undertaken an Hα objective prism survey of the nearby cluster, Abell 1060. We detect 33 galaxies in emission, 24 of which are cluster members. We present new radial velocity measurements and Hα + [NII] equivalent widths and fluxes for a number of these galaxies. We distinguish between galaxies with diffuse and compact emission, the latter having been associated in previous work with a disturbed morphology of the galaxy and most likely resulting from tidally-induced star formation from galaxy–galaxy or cluster–galaxy interactions. The fraction of cluster spirals in Abell 1060 detected with compact emission agrees with the expected fraction for a cluster of its richness, as derived from results of a previous survey of 8 clusters. Some of the detected cluster early-type spirals exhibit anomalously high global Hα equivalent widths, as compared to galaxies of similar type in the field.