2.3. Observations
All 37 selected galaxies were observed with WFPC2 during Cycle 9. Typically, we exposed 2 × 800-1000 s in F300W and 2 × 100-160 s in F814W. Exposures times were made flexible to optimally use the full HST orbit allocated per galaxy. Of the 24 galaxies located in the CVZ, 11 could indeed be scheduled there during Cycle 9. For these, exposure times were 3 × 400-500 s in both the F255W and F300W filters, and 2 × 100-160 s in F814W. In none of the 37 Cycle 9 targets did we see evidence for elevated sky-levels in F300W (see Section 2.1.4).
We adopted a linear dither pattern such that exposures in the same filter are offset by n + 0.34 WFC pixels in the case of two (non-CVZ), and n + 0.33 and n + 0.66 WFC pixels in the case of three exposures per filter (CVZ). Here, n is a multiple of 5 pixels (ideally 10-30 pixels in both directions to fill in the vignetted regions between the WFPC2 CCD's), and the pixel fractions assure optimal drizzling in a later stage. The actual shifts may slightly deviate from the listed values depending on the quality of the FGS lock achieved for a particular galaxy.
2.3.2. Ground-based Observations
Most of the ground-based UBVRI CCD images for the 37 galaxies in the present sample were obtained with the 1.8 m Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mt. Graham, with additional images taken with the 0.9 m telescope at Cerro Tololo (CTIO), the Danish 1.5 m telescope at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the 2.1 m telescope at Kitt Peak (KPNO), the 2.2 m University of Hawaii telescope at Mauna Kea (UH), or the 1.0 m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) at La Palma. The optical data were obtained mostly with 2k × 2k CCD's. Further details are given in Matthews & Gallagher (1997), Eskridge et al. (2002b), and Taylor et al. (2002, in prep.).
Ground-based near-IR imaging was done using the 1.5 m telescope at Cerro Tololo, the ESO 2.2 m telescope, the Carnegie 2.5 m du Pont telescope at Las Campanas (LCO), or the 3.8 m United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT) at Mauna Kea, mostly with 2562 HgCdTe-arrays (and 10242 in the case of the du Pont telescope). Images were obtained in JHK, or a subset of these filters. For further details on these near-IR data we refer to de Grijs et al. (1997), de Jong & van der Kruit (1994), and Eskridge et al. (2002b).
The JHK filters sample the underlying cooler (and usually older) stellar population, which in general also dominates the R and I-bands, so that the RIJHK filters in general reveal similar galaxy morphology. Morphological contrast is added through the younger stellar populations in the bluer and UV filters. Since the older stellar population dominates the RIJHK fluxes of earlier type galaxies, a comparison of these filters can in principle provide a measure of the dust content, whose effects are strongly wavelength dependent - noting the usual caveat that effects from dust and metallicity are hard to separate, and require spatially resolved spectroscopy in addition to broad-band photometry to address this quantitatively.
We aimed for a photometric zero-point accuracy better than 0.03-0.05 mag, in the optical as well as the near-IR. The ground-based CCD images were reduced following standard procedures, as described in Matthews & Gallagher (1997), and Neuschaefer & Windhorst (1995).
In Table 2 we summarize our Cycle 9 HST
observations together with the
UIT and ground-based images available to date. For WFPC2
observations, we list the HST roll-angle (PA_V3) and the
nominal FWHM of the HST PSF; for ground-based observation, we
list the
airmass and the median FWHM in each image stack. These FWHM values were
measured from unsaturated stellar images using SExtractor
(Bertin & Arnouts,
1996).
We clipped the FWHM distribution at
0".3 to filter out cosmic rays and bad pixels, and at 5 to
filter out misclassified extended objects (e.g., H II or star-forming
regions inside the galaxies of interest). These values, and the FWHM
values of Moffat (1969)
profiles as fitted using the task
imexamine within IRAF, are consistent to within 2.5% with a
dispersion of 9%. FWHM values could be measured for 124 (out of 131)
ground-based images. For the remaining images that did not contain any
unsaturated stars, the FWHM was estimated from the images taken closest
in time that did. The mean (median) seeing over all ground-based images
is 2".04 ± 0".52 (2".00 ± 0".52)
(1-). This
rather large average image-FWHM is due to the majority of VATT images
having a focus component in their PSF as a result of the rapid change of
focus with temperature in this f/1 telescope (for details, see
Taylor et al. 2002).
Even with FWHM ~ 20, these ground-based images
are quite suitable for our current purpose of galaxy surface photometry
in UBVR.
Object | Telescop | Filter | Exposure time | Airmass | Orient | Zeropoint | Plate scale | FWHM | Fig.nr. |
(sec) | (deg) | (mag) | ("/pix) | (") | |||||
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (7) | (8) | (9) | (10) |
NGC 1140 (Mrk 1063) | HST | F300W | 2× 900.0 | 0 | 71.933 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.28 |
HST | F814W | 2× 100.0 | 0 | 71.933 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.28 | |
VATT | U | 1× 300.0 | 1.364 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.15 | 4.28 | |
VATT | B | 1× 180.0 | 1.360 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.59 | 4.28 | |
VATT | V | 1× 180.0 | 1.358 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.49 | 4.28 | |
POSS-II | IIIaF | 1×3000.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.00 | 3.86 | 4.28 | |
ESO 418-G008 | HST | F300W | 2× 900.0 | 0 | 151.410 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.25 |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 151.410 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.25 | |
VATT | U | 1× 300.0 | 2.184 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.80 | 4.25 | |
VATT | B | 1× 360.0 | 2.186 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.76 | 4.25 | |
VATT | V | 1× 240.0 | 2.191 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.50 | 4.25 | |
VATT | R | 1× 120.0 | 2.197 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.53 | 4.25 | |
NGC 1396 | UIT | 150nm | 1×1454.5 | 0 | 83.832 | 16.928 | 1.200 | 3.03 | 4.02 |
UIT | 250nm | 1×1099.5 | 0 | 83.831 | 18.658 | 1.200 | 2.71 | 4.02 | |
HST | F300W | 2× 900.0 | 0 | 22.975 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.02 | |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 22.975 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.02 | |
POSS-I | IIIaJ | 1×3600.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.70 | 5.0 | 4.02 | |
POSS-II | IIIaF | 1×3600.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.00 | 3.56 | 4.02 | |
NGC 1510 | UIT | 150nm | 1× 948.5 | 0 | 0.020 | 16.806 | 1.137 | 3.03 | 4.26 |
HST | F300W | 2× 900.0 | 0 | 13.650 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.26 | |
HST | F814W | 2× 160.0 | 0 | 13.650 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.26 | |
POSS-I | IIIaJ | 1×4200.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.70 | 4.8 | 4.26 | |
POSS-II | IIIaF | 1×3900.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.00 | 3.52 | 4.26 | |
ESO 033-G022 | HST | F300W | 2×1000.0 | 0 | 254.257 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.19 |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 254.257 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.19 | |
ESO 1.5m | B | 2×1500.0 | --- | 0.28 | 22.331 | 0.36 | 1.7 | 4.19 | |
ESO 1.5m | V | 1×2100.0 | --- | 0.28 | 23.058 | 0.36 | 1.6 | 4.19 | |
ESO 1.5m | I | 2× 900.0 | --- | 0.28 | 22.351 | 0.36 | 0.9 | 4.19 | |
UGC 03426 (Mrk 3) | UIT | 150nm | 2×1261.0 | 0 | 327.300 | 16.806 | 1.137 | 3.03 | 4.05 |
HST | F255W | 3× 466.7 | 0 | 119.723 | 17.037 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.05 | |
HST | F300W | 3× 500.0 | 0 | 119.723 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.05 | |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 119.723 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.05 | |
VATT | U | 1× 300.0 | 1.462 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.96 | 4.05 | |
VATT | B | 1× 180.0 | 1.502 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.62 | 4.05 | |
VATT | V | 1× 120.0 | 1.522 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.52 | 4.05 | |
VATT | R | 1× 30.0 | 1.553 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.42 | 4.05 | |
IC 2184 (Mrk 8) | HST | F255W | 3× 466.7 | 0 | 139.416 | 17.037 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.37 |
HST | F300W | 3× 500.0 | 0 | 139.416 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.37 | |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 139.416 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.37 | |
VATT | U | 1× 600.0 | 1.298 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.12 | 4.37 | |
VATT | B | 1× 300.0 | 1.298 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.96 | 4.37 | |
VATT | V | 1× 240.0 | 1.298 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 2.00 | 4.37 | |
VATT | R | 1× 180.0 | 1.302 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.70 | 4.37 | |
NGC 2551 | UIT | 150nm | 1× 454.5 | 0 | 43.306 | 16.928 | 1.200 | 3.03 | 4.10 |
UIT | 250nm | 1× 454.5 | 0 | 43.307 | 18.658 | 1.200 | 2.71 | 4.10 | |
HST | F300W | 2×1000.0 | 0 | 232.495 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.10 | |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 232.495 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.10 | |
VATT | U | 1× 600.0 | 1.325 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.60 | 4.10 | |
VATT | B | 1× 180.0 | 1.325 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.24 | 4.10 | |
VATT | V | 1× 120.0 | 1.324 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.15 | 4.10 | |
VATT | R | 1× 120.0 | 1.324 | 0.0 | --- | 0.3746 | 1.00 | 4.10 | |
UGC 05028/29 (Arp 300) | HST | F300W | 2× 950.0 | 0 | 350.000 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.23 |
HST | F814W | 2× 160.0 | 0 | 350.000 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.23 | |
POSS-II | IIIaJ | 1×4800.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.00 | 3.48 | 4.23 | |
POSS-II | IIIaF | 1×3000.0 | --- | 0.0 | --- | 1.00 | 3.40 | 4.23 | |
UGC 05101 | HST | F255W | 3× 466.7 | 0 | 165.068 | 17.037 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.08 |
HST | F300W | 3× 500.0 | 0 | 165.068 | 19.433 | 0.0996 | 0.04 | 3/4.08 | |
HST | F814W | 2× 130.0 | 0 | 165.068 | 21.659 | 0.0996 | 0.08 | 3/4.08 | |
VATT | U | 4× 300.0 | 1.223 | 0.0 | 25.000 | 0.3746 | 1.9 | 4.08 | |
VATT | B | 1× 300.0 | 1.203 | 0.0 | 25.000 | 0.3746 | 2.0 | 4.08 | |
VATT | V | 1× 240.0 | 1.197 | 0.0 | 25.000 | 0.3746 | 2.1 | 4.08 | |
VATT | R | 1× 180.0 | 1.192 | 0.0 | 25.000 | 0.3746 | 2.1 | 4.08 | |
HST | F110W | 1× 111.9 | 0 | 107.171 | 24.818 | 0.0758 | 0.11 | 4.08 |