H-alpha Objective Prism Survey of Abell 1060

Abstract

As part of a continuing study of the effect of cluster environment on the star formation properties of galaxies, we have undertaken an H-alpha 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 H-alpha+[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 H-alpha equivalent widths, as compared to galaxies of similar type in the field.