An H-alpha Imaging Survey of Galaxies in the Local 11 Mpc Volume

TL;DR

This survey provides a comprehensive catalog of H-alpha emissions for galaxies within 11 Mpc, enabling detailed studies of star formation in the local universe.

Contribution

It presents the design, data processing, and a catalog of H-alpha fluxes for a volume-limited galaxy sample, facilitating future research on star formation.

Findings

Catalog of H-alpha fluxes and luminosities for local galaxies

Assessment of survey completeness and comparison with other surveys

Foundation for studying star formation and burst cycles in dwarf galaxies

Abstract

As part of a broader effort to characterize the population of star-forming galaxies in the local universe, we have carried out an H-alpha+[NII] imaging survey for an essentially volume-limited sample of galaxies within 11 Mpc of the Milky Way. This paper describes the design of the survey, the observation, data processing, and calibration procedures, and the characteristics of the galaxy sample. The main product of the paper is a catalog of integrated H-alpha fluxes, luminosities, and equivalent widths for the galaxies in the sample. We briefly discuss the completeness properties of the survey and compare the distribution of the sample and its star formation properties to other large H-alpha imaging surveys. These data form the foundation for a series of follow-up studies of the star formation properties of the local volume, and the properties and duty cycles of star formation bursts in dwarf galaxies.