The 6dF Galaxy Survey: Fundamental Plane data

Abstract

We report the 6dFGS Fundamental Plane (6dFGSv) catalogue that is used to\nestimate distances and peculiar velocities for nearly 9,000 early-type galaxies\nin the local (z$<$0.055) universe. Velocity dispersions are derived by\ncross-correlation from 6dF V-band spectra with typical S/N of 12.9 \\AA$^{-1}$\nfor a sample of 11,315 galaxies; the median velocity dispersion is 163\nkms$^{-1}$ and the median measurement error is 12.9%. The photometric\nFundamental Plane (FP) parameters (effective radii and surface brightnesses)\nare determined from the $JHK$ 2MASS images for 11,102 galaxies. Comparison of\nthe independent $J$- and $K$-band measurements implies that the average\nuncertainty in $X_{FP}$, the combined photometric parameter that enters the FP,\nis 0.013 dex (3%) for each band. Visual classification of morphologies was used\nto select a sample of nearly 9,000 early-type galaxies that form 6dFGSv. This\ncatalogue has been used to study the effects of stellar populations on galaxy\nscaling relations, to investigate the variation of the FP with environment and\ngalaxy morphology, to explore trends in stellar populations through, along and\nacross the FP, and to map and analyse the local peculiar velocity field.\n