The KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey. III. [O III]-selected Survey List

The KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS) is an objective-prism survey for extragalactic emission-line objects. It combines many of the features of previous slitless spectroscopic surveys with the advantages of modern CCD detectors, and it is the first purely digital objective-prism survey for emission-line galaxies. Here we present the first list of emission-line galaxy candidates selected from our blue spectral data, which cover the wavelength range 4800–5500 Å. In most cases, the detected emission line is [O III] λ5007. The current survey list covers a 1°-wide strip located at δ = 29°30′ (B1950.0) and spanning the right ascension range 8h30m to 17h0m. An area of 116.6 deg2 is covered. A total of 223 candidate emission-line objects have been selected for inclusion in the survey list (1.91 deg-2). We tabulate accurate coordinates and photometry for each source, as well as estimates of the redshift, emission-line flux, and equivalent width based on measurements of the digital objective-prism spectra. The median apparent magnitude of the sample is B = 18.2, and galaxies with redshifts approaching z = 0.1 are detected. The properties of the KISS emission-line galaxies are examined using the available observational data and compared with previous surveys carried out with photographic plates, as well as with the Hα-selected portion of KISS.