PHOTOMETRY OF LUMINOUS SPIRAL GALAXIES IN THE DIRECTION OF THE GREAT ATTRACTOR

This paper presents photoelectric multiaperture BVI magnitudes for a homogeneous sample of luminous spirals in the direction of the Great Attractor. The total magnitudes B(T) and the mean colors [B - V] and [B - I] were determined for each galaxy and analyzed. The [B - I] color changes linearly with csc b over the range 3 < csc b < 10 and has a slope of 0.071 mag. The A(B)b values calculated from B - I agrees well with the A(B)b values derived following the precepts of Burstein & Heiles [ApJ, 225, 40 (1978)]. The [B - I]b values show a slope of 0.47 with log R. The corrected absolute magnitudes M(b)b,i,z of spirals show little variation with luminosity classes I, I-II, and II and have a dispersion of 0.85 mag. The sample with well determined luminosities exhibits a uniform distribution over log-upsilon up to upsilon approximately 10 000 km/s. There is an indication that a selection-bias favoring higher luminosity galaxies sets in for spiral galaxies with upsilon > 10 000 km/s. The spirals with upsilon < 10 000 km/s place a limit of approximately 500 km/s on peculiar velocities in or near the Great Attractor.