Redshift survey of galaxies around a selected sample of compact groups

We report the results of a spectroscopic survey of faint galaxies in the regions surrounding Hickson compact groups. Our sample is composed of 17 groups within 9000 km s(-1). The spectra were taken at the prime focus of the Tololo 4 m telescope, using the ARGUS fiber-fed spectrograph. From these observations, redshifts were determined for the faint galaxies previously identified by de Carvalho, Ribeiro, & Zepf in the surroundings of the groups. Statistical methods were applied to the resultant catalog in order to determine the kinematical structure of each group. This analysis confirms the idea that the Hickson sample of compact groups contains a wide variety of projection and dynamical configurations. Our results demonstrate the necessity of new spectroscopic surveys around compact groups in order to assess their complete velocity distribution.