A NEAR-INFRARED IMAGING SURVEY OF INTERACTING GALAXIES - THE SMALL ANGULAR-SIZE ARP SYSTEMS

We have obtained near-infrared images of a large sample of interacting galaxies selected from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies by Arp. Approximately 180 systems have been imaged in at least two, and usually three of the standard JHK bands. Here we describe the survey and the observing and data reduction procedures, and present contour plots and aperture photometry. Future papers will analyze the imaging data by groupings based on interaction type, stage, and progenitors. The goals of the analysis are to explore the relationships between galaxy interactions, activity, and morphology by studying the structure of the near-infrared luminosity distribution, where extinction effects are much reduced relative to the optical and the major stellar mass component of galaxies dominates the observed light.