New Velocity Dispersions and Photometry for E and S0 Galaxies in the Great Attractor

New spectroscopy and photometry have been obtained for 136 elliptical and S0 galaxies in the direction of the large-scale streaming flow attributed to the great attractor. Measurements of central velocity dispersion (σ), total B magnitudes (B_r_), the photometric parameter D_eta_ , and the absorption-line index Mg_2_ are presented. Both internal and external comparisons indicate that measurements of log σ are accurate to 0.05 dex, B_T_ to 0.15 mag, D_eta_ to 0.015 dex, and Mg_2_ to 0.017 mag. These data have been used in a previous paper by Dressler and Faber to estimate distances for these galaxies via the D_eta_-σ relation. It is shown in this paper that the D_eta_-Mg_2_ relation also predicts the same trends of peculiar velocity with distance, but with less accuracy. The relative accuracy of other distance indicators for elliptical galaxies is also discussed.