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 8^h30^m to 17^h0^m. 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.