TIGER OBSERVATIONS OF THE LOW AND HIGH-VELOCITY COMPONENTS OF NGC-1275

Using the integral field spectrograph Tiger, we obtained low to interm ediate spectral resolution 3D data cubes of the cD galaxy NGC 1275. Th is set up allowed us to disentangle the various astrophysical componen ts by individually mapping the galaxy continuum and the low and high v elocity emission line systems with a yet unchallenged 0.8 '' spatial r esolution. The low velocity system, which is elongated in an east-west direction similar to that of the molecular gas, exhibits trends in sp ectral characteristics which are consistent on the west side of the nu cleus with photoionization by a varying mixture of nuclear radiation a nd local emission from hot young stars. The high velocity system is on ly seen north of the nucleus. We report the first detection of gas wit h velocities intermediate between the LV and HV systems, which we inte rpret as the first direct evidence of an interaction between the two v elocity systems. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.