AUTOMATED SEARCH FOR COMPACT-GROUPS OF GALAXIES IN THE SOUTHERN SKY

We present a new sample of compact groups of galaxies obtained, for th e first time, through a purely automated search. The 59 new groups, fo und over an area of approximately 1300 sq. deg. and complete down to b (j group) approximately 15.2, have been extracted from the digitized C OSMOS/UKST Southern Galaxy Catalogue using an algorithm implementing t he same criteria used in the visual search by Hickson [ApJ, 255, 382 ( 1982)]. A comparison between the new sample and Hickson's shows that t he latter is incomplete in terms of the selection criteria, satisfying tighter constraints than those stated explicitly. As a consequence of this, the peculiar luminosity properties claimed for Hickson's compac t groups are, at least partially, due to visual biases. On the other h and, analysis of the new sample has confirmed the morphological concor dance of member galaxies within each group. The observational followup of our new sample, which is free from any subjective bias, will allow us to answer the many puzzling questions raised by the study of Hicks on's groups.