The central region of the Fornax cluster II. Spectroscopy and radial velocities of member and background galaxies

Radial velocities of 94 galaxies brighter than about V-tot = 20 mag in the direction of the central Fornax cluster have been measured(1). Except for 8 Fornax members, all galaxies lie in the background. Among the 8 members, t here are 5 nucleated dwarf ellipticals that are already listed in the FCC ( Ferguson 1989). Two of the 3 "new" members are very compact and have surfac e bright nesses comparable to globular clusters, however their luminosities are in the range of dwarf elliptical nuclei. The measured line indices (especially Mg2, H beta, and iron) of the brighte r of the compact objects suggest a solar metallicity, whereas the fainter c ompact object as well as the dE. Ns have line indices that are similar to t hose of old metal-poor globular clusters (GCs). However, with these data it is not possible to clearly classify the compact objects either as very bri ght globular clusters, isolated nuclei of dE, Ns, or even compact elliptica ls. A background galaxy cluster at z = 0.11 has been found just behind the cent er of the Fornax cluster. This explains the excess population of galaxies r eported in Paper I. The brightest galaxy of the background cluster lies onl y 1.'1 south of NGC 1399 and is comparable in absolute luminosity with the central Fornax galaxy itself.