REDSHIFT SURVEY OF GALAXIES AROUND A SELECTED SAMPLE OF COMPACT-GROUPS

We report the results of a spectroscopic survey of faint galaxies in t he regions surrounding Hickson compact groups. Our sample is composed of 17 groups within 9000 km s(-1). The spectra were taken at the prime focus of the Tololo 4 m telescope, using the ARGUS fiber-fed spectrog raph. From these observations, redshifts were determined for the faint galaxies previously identified by de Carvalho, Ribeiro, & Zepf in the surroundings of the groups. Statistical methods were applied to the r esultant catalog in order to determine the kinematical structure of ea ch group. This analysis confirms the idea that the Hickson sample of c ompact groups contains a wide variety of projection and dynamical conf igurations. Our results demonstrate the necessity of new spectroscopic surveys around compact groups in order to assess their complete veloc ity distribution.