A catalogue of local E+A (post-starburst) galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5

Abstract

E+A galaxies have been interpreted as post-starburst galaxies, based on the presence of strong Balmer absorption lines combined with the absence of major emission lines ([O ii] or Hα). As a population of galaxies in the midst of transformation, E+A galaxies have been subject to intense research activity. However, it has been difficult to investigate E+A galaxies statistically, as they are extremely rare (<1 per cent of all galaxies in the local Universe). In this paper, we present a large catalogue of 564 E+A (post-starburst) galaxies, carefully selected from half a million spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5. We define E+A galaxies as galaxies with an Hδ equivalent width of >5 Å and no detectable emission in [O ii] and Hα. The catalogue contains 564 E+A galaxies, and is thus one of the largest of its kind to date. In addition, we have included the Hα line in the selection in order to remove dusty star-forming galaxies, which could have contaminated previous [O ii]-based samples of E+A galaxies by up to 52 per cent. Thus, the catalogue is one of the most homogeneous, as well as one of the largest. The catalogue presented here can be used for follow-up observations and statistical analyses of this rare population of galaxies. © 2007 RAS.