We present an investigation of the halo dynamics of M31 using planetary nebulae velocities. We have performed on-band [OIII] and off-band continuum imaging for a 3.6 square degree area centred on M31 and follow-up spectroscopy for over 600 planetary nebulae candidates. In the future the halo mass will be measured and the mass distribution and velocity anisotropy will be constrained as a function of radius.

The galaxy pair NGC 5194/95 (M51) is one of the closest and best known interacting systems. Despite its notoriety, however, many of its features are not well studied. Extending westward from NGC 5195 is a low surface brightness tidal tail, which can only be seen in deep broadband exposures. Our previous [O III] λ5007 planetary nebulae (PN) survey of M51 recovered this tidal tail, and presented us with a opportunity to study the kinematics of a galaxy interaction in progress. We report the results of a spectroscopy survey of the PN, aimed at determining their kinematic properties. We then use these data to constrain new self-consistent numerical models of the system.

Extragalactic planetary nebulae (PNe) and globular clusters (GCs) are complementary tools for obtaining kinematic information on stellar populations in the outer halos elliptical galaxies. NGC 5128, as the nearest large elliptical (D ~ 3.5 Mpc), is an excellent galaxy for halo studies. We have now identified a total of 1140 PNe, and possess radial velocities for 736 PNe at distances out to 80 and 50 kpc along the photometric axes. There is clear evidence for kinematic axis twisting (triaxiality) in the PNe velocity field. The mass of NGC 5128 continues to rise out to 80 kpc, where M(< 80 kpc) ~ 6.4 x 1011M⊙ with M80/LB ~ 20. We also conducted a new survey for GCs out to 50 and 30 kpc, and now have radial velocities for 188 GCs (125 new). Both the red and blue GC systems exhibit rotation. The red (metal-rich) GCs share a misaligned kinematic axis with the PNe. The success of this survey bodes well for future galaxy halo studies.

We report here the successful commissioning of the PN.Spectrograph, the first special-purpose instrument for the measurement of galaxy kinematics through the PN population.

We have observed planetary nebulae (PNe) in several early-type galaxies using new techniques on 4- to 8-meter-class telescopes. We obtain the first large data sets (≳ 100 velocities each) of PN kinematics in galaxies at ≳ 15 Mpc, and present some preliminary dynamical results.

We describe a procedure for the efficient measurement of large quantities of PN radial velocities (RVs) in early-type galaxies, using the Focal Reducer and Spectrograph (FORS) at the Cassegrain foci of the ESO Very Large Telescope. The PNs are detected using the classic on-band/off-band filter technique. The radial velocity is obtained by measuring and calibrating the displacement of a PN image on the CCD produced by the insertion of a grism in the light path. Since no slits are used, it is possible to measure RVs for all the detected PNs, irrespective of their number and distribution in the field. All the images needed to find the PNs and measure their brightness and RVs can be collected in just one observing run, without the complicated preparation procedures typical of multi-object slit spectroscopy. The RVs have errors of about 40 km/s.

Using Hα Fabry-Pérot images of the central 7 arcmin of M31 we demonstrate the amount of filamentary gaseous emission of the ISM in the bulge of this galaxy, which, along with the high surface brightness in the continuum, is known to cause serious problems for the spectrophotometry of PNe in this region. From pioneering work in the Magellanic Clouds and M31 the observational difficulties have been known for some time. We present first observations of PNe in the bulge of M31 obtained with Integral Field Spectroscopy (3D), a method which is shown to be capable of providing superior background subtraction accuracy, compared to conventional slit spectroscopy. Data were secured with MPFS at the Selentchuk 6m telescope, and during a commission run of PMAS at Calar Alto. It is shown how the spatial information obtained from the 3D technique is used to correct for systematic errors in the measurement of emission line intensities which have been reported in the literature.