Optical imaging and imaging spectroscopy of the peculiar spiral galaxy NGC 3310

The peculiar Sbc-type starburst galaxy NGC 3310 (= Arp 217) was observed with the Taurus imaging spectrometer in the H alpha emission line and imaged directly in the B, V, R and I bands with a Schmidt telescope and a wide-field CCD camera. High-resolution maps of the distribution and velocity field of the ionised gas were constructed from the Taurus data, fully covering the inner similar to 1.4' of radius and the entire velocity range of the gas. The deep CCD images clearly show a complex system of faint, extended shells or are-like structures at large radii (similar to 1' to 3') around the galaxy. The H alpha velocity data agree well with published spectroscopy and with recent HI results. The existence of two near-nuclear areas of clearly non-Gaussian emission line profiles, reported recently from long-slit H alpha work, is confirmed and the areas are more precisely delineated. These features are due to gas streaming along the strong spiral shocks in the inner regions.