The IRAS Bright Galaxy Survey - Part II: Extension to southern declinations (δ≲ - 30), and low galactic latitudes (5<|b|≤30°)

Complete IRAS Observations and redshifts are reported for all sources identified in the IRAS Bright Galaxy Survey - Part II (hereafter referred to as BGS₂). Source positions, radial velocities, optical magnitudes, and total flux densities, peak flux densities, and spatial extents at 12, 25, and 100 μm are reported for 288 sources having 60 μm flux densities >5.24 Jy, the completeness limit of the original Bright Galaxy Survey [Soifer et al., AJ, 98 766 (1989)], hereafter referred to as BGS₁. These new data represent the extension of the IRAS Bright Galaxy Survey to southern declinations, δ≲-30°, and low Galactic latitudes, 5°<|b|≤30°. Although the sky coverage of the BGS₂ (∼19 935 deg²) is 37% larger than the sky coverage of the BGS₁, the number of sources is 8% smaller due primarily to large scale structure in the local distribution of galaxies Otherwise the sources in the BGS2 show similar relationships between number counts and flux density as observed for the 313 sources in the BGS₁. The BGS₂ along with the earlier BGS₁ represents the best sample currently available for defining the infrared properties of galaxies in the local (z≲0.1) Universe.