We present “ The H I Nearby Galaxy Survey ( THINGS ) ” , a high spectral ( \leq 5.2 km s ^ { -1 } ) and spatial ( \sim 6 ^ { \prime \prime } ) resolution survey of H I emission in 34 nearby galaxies obtained using the NRAO Very Large Array ( VLA ) .
The overarching scientific goal of THINGS is to investigate fundamental characteristics of the interstellar medium ( ISM ) related to galaxy morphology , star formation and mass distribution across the Hubble sequence .
Unique characteristics of the THINGS database are the homogeneous sensitivity as well as spatial and velocity resolution of the H I data which is at the limit of what can be achieved with the VLA for a significant number of galaxies .
A sample of 34 objects at distances 2 { { { { \mathrel { \mathchoice { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \displaystyle \hfil < $ \cr$% \displaystyle \hfil \sim$ } } } { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \textstyle \hfil < $ \cr% $ \textstyle \hfil \sim$ } } } { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \scriptstyle \hfil < $ \cr% $ \scriptstyle \hfil \sim$ } } } { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \scriptscriptstyle% \hfil < $ \cr$ \scriptscriptstyle \hfil \sim$ } } } } D { { { { \mathrel { \mathchoice { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \displaystyle \hfil < $ \cr$% \displaystyle \hfil \sim$ } } } { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \textstyle \hfil < $ \cr% $ \textstyle \hfil \sim$ } } } { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \scriptstyle \hfil < $ \cr% $ \scriptstyle \hfil \sim$ } } } { \lower 2.0 pt \vbox { \halign { \cr } $ \scriptscriptstyle% \hfil < $ \cr$ \scriptscriptstyle \hfil \sim$ } } } } 15 Mpc ( resulting in linear resolutions of \sim 100 to 500 pc ) are targeted in THINGS , covering a wide range of star formation rates ( \sim 10 ^ { -3 } to 6 M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } ) , total H I masses M _ { HI } ( 0.01 to 14 \times 10 ^ { 9 } M _ { \odot } ) , absolute luminosities M _ { B } ( –11.5 to –21.7 mag ) and metallicities ( 7.5 to 9.2 in units of 12+log [ O/H ] ) .
We describe the setup of the VLA observations , the data reduction procedures and the creation of the final THINGS data products .
We present an atlas of the integrated H I maps , the velocity fields , the second moment ( velocity dispersion ) maps and individual channel maps of each THINGS galaxy .
The THINGS data products are made publicly available through a dedicated webpage .
Accompanying THINGS papers address issues such as the small–scale structure of the ISM , the ( dark ) matter distribution in THINGS galaxies , and the processes leading to star formation .