The Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) is imaging ∼9300 deg2 of the celestial sphere in 12 optical bands using a dedicated 0.8 m robotic telescope, the T80-South, at the Cerro Tololo Inter-american Observatory, Chile. The telescope is equipped with a 9.2k × 9.2k e2v detector with 10 $\rm {\mu m}$ pixels, resulting in a field of view of 2 deg2 with a plate scale of 0.55 arcsec pixel−1. The survey consists of four main subfields, which include two non-contiguous fields at high Galactic latitudes (|b| > 30°, 8000 deg2) and two areas of the Galactic Disc and Bulge (for an additional 1300 deg2). S-PLUS uses the Javalambre 12-band magnitude system, which includes the 5 ugriz broad-band filters and 7 narrow-band filters centred on prominent stellar spectral features: the Balmer jump/[OII], Ca H + K, H δ, G band, Mg b triplet, H α, and the Ca triplet. S-PLUS delivers accurate photometric redshifts (δz/(1 + z) = 0.02 or better) for galaxies with r < 19.7 AB mag and z < 0.4, thus producing a 3D map of the local Universe over a volume of more than $1\, (\mathrm{Gpc}/h)^3$. The final S-PLUS catalogue will also enable the study of star formation and stellar populations in and around the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, as well as searches for quasars, variable sources, and low-metallicity stars. In this paper we introduce the main characteristics of the survey, illustrated with science verification data highlighting the unique capabilities of S-PLUS. We also present the first public data release of ∼336 deg2 of the Stripe 82 area, in 12 bands, to a limiting magnitude of r = 21, available at datalab.noao.edu/splus.

We present new Gemini spectra of 14 new objects found within the H i tails of Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) 92 and 100. Nine of them are Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) far‐ultraviolet (FUV) and near‐ultraviolet (NUV) sources. The spectra confirm that these objects are members of the compact groups and have metallicities close to solar, with an average value of 12+log(O/H) ∼ 8.5. They have average FUV luminosities 7 × 1040 erg s−1 and very young ages (<100 Myr), and two of them resemble tidal dwarf galaxy (TDG) candidates. We suggest that they were created within gas clouds that were ejected during galaxy–galaxy interactions into the intergalactic medium, which would explain the high metallicities of the objects, inherited from the parent galaxies from which the gas originated. We conduct a search for similar objects in six interacting systems with extended H i tails: NGC 2623, NGC 3079, NGC 3359, NGC 3627, NGC 3718 and NGC 4656. We found 35 ultraviolet (UV) sources with ages < 100 Myr; however, most of them are on average less luminous/massive than the UV sources found around HCG 92 and HCG 100. We speculate that this might be an environmental effect and that compact groups of galaxies are more favourable to TDG formation than other interacting systems.

We have searched for young star‐forming regions around the merger remnant NGC 2782. By using Galaxy Evolution Explorer far‐ultraviolet and near‐ultraviolet imaging and H i data we found seven ultraviolet sources, located at distances greater than 26 kpc from the centre of NGC 2782, and coinciding with its western H i tidal tail. These regions were resolved in several smaller systems when Gemini/Gemini multi‐object spectrograph (GMOS) r‐band images were used. We compared the observed colours to stellar population synthesis models and found that these objects have ages of ∼1 to 11 Myr and masses ranging from 103.9 to 104.6 M⊙. By using Gemini/GMOS spectroscopic data we confirm memberships and derive high metallicities for three of the young regions in the tail (12+log(O/H) = 8.74 ± 0.20, 8.81 ± 0.20 and 8.78 ± 0.20). These metallicities are similar to the value presented by the nuclear region of NGC 2782 and also similar to the value presented for an object located close to the main body of NGC 2782. The high metallicities measured for the star‐forming regions in the gaseous tidal tail of NGC 2782 could be explained if they were formed out of highly enriched gas which was once expelled from the centre of the merging galaxies when the system collided. An additional possibility is that the tail has been a nursery of a few generations of young stellar systems which ultimately polluted this medium with metals, further enriching the already pre‐enriched gas ejected to the tail when the galaxies collided.

Nearby merging pairs are unique laboratories in which one can study the gravitational effects on the individual interacting components. In this manuscript, we report the characterization of selected Hii regions along the peculiar galaxy NGC 2936, member of the galaxy pair Arp 142, an E+S interaction, known as "The Penguin". Using Gemini South spectroscopy we have derived a high enhancement of the global star formation rate SFR = 35.9 M yr −1 probably stimulated by the interaction. Star-forming regions on this galaxy display oxygen abundances that are consistent with solar metallicities. The current data set does not allow us to conclude any clear scenario for NGC 2936. Diagnostic diagrams suggest that the central region of NGC 2936 is ionized by AGN activity and the eastern tidal plume in NGC 2936 is experiencing a burst of star formation, which may be triggered by the gas compression due to the interaction event with its elliptical companion galaxy: NGC 2937. The ionization mechanism of these sources is consistent with shock models of low-velocities of 200-300 km s −1 . The isophotal analysis shows tidal features on NGC 2937: at inner radii non-concentric (or off-centering) isophotes, and at large radii, a faint excess of the surface brightness profile with respect to de Vaucouleurs law. By comparing the radial velocity profiles and morphological characteristics of Arp 142 with a library of numerical simulations, we conclude that the current stage of the system would be about 50 ± 25 Myr after the first pericenter passage.