A guide to TAURUS-2 Fabry-Perot data reduction

The data reduction process for optical emission-line observations of galaxies using the TAURUS-2 Fabry-Perot interferometer mounted on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope is described in detail. The initial steps (bias subtraction, flat-fielding, etc.) are the same as for calibration of CCD images, and the wavelength calibration is similar to that in optical spectroscopy. The final steps are specific to Fabry-Perot instruments, and include the fitting of several instrumental parameters and a phase correction to convert the raw (x, y, z) data cube into a useful position-velocity (alpha, delta, upsilon) cube. Software has been written to assist with the latter steps of the data reduction. H alpha observations of NGC 1808, NGC 2442 and Circinus are used to demonstrate the reduction process.