Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 pc--The Southern Sample

We are obtaining spectra, spectral types and basic physical parameters forthe nearly 3600 dwarf and giant stars earlier than M0 in the Hipparcos catalogwithin 40pc of the Sun. Here we report on results for 1676 stars in thesouthern hemisphere observed at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory andSteward Observatory. These results include new, precise, homogeneous spectraltypes, basic physical parameters (including the effective temperature, surfacegravity, and metallicity, [M/H]) and measures of the chromospheric activity ofour program stars. We include notes on astrophysically interesting stars inthis sample, the metallicity distribution of the solar neighborhood and a tableof solar analogues. We also demonstrate that the bimodal nature of thedistribution of the chromospheric activity parameter log R'HK depends stronglyon the metallicity, and we explore the nature of the ``low-metallicity''chromospherically active K-type dwarfs.Comment: 62 pages including a long table, 6 figure