A Spectroscopic Study of Component C and the Extended Emission around I Zw 18

In this paper we present the results of a de- tailed B, V , R, I ,a nd H study of the isolated nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy NGC 6789. The ob- served galaxy has not yet been resolved into stars up to now. On CCD frames obtained with 6 m BTA telescope and 2.5 m Nordic telescope the galaxy is well resolved. Its colour-magnitude diagram conrms the two component (core-halo) galaxy morphology, which consists of two stel- lar populations distinct in structure and colour: an inner high surface-brightness young population within 150 pc from the center of the galaxy, and a relatively low surface- brightness intermediate-age population extending out to at least 600 pc. The distance to the galaxy, estimated from the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) is 2.1 Mpc which places NGC 6789 close to the Local Group. From the mean colour of the RGB, the mean metal abundance of the halo population is estimated as (Fe/H)' 1 dex.

We resolved the brightest stars in 5 nearby blue compact dwarf galaxies with NICMOS aboard HST in J and H. In all galaxies, RGB stars were detected. This finding allows an improved estimate of the distances of these galaxies and sets a lower limit to the age of the old stellar component of 1 Gyr. Further, we detected a pronounced AGB population, including – in all but one – also TP-AGB stars. Our data do not support the hypothesis that very low metallicity BCD galaxies may have formed their first stars only recently.

Nearby blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) are considered analogs to objects from the Epoch of Reionization revealed by JWST, having similarly low stellar masses, low metallicities, and high specific star formation rates. Thus, they represent ideal local laboratories for detailed multiwavelength studies of their properties and mechanisms that shape them. We report the first JWST MIRI/MRS observations of the BCD SBS 0335-052 E, analyzing MIR emission lines tracing different levels of ionization (e.g., [Ne ii], [S iv], [Ne iii], [O iv], [Ne v]) of the ionized gas. SBS 0335-052 E MIR emission is characterized by a bright point source, located in one of the youngest and most embedded stellar clusters (t ∼ 3 Myr, A V ∼ 15), and underlying extended high-ionization emission (i.e., [O iv] and [Ne v]) from the surroundings of the older and less dusty stellar clusters (t < 20 Myr, A V ∼ 8). From a comparison with state-of-the-art models, we can exclude shocks, X-ray binaries, and old stellar populations as the main sources of ionization. Interestingly, a 4%–8% contribution of a ∼105 M ⊙intermediate massive black hole (IMBH) is needed to justify the strong [Ne v]/[Ne ii] and would be consistent with optical/UV line ratios from previous studies. However, even IMBH models cannot explain the strongest [O iv]/[Ne iii]. Also, star-forming models (regardless of including X-ray binaries) struggle to reproduce even the lower ionization line ratios (e.g., [S iv]/[Ne ii]) typically observed in BCDs. Overall, while current models suggest the need to account for an accreting IMBH in this high-z analog, limitations still exist in predicting high-ionization emission lines (I.P. > 54 eV) when modeling these low-metallicity environments, and thus other sources of ionization cannot be fully ruled out.

We present the results from deep 21 cm H i mapping of two nearby Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies (BCDGs), W1016+3754 and W2326+0608, using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). These BCDGs are bright in mid-infrared data and undergoing active star formation. With the GMRT observations, we investigate the role of cold neutral gas as the fuel resource of the current intensive star formation activity. Star formation in these galaxies is likely to be due to the infall of H i gas triggered by gravitational perturbation from nearby galaxies. The BCDG W2326+0608 and nearby galaxy SDSS J232603.86+060835.8 share a common H i envelope. We find star formation takes place in the high H i column density gas (≳1021 cm−2) regions for both BCDGs. The recent starburst and infall of metal-free gas have kept the metallicity low for the BCDG W1016+3754. The metallicity for W2326+0608 is higher, possibly due to tidal interaction with the nearby galaxy SDSS J232603.86+060835.8.

This paper presents B and R band Charge Coupled Device (CCD) images and medium resolution spectroscopy of NGC 2915, a relatively isolated BCD (blue compact dwarf) galaxy at a distance of approximately 5 Mpc. NGC 2915 contains two stellar populations: a high surface brightness blue core population and a red diffuse population. The core population contains all of the H II, and numerous embedded objects. It is the locus of current high mass star formation. The brightest embedded objects are likely to be young ionizing clusters, while many of the fainter objects are likely to be individual supergiant stars with masses up to approximately 25 solar mass, or blends of a few such stars. Curious aligned structures on the SE side of the galaxy are seen and their nature discussed. The spectrum of the core is dominated by bright narrow emission lines like that of a high excitation and low metallicity (less than half solar) H II region. The continuum is flat, with Balmer and Ca II features seen in absorption. The velocity of the Ca II features suggest contamination by galactic interstellar absorption. There is a significant velocity gradient in the spectra, probably indicative of rotation. Outside of its core, NGC 2915 resembles a dE (dwarf elliptical) galaxy, in that it has an exponential surface brightness profile, is red ((B-R)(sub 0) = 1.65), and has a low extrapolated central surface brightness (B(0)(sub c) = 22.44). NGC 2915's properties are compared with other BCDs, concentrating on two morphologically similar BCDs that are near enough to resolve into stars: NGC 1705 and NGC 5253. It is noted that the presence of winds in BCDs invalidates closed box chemical evolution models and the remaining constraints on star formation duration are relatively weak. Some BCDs, including NGC 2915, may be able to maintain their present star formation rate for Gyr time scales. This suggests that the overall evolution of these BCDs may be much slower than the approximately 10 Myr burst time scales commonly quoted. However, shortly after the formation of a massive (10(exp 6) solar mass) cluster a BCD will have all the properties of strong starburst galaxy).

We report results of a detailed study of the nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy NGC 1705. There are two stellar populations in NGC 1705: an underlying population around a Gyr old or older, and a young population of fairly continuous star formation for the last 250 Myr. An off-centre nucleus, which is probably a young (10 Myr old), massive (106M⊙) globular cluster, is part of this young population. The Hα morphology and emission line kinematics are consistent with an expulsive flow triggered by the formation of the nucleus. We show that NGC 1705 is losing ionized material in this galactic wind with neutral material probably entrained in the flow. This flow may lead to total removal of the ISM. The evolutionary fate of NGC 1705 is uncertain but the most likely outcome is rapid evolution into a nucleated dwarf elliptical galaxy.

Empirical correlations are found between log ages (logτ) intrinsic ultraviolet colors C(18 - 31)_0_ and C(25 - 31)_0_ for 27 LMC clusters, where log τ is on the uniform age scale of Elson correlations as age indicators for LMC clusters and other stellar populations are discussed. The results are partially based on a new calibration of log τ vs the reddening-corrected S parameter of Elson and Fall (1985). The log τ estimates from UV colors are about as accurate as those using the S parameter. However, the decreased sensitivity of the UV colors to age for the bluest clusters gives little incentive to use these correlations in preference to the S parameter. The nature of this loss in sensitivity is briefly discussed. We have used our correlations to estimate the ages of two LMC clusters of unknown age (NGC 1968 and NGC 1974) and the nuclei of two nearby blue compact dwarf galaxies (NGC 1705 and NGC 5253). For the latter two objects optical- and ultraviolet-based age estimates are in good agreement.

There are no examples of Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies known within the Local Group (LG). Multicolor HST/WFPC2 observations of the nearby BCD VII Zw 403 (= UGC 6456) now resolve single stars with the quality (in terms of limiting magnitude and completeness) previously achieved for LG dwarfs from the ground. We use the MI, V - I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of several LG dwarfs as templates to assess the stellar content and star-formation history (SFH) of the BCD VII Zw 403. This is the first BCD for which a clear spatial segregation of the resolved stellar content into a “core-halo” structure is detected: active star formation is observed in the central region of VII Zw 403, while in “Baade's red sheet”, this young population is strikingly absent. If BCD halos are home to dominant ancient stellar populations, then the fossil record conflicts with delayed-format ion scenarios for dwarfs. We present a sketch of the SFH in the core and halo of VII Zw 403.

Crucial to a quantitative understanding of galaxy evolution are the properties of the inter-stellar medium that regulate galactic-scale star formation activity. We present here the results of a suite of star formation models applied to the nearby blue compact dwarf galaxies NGC 2915 and NGC 1705. Each of these galaxies has a stellar disk embedded in a much larger, essentially star-less HI disk. These atypical stellar morphologies allow for rigorous tests of star formation models that examine the effects on star formation of the HI, stellar and dark matter mass components, as well as the kinematics of the gaseous and stellar disks. We use far ultra-violet and 24 micron imaging from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer and the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey respectively to map the spatial distribution of the total star formation rate surface density within each galaxy. New high-resolution HI line observations obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array are used to study the distribution and dynamics of each galaxy's neutral inter-stellar medium. The standard Toomre Q parameter is unable to distinguish between active and non-active star forming regions, predicting the HI disks of the dwarfs to be sub-critical. Two-fluid instability models incorporating the stellar and dark matter components of each galaxy, in addition to the gaseous component, yield portions of the inner disk unstable. Finally, a formalisation in which the HI kinematics are characterised by the rotational shear of the gas produces models that very accurately match the observations. This suggests the time available for perturbations to collapse in the presence of rotational shear to be an important factor governing galactic-scale star formation.

We obtained HST COS G140L spectra of the enigmatic nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy II Zw 40. The galaxy hosts a nuclear super star cluster embedded in a radio-bright nebula, similar to those observed in the related blue compact dwarfs NGC 5253 and Henize 2-10. The ultraviolet spectrum of II Zw 40 is exceptional in terms of the strength of He II 1640, O III] 1666 and C III] 1909. We determined reddening, age, and the cluster mass from the ultraviolet data. The super nebula and the ionizing cluster exceed the ionizing luminosity and stellar mass of the local benchmark 30 Doradus by an order of magnitude. Comparison with stellar evolution models accounting for rotation reveals serious short-comings: these models do not account for the presence of Wolf-Rayet-like stars at young ages observed in II Zw 40. Photoionization modeling is used to probe the origin of the nebular lines and determine gas phase abundances. C/O is solar, in agreement with the result of the stellar-wind modeling.

Conventional wisdom tells us that supermassive black holes are found exclusively in massive galaxies undergoing little star formation. But one such object has now been discovered in a star-forming dwarf galaxy. See Letter p.66 The starburst in Henize 2-10, a relatively nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy, has attracted the attention of astronomers for decades, in part because of its prodigious rate of star formation — ten times that of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Now a study of Henize 2-10 at centimetre radio wavelengths and in the near-infrared reveals a compact radio source at its centre that is spatially coincident with a hard X-ray source. This points to the presence of an actively accreting massive black hole, but one not associated with a bulge, a nuclear star cluster or any other well-defined nucleus. This means that Henize 2-10 may reflect an early phase of black hole and galaxy evolution that has not been observed previously.

NIR Census of the Stellar Content of Nearby Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies with HST

Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations of the nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy VII Zw 403 (=UGC 6456) resolve single stars down to MI ≈ -2.5, deep enough to identify red giants. This population has a more uniform spatial distribution than the young main-sequence stars and supergiants, forming the structure known as "Baade's red sheet." We conclude that VII Zw 403 is not a primeval galaxy.

H i observations of the nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy IC 10 obtained with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory synthesis telescope, for a total integration of ∼1000 h, are presented. We confirm the NW faint 21 cm H i emission feature discovered in Green Bank Telescope (GBT) observations. The H i feature has an H i mass of 4.7 × 105 M⊙, which is only ∼0.6 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the total H i mass of the galaxy (7.8 × 107 M⊙). In the inner disc, the rotation curve of IC 10 rises steeply, then flattens until the last point where it rises again, with a maximum velocity of 30 km s−1. Based on our mass models, the kinematics of the inner disc of IC 10 can be described without the need of a dark matter halo. However, this does not exclude the possible presence of dark matter on a larger scale. It is unlikely that the disturbed features seen in the outer H i disc of IC 10 are caused by an interaction with M 31. Features seen from our simulations are larger and at lower surface density than can be reached by current observations. The higher velocity dispersions seen in regions where several distinct H i features meet with the main core of IC 10 suggest that there is ongoing accretion.

We present a detailed optical spectroscopic and B, V, I, Hα photometric study of the metal-deficient cometary blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy SBS 1415+437. We derive an oxygen abundance and () in the two brightest H ii regions, among the lowest in BCDs. The helium mass fractions in these regions are and . Four techniques based on the equivalent widths of the hydrogen emission and absorption lines, the spectral energy distribution and the colours of the galaxy are used to put constraints on the age of the stellar population in the low-surface-brightness (LSB) component of the galaxy, assuming two limiting cases of star formation (SF), the case of an instantaneous burst and that of a continuous SF with a constant or a variable star formation rate (SFR). The spectroscopic and photometric data for different regions of the LSB component are well reproduced by a young stellar population with an age t ≤ 250 Myr, assuming a small extinction in the range mag. Assuming no extinction, we find that the upper limit for the mass of the old stellar population, formed between 2.5 Gyr and 10 Gyr, is not greater than ~(1/20–1) of that of the stellar population formed during the last ~250 Myr. Depending on the region considered, this also implies that the SFR in the most recent SF period must be 20 to 1000 times greater than the SFR at ages 2.5 Gyr. We compare the photometric and spectroscopic properties of SBS 1415+437 with those of a sample of 26 low-metallicity dwarf irregular and BCD galaxies. We show that there is a clear trend for the stellar LSB component of lower-metallicity galaxies to be bluer. This trend cannot be explained only by metallicity effects. There must be also a change in the age of the stellar populations. The most metal-deficient galaxies have also smaller luminosity-weighted ages.