Abstract
Wolf-Rayet galaxies are those starburst systems in which the presence of Wolf-Rayet stars is inferred from the appearance of broad emission lines, notably λ4686 HeII. The ages of the bursts are only a few Myr when WR stars are present. Many (all?) of these starburst galaxies are interacting or merging systems. This talk will review the methods used to estimate the hot star populations in these galaxies, with emphasis on optical spectrophotometry. It will be important to keep in mind that the discovery of WR stars in starburst galaxies is highly dependent on spectral resolution, signal to noise, and the local properties of the object since one is searching for broad but weak emission lines superimposed upon a galaxy continuum. A brief comparison of the inferred numbers of O-type and WR stars in a galaxy, compared to the predictions of the most recent burst models, reveals good agreement in most cases. The exceptions might be understood in terms of geometric dilution (i.e., the stars and the ionized nebular gas are not co-spatial).
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