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# PGC 39628

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 Elliptical Galaxies with Emission Lines from the Sloan Digital Sky SurveyAs part of a study of star formation history along the Hubble sequence,we present here the results for 11 elliptical galaxies with strongnebular emission lines. After removing the dilution from the underlyingold stellar populations by use of stellar population synthesis model, wederive the accurate fluxes of all the emission lines in these objects,which are then classified, using emission line ratios, into one Seyfert2, six LINERs and four HII galaxies. We also identify one HII galaxy(A1216+04) as a hitherto unknown Wolf-Rayet galaxy from the presence ofthe Wolf-Rayet broad bump at 4650 Å. We propose that thestar-forming activities in elliptical galaxies are triggered by eithergalaxy-galaxy interaction or the merging of a small satellite/a massivestar cluster, as has been suggested by recent numerical simulations. Balmer and Paschen Jump Temperature Determinations in Low-Metallicity Emission-Line GalaxiesWe have used the Balmer and Paschen jumps to determine the temperaturesof the H+ zones of a total sample of 47 H II regions. TheBalmer jump was used on MMT spectrophotometric data of 22low-metallicity H II regions in 18 blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies andof one H II region in the spiral galaxy M101. The Paschen jump was usedon spectra of 24 H II emission-line galaxies selected from the DataRelease 3 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). To derive thetemperatures, we have used a Monte Carlo technique varying the electrontemperature in the H+ zone, the extinction of the ionized gasand that of the stellar population, the relative contribution of theionized gas to the total emission, and the star formation history to fitthe spectral energy distribution of the galaxies. For the MMT spectra,the fit was done in the wavelength range 3200-5200 Å, whichincludes the Balmer discontinuity, and for the SDSS spectra, in thewavelength range 3900-9200 Å, which includes the Paschendiscontinuity. We find for our sample of H II regions that thetemperatures of the O2+ zones determined from thenebular-to-auroral line intensity ratio of doubly ionized oxygen [O III]λλ(4959+5007)/λ4363 do not differ, in a statisticalsense, from the temperatures of the H+ zones determined fromfitting the Balmer and Paschen jumps and the spectral energydistributions (SEDs). We cannot rule out small temperature differencesof the order of 3%-5%. Infrared Properties of Star-forming Dwarf Galaxies. II. Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies in the Virgo ClusterA sample of 16 blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) in the Virgo Clusterhas been imaged in the near-infrared (NIR) in J and Ks on the2.1 m telescope at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in theSierra San Pedro Mártir in Mexico. Isophotes as faint asμJ=24 mag arcsec-2 andμKs=23 mag arcsec-2 have beenreached in most of the targets. Surface brightness profiles can befitted across the whole range of radii by the sum of two components: ahyperbolic secant (sech) function, which is known to fit the lightprofiles of dwarf irregular galaxies (dIs), and a Gaussian component,which quantifies the starburst near the center. Isophotal and totalfitted NIR magnitudes have been calculated, along with semimajor axes atμJ=23 mag arcsec-2 andμKs=22 mag arcsec-2. The diffuseunderlying component and the young starburst have been quantified usingthe profile fitting. Most color profiles show a constant color, betweenJ-Ks=0.7 and 0.9 mag. The diffuse component represents theoverwhelming majority of the NIR light for most BCDs, with the starburstenhancing the flux by less than about 0.3 mag. Linear correlations werefound between the sech scale length and the sech magnitude and betweenthe sech semimajor axis and the sech magnitude. Overall, galaxies withmore luminous diffuse components are larger and brighter in the center.The central burst correlates with the diffuse component, with brighterBCDs having stronger starbursts, suggesting that more massive objectsare forming stars more efficiently. BCDs lie on the fundamentalplane'' defined by dIs in Paper I, following the same relation betweensech absolute magnitude, sech central surface brightness, and thehydrogen line width W20, although the scatter is larger thanfor the dIs. On the other hand, correlations between the sech absolutemagnitude and the sech central surface brightness in Ks forBCDs and dIs are equally good, indicating that BCD line widths may beenhanced by turbulence or winds.These data were acquired at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacionalin the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Mexico. Palomar/Las Campanas Imaging Atlas of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies. II. Surface Photometry and the Properties of the Underlying Stellar PopulationWe present the results from an analysis of surface photometry of B, R,and Hα images of a total of 114 nearby galaxies(vhelio<4000 km s-1) drawn from the Palomar/LasCampanas Imaging Atlas of blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies. Surfacebrightness and color profiles for the complete sample have beenobtained. We determine the exponential and Sérsic profiles thatbest fit the surface brightness distribution of the underlying stellarpopulation detected in these galaxies. We also compute the (B-R) colorand total absolute magnitude of the underlying stellar population andcompared them to the integrated properties of the galaxies in thesample. Our analysis shows that the (B-R) color of the underlyingpopulation is systematically redder than the integrated color, except inthose galaxies where the integrated colors are strongly contaminated byline and nebular-continuum emission. We also find that galaxies withrelatively red underlying stellar populations [typically (B-R)>=1mag] show structural properties compatible with those of dwarfelliptical galaxies (i.e., a smooth light distribution, fainterextrapolated central surface brightness, and larger scale lengths thanBCD galaxies with blue underlying stellar populations). At least ~15% ofthe galaxies in the sample are compatible with being dwarf elliptical(dE) galaxies experiencing a burst of star formation. For the remainingBCD galaxies in the sample we do not find any correlation between therecent star formation activity and their structural differences withrespect to other types of dwarf galaxies. Optimization of Starburst99 for Intermediate-Age and Old Stellar PopulationsWe have incorporated the latest release of the Padova models into theevolutionary synthesis code Starburst99. The Padova tracks were extendedto include the full asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolution until thefinal thermal pulse over the mass range 0.9-5 Msolar. Withthis addition, Starburst99 accounts for all stellar phases thatcontribute to the integrated light of a stellar population witharbitrary age from the extreme-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. AGBstars are important for ages between 0.1 and 2 Gyr, with theircontribution increasing at longer wavelengths. We investigatesimilarities and differences between the model predictions by the Genevaand the Padova tracks. The differences are particularly pronounced atages >1 Gyr, when incompleteness sets in for the Geneva models. Wealso perform detailed comparisons with the predictions of other majorsynthesis codes and find excellent agreement. Our synthesized opticalcolors are compared to observations of old, intermediate-age, and youngpopulations. Excellent agreement is found for the old globular clustersystem of NGC 5128 and for old and intermediate-age clusters in NGC4038/4039. In contrast, the models fail for red supergiant-dominatedpopulations with subsolar abundances. This failure can be traced back toincorrect red supergiant parameters in the stellar evolutionary tracks.Our models and the synthesis code are publicly available as version 5.0of Starburst99 at http://www.stsci.edu/science/starburst99. Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies. V. Oxygen abundance and the metallicity-luminosity relationThis is the fifth paper in a series studying the stellar components,star formation histories, star formation rates and metallicities of ablue compact galaxy (BCG) sample. Based on our high-quality ground-basedspectroscopic observations, we have determined the electrontemperatures, electron densities, nitrogen abundances and oxygenabundances for 72 star-forming BCGs in our sample, using differentoxygen abundance indicators. The oxygen abundance covers the range 7.15< 12 + log (O/H)< 9.0, and nitrogen is found to be mostly aproduct of secondary nucleosynthesis for 12 + log (O/H)>8.2 andapparently a product of primary nucleosynthesis for 12 + log (O/H)<8.2. To assess the possible systematic differences among differentoxygen abundance indicators, we have compared oxygen abundances of BCGsobtained with the Te method, R23 method, P method,N2 method and O3N2 method. The oxygen abundances derived from theTe method are systematically lower by 0.1-0.25 dex than thosederived from the strong line empirical abundance indicators, consistentwith previous studies based on region samples. We confirm the existenceof the metallicity-luminosity relation in BCGs over a large range ofabundances and luminosities. Our sample of galaxies shows that the slopeof the metallicity-luminosity relation for the luminous galaxies(~-0.05) is slightly shallower than that for the dwarf galaxies(~-0.17). An offset was found in the metallicity-luminosity relation ofthe local galaxies and that of the intermediate redshift galaxies. Itshows that the metallicity-luminosity relation for the emission linegalaxies at high redshift is displaced to lower abundances, higherluminosities, or both. Completing H I observations of galaxies in the Virgo clusterHigh sensitivity (rms noise  0.5 mJy) 21-cm H I line observationswere made of 33 galaxies in the Virgo cluster, using the refurbishedArecibo telescope, which resulted in the detection of 12 objects. Thesedata, combined with the measurements available from the literature,provide the first set of H I data that is complete for all 355 late-type(Sa-Im-BCD) galaxies in the Virgo cluster with mp ≤ 18.0mag. The Virgo cluster H I mass function (HIMF) that was derived forthis optically selected galaxy sample is in agreement with the HIMFderived for the Virgo cluster from the blind HIJASS H I survey and isinconsistent with the Field HIMF. This indicates that both in this richcluster and in the general field, neutral hydrogen is primarilyassociated with late-type galaxies, with marginal contributions fromearly-type galaxies and isolated H I clouds. The inconsistency betweenthe cluster and the field HIMF derives primarily from the difference inthe optical luminosity function of late-type galaxies in the twoenvironments, combined with the HI deficiency that is known to occur ingalaxies in rich clusters.Tables \ref{t1, \ref{sample_dat} and Appendix A are only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org Principal component analysis of International Ultraviolet Explorer galaxy spectraWe analyse the UV spectral energy distribution of a sample of normalgalaxies listed in the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) NewlyExtracted Spectra (INES) Guide No. 2 - Normal Galaxies using a principalcomponent analysis. The sample consists of the IUE short-wavelength (SW)spectra of the central regions of 118 galaxies, where the IUE apertureincluded more than 1 per cent of the galaxy size. The principalcomponents are associated with the main components observed in theultraviolet (UV) spectra of galaxies. The first component, accountingfor the largest source of diversity, may be associated with the UVcontinuum emission. The second component represents the UV contributionof an underlying evolved stellar population. The third component issensitive to the amount of activity in the central regions of galaxiesand measures the strength of star-formation events.In all the samples analysed here, the principal component representativeof star-forming activity accounts for a significant percentage of thevariance. The fractional contribution to the spectral energydistribution (SED) by the evolved stars and by the young population aresimilar.Projecting the SEDs on to their eigenspectra, we find that none of thecoefficients of the principal components can outline an internalcorrelation or can correlate with the optical morphological types. In asubsample of 43 galaxies, consisting of almost only compact and BCDgalaxies, the third principal component defines a sequence related tothe degree of starburst activity of the galaxy. Are interactions the primary triggers of star formation in dwarf galaxies?We investigate the assumption that the trigger of star formation indwarf galaxies is interactions with other galaxies, in the context of asearch for a primary' trigger of a first generation of stars. This iscosmologically relevant because the galaxy formation process consistsnot only of the accumulation of gas in a gravitational potential wellbut also of the triggering of star formation in this gas mass, and alsobecause some high-z potentially primeval galaxy blocks look like nearbystar-forming dwarf galaxies. We review theoretical ideas proposed toaccount for the tidal interaction triggering mechanism and present aseries of observational tests of this assumption using published data.We also show results of a search in the vicinity of a composite sampleof 96 dwarf late-type galaxies for interaction candidates showing starformation. The small number of possible perturbing galaxies identifiedin the neighbourhood of our sample galaxies, along with similar findingsfrom other studies, supports the view that tidal interactions may not berelevant as primary triggers of star formation. We conclude thatinteractions between galaxies may explain some forms of star formationtriggering, perhaps in central regions of large galaxies, but they donot seem to be significant for dwarf galaxies and, by inference, forfirst-time galaxies forming at high redshifts. Intuitive reasoning,based on an analogy with stellar dynamics, shows that conditions forprimary star formation triggering may occur in gas masses oscillating ina dark-matter gravitational potential. We propose this mechanism as aplausible primary trigger scenario, which would be worth investigatingtheoretically. Star Formation Properties of a Large Sample of Irregular GalaxiesWe present the results of Hα imaging of a large sample ofirregular galaxies. Our sample includes 94 galaxies with morphologicalclassifications of Im, 26 blue compact dwarfs (BCDs), and 20 Sm systems.The sample spans a large range in galactic parameters, includingintegrated absolute magnitude (MV of -9 to -19), averagesurface brightness (20-27 mag arcsec-2), current starformation activity (0-1.3 Msolar yr-1kpc-2), and relative gas content(0.02-5Msolar/LB). The Hα images were usedto measure the integrated star formation rates, determine the extents ofstar formation in the disks, and compare azimuthally averaged radialprofiles of current star formation to older starlight. The integratedstar formation rates of Im galaxies normalized to the physical size ofthe galaxy span a range of a factor of 104 with 10% Imgalaxies and one Sm system having no measurable star formation at thepresent time. The BCDs fall, on average, at the high star formation rateend of the range. We find no correlation between star formation activityand proximity to other cataloged galaxies. Two galaxies located in voidsare similar in properties to the Sm group in our sample. The H IIregions in these galaxies are most often found within the Holmbergradius RH, although in a few systems H II regions are tracedas far as 1.7RH. Similarly, most of the star formation isfound within three disk scale lengths RD, but in somegalaxies H II regions are traced as far as 6RD. A comparisonof Hα surface photometry with V-band surface photometry shows thatthe two approximately follow each other with radius in Sm galaxies, butin most BCDs there is an excess of Hα emission in the centers thatdrops with radius. In approximately half of the Im galaxies Hα andV correspond well, and in the rest there are small to large differencesin the relative rate of falloff with radius. The cases with stronggradients in the LHα/LV ratios and with highcentral star formation rate densities, which include most of the BCDs,require a significant fraction of their gas to migrate to the center inthe last gigayear. We discuss possible torques that could have causedthis without leaving an obvious signature, including dark matter barsand past interactions or mergers with small galaxies or H I clouds.There is now a substantial amount of evidence for these processes amongmany surveys of BCDs. We note that such gas migration will also increasethe local pressure and possibly enhance the formation of massive denseclusters but conclude that the star formation process itself does notappear to differ much among BCD, Im, and Sm types. In particular, thereis evidence in the distribution function for Hα surface brightnessthat the turbulent Mach numbers are all about the same in these systems.This follows from the Hα distribution functions corrected forexponential disk gradients, which are log-normal with a nearly constantdispersion. Thus, the influence of shock-triggered star formation isapparently no greater in BCDs than in Im and Sm types. Spectrophotometry of Star-forming Regions in H II GalaxiesWe present spectrophotometric observations of 111 H II galaxies selectedfrom various surveys. Apart from the integrated spectra, we presentemission-line fluxes and equivalent widths of different star-formingknots for 33 galaxies for which the spatial distribution of physicalproperties can be assessed. Most of the objects have been observedpreviously. We reobserved these galaxies with uniform instrumentation,and data reduction was performed with homogeneous methods. Our analysisof the quality of the data indicates that our observations reach goodsignal-to-noise ratio over the whole spectral range, allowing themeasurement of-and the inclusion of additional-low-intensity emissionlines.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,Chile, under an agreement between the Observatório Nacional,Brazil, and the ESO. Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies. IV. Star formation rates and gas depletion timescalesThis is the fourth paper in a series studying star formation rates,stellar components, metallicities, and star formation histories of ablue compact galaxy (BCG) sample. Using Hα, [O II]λ3727,infrared (IR), radio (1.4 GHz) luminosities and neutral hydrogen (H I)gas masses, we estimated star formation rates and gas depletiontimescales of 72 star-forming BCGs. The star formation rates of the BCGsin our sample span nearly four orders of magnitude, from approximately10-2 to 102 Mȯ yr-1,with a median star formation rate of about 3 Mȯyr-1. The typical gas depletion timescale of BCGs is aboutone billion years. Star formation could be sustained at the currentlevel only on a timescale significantly lower than the age of theuniverse before their neutral gas reservoir is completely depleted. Toassess the possible systematic differences among different starformation rate indicators, we compared the star formation rates derivedfrom Hα, [O II]λ3727, IR, and radio luminosities, andinvestigated the effects from underlying stellar absorption and dustextinction. We found that subtracting underlying stellar absorption isvery important to calculate both dust extinction and star formation rateof galaxies. Otherwise, the intrinsic extinction will be overestimated,the star formation rates derived from [O II]λ3727 and Hαwill be underestimated (if the underlying stellar absorption and theinternal extinction were not corrected from the observed luminosity) oroverestimated (if an overestimated internal extinction were used forextinction correction). After both the underlying stellar absorption andthe dust extinction were corrected, a remarkably good correlationemerges among Hα, [O II]λ3727, IR and radio star formationrate indicators. Finally, we find a good correlation between themeasured star formation rate and the absolute blue magnitude,metallicity, interstellar extinction of BCGs. Our results indicate thatfaint, low-mass BCGs have lower star formation rates.Star formation rates and gas depletion timescales of BCGs are availablein electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/425/417 Stellar populations in HII galaxiesWe analyse the stellar content of a large number of HII galaxies fromthe continua and absorption features of their spectra using populationsynthesis methods, in order to gain information about the star formationhistories of these objects.We find that all galaxies of our sample contain an old stellarpopulation (≥1 Gyr) that dominates the stellar mass, and in amajority of these we also found evidence for an intermediate-agepopulation ≥50 Myr apart from the presently bursting, ionizing younggeneration ≤107 yr.Appendix A is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org Superbubbles vs Super-galactic windsHere we stress some of the major differences between supergalactic windsand giant superbubbles evolving into the giant low density haloes ofgalaxies. Both events are the result of massive bursts of star formationwithin the densest regions of the host galaxies. However, supergalacticwinds are able to channel the metals produced by the recent burststraight into the intergalactic medium while superbubbles fail to reachthe outskirts of the host galaxies and thus retain the newly processedmetals and with them eventually raise the abundance of their ISM. Wereview the properties of major bursts of star formation and the criticalenergy (and mass of the starburst) required for mass ejection both inthe case of an ISM strongly flattened by rotation into a thin disk andthat imposed by a more extended ISM distribution arising from a smallerrotation. The limits are thus establish for galaxies with an ISM mass inthe range 10^6 M[ scriptstyle sun ]to more than 10^9 M[ scriptstyle sun], and are compared with a sample of local galaxies. Some of thesegalaxies seem to be above the critical limit despite the fact that theirstructure is clearly that of a superbubble. True supergalactic winds, asevidence by M82, are shown to exceed the critical limit by more than anorder of magnitude and thus the limit derived by Silich &Tenorio-Tagle (2001) for mass ejection should be regarded as a lowerlimit. Palomar/Las Campanas Imaging Atlas of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies. I. Images and Integrated PhotometryWe present B, R, and Hα images for a total of 114 nearby galaxies(vhelio<4000 km s-1) that, with exception ofnine objects, are classified as blue compact dwarfs (BCDs). BRintegrated magnitudes, Hα fluxes and Hα equivalent widthsfor all the objects in the sample are presented. A new set ofquantitative, observational criteria for a galaxy to be classified as aBCD is proposed. These criteria include a limit on the K-band luminosity(i.e., stellar mass; MK>-21 mag), peak surface brightness(μB,peak<22 mag arcsec-2), and color at thepeak surface brightness(μB,peak-μR,peak<~1). Hα emissionis detected in all but three sample galaxies. Typical color, absolutemagnitude, and Hα luminosity are (B-R)=0.7+/-0.3 mag,MB=-16.1+/-1.4 mag, and log (LHα)=40.0+/-0.6(ergs s-1). Galaxies morphologically classified as nE and iEBCDs within our sample show lower Hα equivalent widths and reddercolors, on average, than the iI- and i0-type BCDs. For most of thegalaxies the presence of an evolved stellar population is required toexplain their observed properties; only the most metal-poor BCDs (e.g.,I Zw 18, Tol 65) are still compatible with a pure, young burst. Theflux-calibrated and WCS-compliant images in this Atlas are individuallyavailable through the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) imageserver and collectively through a dedicated Web page. Spectroscopy of Dwarf Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. I. Data, Chemical Abundances, and Ionization StructureLong-slit spectroscopy has been obtained for a sample of 22 blue dwarfgalaxies selected in the direction of the Virgo Cluster, as part of alarger sample of Virgo blue dwarf galaxies for which deep Hαimaging has been collected. Most of the galaxies in the present sampleare classified as BCDs or dwarf Irregulars in the Virgo Cluster Catalog.Line fluxes, Hβ equivalent widths, extinction coefficients, spatialemission profiles, ionization structure, and physical conditions arepresented for each galaxy. Chemical abundances have been derived eitherusing a direct determination of the electron temperature or afterdetailed examination of the predictions of different abundancecalibrations. The oxygen abundances derived for the sample of Virgodwarf galaxies span the range 7.6<=12+log(O/H)<=8.9, and thecorresponding nitrogen-to-oxygen abundance ratio ranges from valuestypical of low-metallicity field BCD galaxies to near solar. Neutral Hydrogen Mapping of Virgo Cluster Blue Compact Dwarf GalaxiesA new installment of neutral hydrogen mappings of blue compact dwarf(BCD) galaxies, as defined by optical morphology, in and near the VirgoCluster is presented. The primary motivation was to search for outlyingclouds of H I as potential interactive triggers of enhanced starformation, and therefore the mapped galaxies were selected for large H Imass, large optical diameter, and large velocity profile width.Approximately half the sample proved to have one or more small, lowcolumn density, star-free companion clouds, either detached or appearingas an appendage in our maps, at a resolution on the order of 4 kpc.Comparison is made with a sample of similarly mapped field BCD galaxiesdrawn from the literature; however, the Virgo Cluster sample of mappedBCDs is still too small for conclusive comparisons to be made. We found,on the one hand, little or no evidence for ram-pressure stripping nor,on the other, for extremely extended low column density H I envelopes.The H I rotation curves in most cases rise approximately linearly andslowly, as far out as we can trace the gas. Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-Type Galaxies: Circular-Aperture PhotometryWe present R-band CCD photometry for 1332 early-type galaxies, observedas part of the ENEAR survey of peculiar motions using early-typegalaxies in the nearby universe. Circular apertures are used to tracethe surface brightness profiles, which are then fitted by atwo-component bulge-disk model. From the fits, we obtain the structuralparameters required to estimate galaxy distances using theDn-σ and fundamental plane relations. We find thatabout 12% of the galaxies are well represented by a pure r1/4law, while 87% are best fitted by a two-component model. There are 356repeated observations of 257 galaxies obtained during different runsthat are used to derive statistical corrections and bring the data to acommon system. We also use these repeated observations to estimate ourinternal errors. The accuracy of our measurements are tested by thecomparison of 354 galaxies in common with other authors. Typical errorsin our measurements are 0.011 dex for logDn, 0.064 dex forlogre, 0.086 mag arcsec-2 for<μe>, and 0.09 for mRC,comparable to those estimated by other authors. The photometric datareported here represent one of the largest high-quality and uniformall-sky samples currently available for early-type galaxies in thenearby universe, especially suitable for peculiar motion studies.Based on observations at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO),National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., undercooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF);European Southern Observatory (ESO); Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory(FLWO); and the MDM Observatory on Kitt Peak. A new catalogue of ISM content of normal galaxiesWe have compiled a catalogue of the gas content for a sample of 1916galaxies, considered to be a fair representation of normality''. Thedefinition of a normal'' galaxy adopted in this work implies that wehave purposely excluded from the catalogue galaxies having distortedmorphology (such as interaction bridges, tails or lopsidedness) and/orany signature of peculiar kinematics (such as polar rings,counterrotating disks or other decoupled components). In contrast, wehave included systems hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) in thecatalogue. This catalogue revises previous compendia on the ISM contentof galaxies published by \citet{bregman} and \citet{casoli}, andcompiles data available in the literature from several small samples ofgalaxies. Masses for warm dust, atomic and molecular gas, as well asX-ray luminosities have been converted to a uniform distance scale takenfrom the Catalogue of Principal Galaxies (PGC). We have used twodifferent normalization factors to explore the variation of the gascontent along the Hubble sequence: the blue luminosity (LB)and the square of linear diameter (D225). Ourcatalogue significantly improves the statistics of previous referencecatalogues and can be used in future studies to define a template ISMcontent for normal'' galaxies along the Hubble sequence. The cataloguecan be accessed on-line and is also available at the Centre desDonnées Stellaires (CDS).The catalogue is available in electronic form athttp://dipastro.pd.astro.it/galletta/ismcat and at the CDS via anonymousftp to\ cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via\http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/405/5 Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies. III. Empirical population synthesisThis is the third paper of a series dedicated to the study of the starformation rates, star formation histories, metallicities and dustcontents of a sample of blue compact galaxies (BCGs). We constrain thestellar contents of 73 blue compact galaxies by analyzing theircontinuum spectra and the equivalent widths of strong stellar absorptionfeatures using a technique of empirical population synthesis based on alibrary of observed star-cluster spectra. Our results indicate that bluecompact galaxies are typically age-composite stellar systems; inaddition to young stars, intermediate-age and old stars contributesignificantly to the 5870 Å continuum emission of most galaxies inour sample. The stellar populations of blue compact galaxies also span avariety of metallicities. The ongoing episodes of star formation startedtypically less than a billion years ago. Some galaxies may be undergoingtheir first global episode of star formation, while for most galaxies inour sample, older stars are found to contribute up to half the opticalemission. Our results suggest that BCGs are primarily old galaxies withdiscontinuous star formation histories. These results are consistentwith the results from deep imaging observations of the color-magnitudediagrams of a few nearby BCGs using HST and large ground-basedtelescopes. The good quality of our population synthesis fits of BCGspectra allow us to estimate the contamination of the Hβox{Hα }, Hβ , Hγ and Hdelta Balmer emission lines bystellar absorption. The absorption equivalent widths measured in thesynthetic spectra range from typically 1.5 Å for Hβox{Hα }, to 2-5 Å for Hβ , Hγ , and Hdelta . Theimplied accurate measurements of emission-line intensities will be usedin a later study to constrain the star formation rates and gas-phasechemical element abundances of blue compact galaxies. Metals from star-forming dwarfs: retention or ejection?We show evidences that gas outflows occur in starburst galaxies assuperbubbles evolve. We then question whether hot gas will be expelledand enrich the IGM with metals or be retained within the host galaxy.For this purpose we construct three extreme scenarios of the starformation histories for a sample of dwarf galaxies using either theirpresent metallicity or their luminosity. The three scenarios implydifferent mechanical energy input rates, those are compared withtheoretical lower limits for the ejection of processed matter out ofhost galaxies. The comparison strongly points at the existence ofextended gaseous haloes acting as a barrier that allows these galaxiesto retain their metals and enhance their abundance. Our findingsstrongly point that continuous star-forming processes, rather thancoeval bursts, must contribute to the overall metallicity in our galaxysample. An H I Survey of Actively Star-forming Dwarf GalaxiesWe present the results of H I 21 cm observations of 139 activelystar-forming dwarf galaxies obtained with the 305 m radio telescope atArecibo Observatory. Our sample consists of all objects cataloged inobjective-prism surveys for UV-excess or emission-line galaxiespublished prior to the start of the survey that have luminosities belowMB=-17.0 and that are located within the declination limitsof the Arecibo telescope. Galaxies from the Markarian, Michigan, Case,Wasilewski, Haro, and Zwicky lists are included. The sample spans a widerange of both H I gas content and star formation levels. A total of 122objects (88%) were detected; 82 galaxies have been observed for thefirst time in H I. The median velocity width for our sample is 88 kms-1, and the median H I gas mass is 3.0×108Msolar. In general, the sample galaxies are gas-rich, with anaverage MHI/LB=1.3 after correcting for theluminosity enhancement due to the starburst. The progenitors of many ofthe star-forming dwarfs have higher MHI/LB thantypically seen in samples of nearby normal'' galaxies, emphasizingtheir distinct nature. The UZC-SSRS2 Group CatalogWe apply a friends-of-friends algorithm to the combined Updated ZwickyCatalog and Southern Sky Redshift Survey to construct a catalog of 1168groups of galaxies; 411 of these groups have five or more members withinthe redshift survey. The group catalog covers 4.69 sr, and all groupsexceed the number density contrast threshold, δρ/ρ=80. Wedemonstrate that the groups catalog is homogeneous across the twounderlying redshift surveys; the catalog of groups and their membersthus provides a basis for other statistical studies of the large-scaledistribution of groups and their physical properties. The medianphysical properties of the groups are similar to those for groupsderived from independent surveys, including the ESO Key Programme andthe Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We include tables of groups and theirmembers. Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies. II. Spectral analysis and correlationsThis is the second paper in a series studying the star formation rates,stellar components, metallicities, and star formation histories andevolution of a sample of blue compact galaxies. We analyzed spectralproperties of 97 blue compact galaxies, obtained with the BeijingAstronomical Observatory (China) 2.16 m telescope, with spectral range3580 Å-7400 Å. We classify the spectra according to theiremission lines: 13 of the total 97 BCG sample are non-emission linegalaxies (non-ELGs); 10 have AGN-like emission (AGNs), and 74 of themare star-forming galaxies (SFGs). Emission line fluxes and equivalentwidths, continuum fluxes, the 4000 Å Balmer break index andequivalent widths of absorption lines are measured from the spectra. Weinvestigate the emission line trends in the integrated spectra of thestar-forming galaxies in our sample, and find that: 1) The equivalentwidths of emission lines are correlated with the galaxy absolute bluemagnitude MB; lower luminosity systems tend to have largerequivalent widths. 2) The equivalent width ratio [N II]6583/Hα isanti-correlated with equivalent width Hα; a relationship is giventhat can be used to remove the [N II] contribution from blendedHα+ [N II]6548, 6583. 3) The [O II], Hβ , Hγ andHα fluxes are correlated; those can be used as star formationtracers in the blue. 4) The metallicity indices show trends with galaxyabsolute magnitude and attenuation by dust, faint, low-mass BCGs havelower metallicity and color excess. Tables 1-4, and 6 are only availablein electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/396/503 Hα surface photometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. IV. The current star formation in nearby clusters of galaxiesHα +[NII] imaging observations of 369 late-type (spiral) galaxiesin the Virgo cluster and in the Coma/A1367 supercluster are analyzed,covering 3 rich nearby clusters (A1367, Coma and Virgo) and nearlyisolated galaxies in the Great-Wall. They constitute an opticallyselected sample (mp<16.0) observed with ~ 60 %completeness. These observations provide us with the current(T<107 yrs) star formation properties of galaxies that westudy as a function of the clustercentric projected distances (Theta ).The expected decrease of the star formation rate (SFR), as traced by theHα EW, with decreasing Theta is found only when galaxies brighterthan Mp ~ -19.5 are considered. Fainter objects show no orreverse trends. We also include in our analysis Near Infrared data,providing information on the old (T>109 yrs) stars. Puttogether, the young and the old stellar indicators give the ratio ofcurrently formed stars over the stars formed in the past, orbirthrate'' parameter b. For the considered galaxies we also determinethe global gas content'' combining HI with CO observations. We definethe gas deficiency'' parameter as the logarithmic difference betweenthe gas content of isolated galaxies of a given Hubble type and themeasured gas content. For the isolated objects we find that b decreaseswith increasing NIR luminosity. In other words less massive galaxies arecurrently forming stars at a higher rate than their giant counterpartswhich experienced most of their star formation activity at earliercosmological epochs. The gas-deficient objects, primarily members of theVirgo cluster, have a birthrate significantly lower than the isolatedobjects with normal gas content and of similar NIR luminosity. Thisindicates that the current star formation is regulated by the gaseouscontent of spirals. Whatever mechanism (most plausibly ram-pressurestripping) is responsible for the pattern of gas deficiency observed inspiral galaxies members of rich clusters, it also produces the observedquenching of the current star formation. A significant fraction of gas`healthy'' (i.e. with a gas deficiency parameter less than 0.4) andcurrently star forming galaxies is unexpectedly found projected near thecenter of the Virgo cluster. Their average Tully-Fisher distance isfound approximately one magnitude further away (muo = 31.77)than the distance of their gas-deficient counterparts (muo =30.85), suggesting that the gas healthy objects belong to a cloudprojected onto the cluster center, but in fact lying a few Mpc behindVirgo, thus unaffected by the dense IGM of the cluster. Based onobservations taken at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional(Mexico), the OHP (France), Calar Alto and NOT (Spain) observatories.Table \ref{tab4} is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org Spectroscopic study of blue compact galaxies. I. The spectraBlue compact galaxies are compact objects that are dominated by intensestar formation. Most of them have dramatically different propertiescompared to the Milky Way and many other nearby galaxies. Using theIRAS, H I data, and optical spectra, we wanted to measure the currentstar formation rates, stellar components, metallicities, and starformation histories and evolution of a large blue compact galaxy sample.We anticipate that our study will be useful as a benchmark for studiesof emission line galaxies at high redshift. In the first paper of thisseries, we describe the selection, spectroscopic observation, datareduction and calibration, and spectrophotometric accuracy of a sampleof 97 luminous blue compact galaxies. We present a spectrophotometricatlas of rest-frame spectra, as well as tables of the recessionvelocities and the signal-to-noise ratios. The recession velocities ofthese galaxies are measured with an accuracy of delta V< 67 kms-1. The average signal-to-noise ratio of sample spectra is ~51. The spectral line strengths, equivalent widths and continuum fluxesare also measured for the same galaxies and will be analyzed in the nextpaper of this series. The atlas and tables of measurements will be madeavailable electronically. Table 3 and Fig. 4 are only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/389/845 Studies of galaxies in voids. I. H I observations of Blue Compact GalaxiesWe present here results of studies of the properties of galaxies locatedin very low density environments. We observed 26 blue compact galaxies(BCGs) from the Second Byurakan (SBS) and Case surveys located in voidswith the radial velocities Vhel <~ 11 000 kms-1, two BCGs in the void behind the Virgo cluster and 11BCGs in denser environments. H I fluxes and profile widths, as well asestimates of total H I masses, are presented for the 27 detectedgalaxies (of which 6 are in three galaxy pairs and are not resolved bythe radiotelescope beam). Preliminary comparisons of void BCGs withsimilar objects from intermediate density regions - in the general fieldand the Local Supercluster (sub-samples of BCGs in the SBS zone) and inthe dense environment of the Virgo Cluster (a BCD sample) - areperformed using the hydrogen-to-blue-luminosity ratio M(ion{H}i)/LB. We find that for the same blue luminosity, forMB > -18.0m, BCGs in lower density environment have onaverage more H I. The slope beta of the M(ion {H}i)/LBvarpropto Lbeta for BCGs shows a trend of steepening withdecreasing bright galaxy density, being very close to zero for thedensest environment considered here and reaching beta = -0.4 for voids. Hα surface photometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster III. Observations with INT and NOT 2.5 m telescopesWe present Hα line imaging observations of 30 galaxies obtained atthe 2.5 m INT and NOT telescopes. The observed galaxies are mostly BCDVirgo cluster galaxies. Hα +[NII] fluxes and equivalent widths, aswell as images of all the detected targets are presented. With theseobservations, Hα data are available for =~ 50% of the BCD galaxieslisted in the VCC. Based on observations taken at the INT and NOTtelescopes, operated on the island of La Palma by the ING and NOT teamsin the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the Institutode AstrofÃ­sica de Canarias. Figure 1 is only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org On the Metallicity of Star-forming Dwarf GalaxiesWe construct three extremely different scenarios of the star formationhistories applicable to a sample of dwarf galaxies, based on eithertheir present metallicity or their luminosity. The three possiblescenarios imply different mechanical energy input rates, and these wecompare with the theoretical lower limits established for the ejectionof processed matter out of dwarf galaxies. The comparison stronglypoints to the existence of extended gaseous halos in these galaxiesacting as the barrier that allows galaxies to retain their metals andenhance their abundance. At the same time, our findings strongly pointto a continuous star-forming process, rather than to coeval bursts, asthe main contributor to the overall metallicity in our galaxy sample. The Morphologies of Dwarf Markarian GalaxiesThe morphologies of the 96 dwarf (M(B) -17m) galaxies in the Markariancatalog are determined from the digitized Schmidt plates obtained forthe construction of the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalog. Thefraction of double nucleus galaxies within the dwarf Markarian galaxiesis determined to be twice that found for all galaxies in the Markariancatalog. In addition to the 12 previously known cases, four definite andtwo probable galaxies with double nuclei are identified. The fraction ofdwarf Markarian galaxies with bright star forming regions is found to betwice that of Virgo cluster dwarf galaxies. No Elliptical galaxies arefound in the sample. Galaxies with blue compact dwarf and S0morphologies are more often found to contain unresolved regions of UVexcess emission. Dwarf Markarian galaxies with different morphologicalstructures and spectral classes are found to have similar FIRproperties.
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