Study of the emission line spectra and the stellar populations of starburst galaxies

Abstract

Based on the optical-NIR spectra, we discuss the nebular properties and stellar populations of starburst nuclei. Starbursts are found to have higher electron densities and higher excitations compared to HII nuclei. We find evidence for a composite population of young, ionizing massive stars (less than 3 Myr old) co-existing with the evolved RSG populations (about 5 to 7 Myr old) in most of our sample starburst nuclei.