Radio Continuum and H I Study of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies

Abstract

The multifrequency radio continuum and 21 cm H I observations of five blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies, Mrk 104, Mrk 108, Mrk 1039, Mrk 1069, and I Zw 97, using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) are presented here. Radio continuum emission at 610 MHz and 325 MHz is detected from all the observed galaxies whereas only a few are detected at 240 MHz. In our sample, three galaxies (Mrk 104, Mrk 108, and Mrk 1039) are members of groups and two galaxies (Mrk 1069 and I Zw 97) are isolated galaxies. The radio emission from Mrk 104 and Mrk 108 is seen to encompass the entire optical galaxy whereas the radio emission from Mrk 1039, Mrk 1069, and I Zw 97 is confined to massive H II regions. This, we suggest, indicates that the star formation in the latter group of galaxies has recently been triggered and that the environment in which the galaxy is evolving plays a role. Star formation rates (SFRs) calculated from 610 MHz emission are in the range 0.01-0.1 M sun yr–1; this is similar to the SFR obtained for individual star-forming regions in BCDs. The integrated radio spectra of four galaxies are modeled over the frequency range where data is available. We find that two of the galaxies, Mrk 1069 and Mrk 1039, show a turnover at low frequencies, which is well fitted by free-free absorption whereas the other two galaxies, Mrk 104 and Mrk 108, show a power law at the lowest GMRT frequencies. The flatter spectrum, localized star formation, and radio continuum in isolated galaxies lend support to stochastic self-propagating star formation. The H I observations of four galaxies, Mrk 104, Mrk 108, Mrk 1039, and Mrk 1069, show extended disks as large as ~1.1-6 times the optical size. All the observed BCDs (except Mrk 104) show rotating disk with a half power width of ~50-124 km s–1. Solid body rotation is common in our sample. We note that the tidal dwarf origin is possible for two of the BCDs in our sample.