THE STELLAR POPULATION AND STAR FORMATION PROPERTIES OF BLUE COMPACT DWARF GALAXIES

We study stellar populations, star formation histories (SFIIs), and star formation properties for a sample of blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) selected by cross-correlating the Gil de Paz et al. sample with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6. The sample includes 31 BCDs, which span a large range of galactic parameters. Using a stellar population synthesis method, we derive stellar populations and reconstruct SFHs for these BCDs. Our studies confirm that BCDs are not young systems experiencing their first star formation, but old systems undergoing a starburst activity. The stellar mass-weighted ages can be up to 10 Gyr, while the luminosity-weighted ages might be up to approximately three orders of magnitude younger (similar to 10 Myr) for most galaxies. Based on multiwavelength data, we also study the integrated star formation properties. The star formation rate (SFR) for our sample galaxies spans nearly three orders of magnitude, from a few 10(-3) to similar to 1M(circle dot) yr(-1), with a median value of similar to 0.1M(circle dot) yr(-1). We find that about 90% of BCDs in our sample have their birthrate parameter (the ratio of the current SFR to the averaged past SFR) b > 2-3. We further discuss correlations of the current SFR with the integrated galactic stellar mass and explore the connection between SFR and metallicity.