A Radio View of Star Formation in II Zw 40

¹ Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, PO Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325, USA
² National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475, USA

Abstract

Star formation in the low mass and low metallicity environments of dwarf galaxies provides important clues about how star formation proceeded in the early universe. To measure the properties of youngest star forming regions – those closest to stellar birth conditions – one needs to use an extinction-free tracer of thermal emission, such as free-free continuum emission in the radio, to penetrate the dust surrounding these regions. We present high sensitivity and high resolution observations of the radio continuum emission in the low metallicity dwarf galaxy II Zw 40 and combine it with HST ACS data and single dish CO(1–0) to gain a more complete picture of star formation in this galaxy.