Star-forming Dwarf Galaxies: Ariadne’s Thread in the Cosmic Labyrinth Stellar kinematics in blue compact galaxies

In a programme of observations of local luminous blue compact galaxies (BCGs) we are investigating kinematics by using tracers of both stars and ionised gas. Here we summarise our program and present new data on the local Lyman break galaxy analogue Haro 11. From spatially-resolved spectroscopy around the near-infrared Ca ii triplet, we find that its stars and ionised gas have similar velocity fields. Our programme so far indicates however that emission line velocities can differ locally by a few tens of km s−1 from the Ca ii values. Comparing our data to simple stellar population models, we assess which stellar population the Ca ii triplet traces and its potential beyond the local universe. AMS classification scheme numbers: 98.56.Wm, 98.52.Sw, 98.54.Ep, 98.58.-w, 98.62.Ai, 98.62.Dm, 98.62.Lv, 98.65.Fz