The
Stellar Population and Star Formation
in the Blue Compact Galaxy SBS 1331+493
O. A. Zenina*, I. S. Balinskaya**, A. Yu. Knyazev**, and V. A. Lipovetskii**
*Rostov State University, Rostov-on-Don, 344090 Russia
**Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Arkhuz, Stavropolskii krai, 357147 Russia
Received May 31, 1996
Abstract—The
stellar population and evolutionary characteristics (metallicity
of stellar components and stellar ages and mass functions) in the
blue compact galaxy SBS 1331+493 are studied; this galaxy has a
low heavyelement abundance and has experienced bursts of star
formation. A new composite method for determining the stellar
composition of galaxies is proposed. This method incorporates the
advantages of both evolutionary studies and population synthesis.
Long-slit spectra obtained on the 4-m telescope of Kitt Peak
National Observatory are used for the analysis. The resulting
ages for the last burst of star formation in four consecutive
spatial zones are from 3.8 
106
to 34 106 yr, corresponding to a velocity
of 13 ± 5 km/s for the corresponding wave of star formation. The
metallicities of the stellar populations [Z / Z
] in different regions are
from –0.96 to –0.76. The initial mass function 
(M)
~ M -
= 2.36 
0.12
for all the regions studied.
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