A high-excitation H ii region in the faint dwarf elliptical galaxy A 0951 + 68

We present the results of BVRI imaging and optical spectroscopy of the dwarfgalaxy A0951+68. The images reveal that, although this galaxy is classified asa dwarf elliptical, it has some properties that are similar to dwarf irregulargalaxies. It contains two bright knots of emission, one of which is red andunresolved and the other blue and resolved. The blue knot also shows a highexcitation emission line spectrum. The observed line ratios indicate that thisis an HII region, although with some line ratios that are border-line withthose in AGN. The emission line luminosity is consistent with ionisation by asingle, very luminous O star, or several smaller O stars, but the extended bluelight in the knot shows that this has occurred as part of a substantial recentstar formation event. We find that the metal abundance, while low compared totypical large galaxies, actually seems to be high for such a low luminositydwarf. The position of A0951 in the literature is incorrect and we provide thecorrect value.Comment: 8 pages, Latex, 4 encapsulated postscript figures included, 1 separate JPEG figure; to be published in Monthly Notice