Aims. Aiming to find new extremely metal-deficient star-forming galaxies we extracted from the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) 100 K Data Release 14 emission-line galaxies with relatively strong [O iii] λ4363 emission.Methods. Spectroscopic and photometric studies of this sample and, in addition, of 7 Tololo and 2 UM galaxies were performed on the basis of observations with the ESO 3.6 m telescope. Results. All sample galaxies qualify with respect to their photometric and spectroscopic properties as blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies. Additionally, they show a good overlap with a comparison sample of ∼100 well-studied emission-line galaxies on the 12 + log (O/H) vs. log(Ne/O), log(Ar/O) and log(Fe/O) planes. From the analysis of the 2dFGRS subsample we report the discovery of two new extremely metal-deficient BCDs with an oxygen abundance 12 + log (O/H) ≤ 7.6 and of another seven galaxies with 12 + log (O/H) < ∼ 7.8. Furthermore, we confirm previous oxygen abundance determinations for the BCDs Tol 1304−353, Tol 2146−391, UM 559 and UM 570 to be 12 + log (O/H) ≤ 7.8. Key words. galaxies: starburst -galaxies: abundances -galaxies: fundamental parameters -galaxies: structure
IntroductionThe identification of chemically unevolved star-forming galaxies in the local universe, with a nearly pristine chemical composition, is a fundamental quest of contemporary observational cosmology. This is because of several reasons.First, studies of abundance ratios and abundance gradients in these systems are crucial for our understanding of the early chemical evolution of galaxies and for constraining models of stellar nucleosynthesis and the properties of massive stars in the early universe.Second, if we wish to understand the spectra of primeval galaxies, it is highly important to understand how the UV radiation field of these systems changes as metallicity decreases. It is well established that the lower the metallicity, the harder is the radiation from massive stars (Campbell et al. 1986). As a consequence, strong high-ionization lines are expected in the spectra of metal-deficient star-forming galaxies. Indeed, deep spectroscopy has led recently to the discovery of high-ionization emission lines, such as [Fe v] λ4227 and [Ne v] λ3346, 3426, in addition to strong He ii λ4686 emission, in a few of the most metal-poor star-forming galaxies known in the local universe (Fricke et al. 2001;Izotov et al. 2001.Third, systematic studies of star-forming galaxies all the way down to a strongly subsolar metallicity are indispensable for Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, ESO program 71.B-0032.Tables 3-5 are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org putting tight observational constraints to the primordial helium abundance, which constitutes one of the key tests of Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. They allow to infer the ratio dY/dZ of the mass fraction Y of helium released into the interstellar medium by stars relative to the mass fraction Z of heav...