Spectrophotometric investigations of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Mrk 35

Preliminary results from a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of the blue compact dwarf galaxy (BCD) Mrk 35 are presented. We have performed deep UBVRI broad-band and H_α narrow-band optical observations, near-infrared (JHK _s) imaging and long-slit spectroscopy of the galaxy. Mrk 35 is composed of a very young starburst population distributed in a bar-like structure, placed on top of an underlying, older stellar host galaxy. Using predictions of evolutionary synthesis models, we estimate the ages of both the starburst regions and the underlying stellar component. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.