Circumnuclear regions of star formation in early-type galaxies

Circumnuclear star-forming regions, also called hotspots, are often found in the inner regions of some spiral galaxies where intense processes of star formation are taking place. In the UV, massive stars dominate the observed circumnuclear emission, even in the presence of an active nucleus, contributing between 30 and 50% to the total H beta emission of the nuclear zone. Spectrophotometric data of moderate resolution (3000 < R < 11000) are presented from which the physical properties of the ionized gas (electron density, oxygen abundances, ionization structure, etc.) have been derived.