POX 4 and Tol 35: Two peculiar Wolf-Rayet dwarf galaxies

We present results of narrowband (Ha and adjacent continuum) and broadband (U, B, and V) optical CCD imaging together with high-resolution H alpha spe ctroscopy of the blue compact Wolf-Rayet dwarf galaxies POX 4 and Tol 35. P OX 4 has a fainter, irregular, and diffuse companion located 20".5 (4.7 kpc ) along the minor axis of the galaxy, which is visible also in the H alpha emission. The difference in recession velocity between the galaxy and the c ompanion is about 130 km s(-1). The observational results lead us to propos e that POX 4 could be interpreted as a low-mass ring galaxy, produced by a head-on intrusion of the fainter companion. Regarding the other object, a s pectrum taken along the major axis of Tol 35 shows the coexistence of syste ms of motion with a velocity difference of about 50 km s(-1). Moreover, the deep continuum-subtracted H alpha image of the galaxy shows very faint fea tures that resemble the beginning of crossed tidal tails or gaseous filamen ts powered by the mechanical action of the young stellar population. In thi s sense, Tol 35 could be interpreted either as an object in an intermediate -stage merging process between two gas-rich dwarf galaxies or as an object suffering the effect of a galactic wind.