We present a local sample ( z < 0.15 ) of 280 Star-Forming Compact Groups ( SFCGs ) of galaxies identified in the ultraviolet Galaxy Evolution EXplorer ( GALEX ) All-sky Imaging Survey ( AIS ) . So far , just one prototypical example of SFCG , the Blue Infalling Group , has been studied in detail in the Local Universe . The sample of SFCGs is mainly the result of applying a Friends-of-Friends group finder in the space of celestial coordinates with a maximum linking-length of 1.5 arcmin and choosing groups with a minimum number of four members of bright UV-emitting 17 < FUV < 20.5 sources ( mostly galaxies ) from the GALEX/AIS catalogue . The result from the search are 280 galaxy groups composed by 226 , 39 , 11 and 4 groups of four , five , six and seven bright ultraviolet ( UV ) members , respectively .
Only 59 of these 280 newly identified SFCGs have a previous catalogued group counterpart . Group redshifts are available for at least one member in 75 % of the SFCGs , and over 40 % of the SFCGs have redshifts measured for two or more galaxies .
Twenty-six of the SFCGs appear to be located in the infalling regions of clusters with known redshift . The SFCG sample presents a combination of properties different from the group samples studied up to now , such as low velocity dispersions ( \sigma _ { { } l - o - s } \sim 120 km s ^ { -1 } ) , small crossing-times ( H _ { 0 } t _ { { } c } \sim 0.05 ) and high star-formation content ( 95 % of star-forming galaxies ) .
This points to the SFCGs being in an evolutionary stage distinct from those groups selected in the optical and near-infrared ranges . Once redshifts are obtained to discard interlopers , SFCGs will constitute a unique sample of star forming compact groups .