The near-IR luminosity-metallicity relation of dwarf irregular galaxies

We briefly describe our on-going investigation of the near-IR luminosity-metallicity relationship for dwarf irregular galaxies in nearby groups of galaxies. The motivations of the project and the observational databases are introduced, and a preliminary result is presented. The 12+log(O/H) vs.H plane must be populated with more low-luminosity galaxies before a definite conclusion can be drawn.