LITTLE THINGS

We present LITTLE THINGS (Local Irregulars That Trace Luminosity Extremes, The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey), which is aimed at determining what drives star formation in dwarf galaxies. This is a multi-wavelength survey of 37 dwarf irregular and 4 blue compact dwarf galaxies that is centered around HI-line data obtained with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Very Large Array (VLA). The HI-line data are characterized by high sensitivity ([< or =, slant]1.1 mJy beam super(-1) per channel), high spectral resolution ([< or =, slant]2.6 km s super(-1)), and high angular resolution (~6"). The LITTLE THINGS sample contains dwarf galaxies that are relatively nearby ([< or =, slant] 10.3 Mpc; 6" is [< or =, slant] 300 pc), that were known to contain atomic hydrogen, the fuel for star formation, and that cover a large range in dwarf galactic properties. We describe our VLA data acquisition, calibration, and mapping procedures, as well as HI map characteristics, and show channel maps, moment maps, velocity-flux profiles, and surface gas density profiles. In addition to the HI data we have GALEX UV and ground-based UBV and H alpha images for most of the galaxies, and JHK images for some. Spitzer mid-IR images are available for many of the galaxies as well. These data sets are available online.