3,161 research outputs found
The nearby universe observed in far-infrared and in ultraviolet: an analysis of the dust attenuation and the star formation activity
We discuss the dust attenuation and the star formation rates in the nearby
universe obtained from a comparison of far-infrared (IRAS) and ultraviolet
(GALEX) observations. The ratio of the dust to UV flux ratio is used to derive
the dust attenuation: this dust attenuation is found to increase with the
luminosity of the galaxies and from z=0 to z=1. The slope of the UV continuum
is found to be a very poor tracer of the dust attenuation in "normal" galaxies.
Galaxies selected by their UV emission are found to be rather quiescent with a
recent star formation rate equal to only 25-30% of the past averaged one.
Galaxies selected in FIR appear slightly more active in star formation.Comment: 10 pages, invited conference, The Spectral Energy Distribution of Gas
Rich Galaxies: Confronting Models with Data Heidelberg, Germany October 4-8,
200
What Controls the Star Formation in Luminous Starburst Mergers ?
In order to understand what controls the star formation process in luminous
starburst mergers (e.g., NGC 6240, Arp 220, and so on), we investigate
observational properties of two samples of high-luminosity starburst galaxies
mapped in CO(=1--0) independently using both the Owens Valley Radio
Observatory (Scoville et al. 1991) and the IRAM interferometer (Downes &
Solomon 1998). We find that the surface density of far-infrared luminosity,
(FIR), is proportional linearly to the H surface mass density,
(H), for the two samples; (FIR) (H) with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. It is
often considered that (FIR) provides a good measure of the star
formation rate per unit area, (SFR). It is also known that molecular
gas is dominated in circumnuclear regions in the luminous starburst mergers;
i.e., (gas) (H). Therefore, the above relationship
suggests a star formation law; (SFR) (gas). We suggest
that this star formation law favors the gravitational instability scenario
rather than the cloud-cloud collision one.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures. The Astrophysical Journal (Letters), in pres
Star formation and dust extinction in nearby star forming and starburst galaxies
We study the star formation rate and dust extinction properties of a sample
of nearby star forming galaxies as derived from Halpha and UV (2000 A)
observations and we compare them to those of a sample of starburst galaxies.
The dust extinction in Halpha is estimated from the Balmer decrement and the
extinction in UV using the FIR to UV flux ratio or the attenuation law for
starburst galaxies of Calzetti et al. The Halpha and UV emissions are strongly
correlated with a very low scatter for the star forming objects and with a much
higher scatter for the starburst galaxies. The Halpha to UV flux ratio is found
larger by a factor ~ 2 for the starburst galaxies. We compare both samples with
a purely UV selected sample of galaxies and we conclude that the mean Halpha
and UV properties of nearby star forming galaxies are more representative of UV
selected galaxies than starburst galaxies.
We emphasize that the Halpha to UV flux ratio is strongly dependent on the
dust extinction: the positive correlation found between F{Halpha}/F{UV}$ and
F{FIR}/F{UV} vanishes when the Halpha and UV flux are corrected for dust
extinction. The Halpha to UV flux ratios converted into star formation rate and
combined with the Balmer decrement measurements are tentatively used to
estimate the dust extinction in UV.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The H-alpha and Infrared Star Formation Rates for the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey
We investigate the H-alpha and infrared star formation rate (SFR) diagnostics
for galaxies in the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey (NFGS). For the 81 galaxies in
our sample, we derive H-alpha fluxes (included here) from integrated spectra.
There is a strong correlation between the ratio of far-infrared to optical
luminosities L(FIR)/L(H-alpha) and the extinction E(B-V) measured with the
Balmer decrement. Before reddening correction, the SFR(IR) and SFR(H-alpha) are
related to each other by a power-law. Correction of the SFR(H-alpha) for
extinction using the Balmer decrement and a classical reddening curve both
reduces the scatter in the SFR(IR)-SFR(H-alpha) correlation and results in a
much closer agreement (within ~10%) between the two SFR indicators. This SFR
relationship spans 4 orders of magnitude and holds for all Hubble types with
IRAS detections in the NFGS. A constant ratio between the SFR(IR) and
SFR(H-alpha) for all Hubble types, including early types (S0-Sab), suggests
that the IR emission in all of these objects results from a young stellar
population.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in the
Astronomical Journal. V2: Important changes: IRAS fluxes updated. Only
moderate and good quality IRAS FIR fluxes are now used, resulting in slight
changes to the equations and figures. The IR and H-alpha SFRs now agree to
within ~10%, rather than ~30% as quoted previousl
Star Formation and Dust Extinction Properties of Local Galaxies as seen from AKARI and GALEX
An accurate estimation of the star formation-related properties of galaxies
is crucial for understanding the evolution of galaxies. In galaxies,
ultraviolet (UV) light emitted by recently formed massive stars is attenuated
by dust, which is also produced by star formation (SF) activity, and is
reemitted at mid- and far- infrared (IR) wavelengths. In this study, we
investigate the star formation rate (SFR) and dust extinction using UV and IR
data. We selected local galaxies which are detected at AKARI FIS 90 um and
matched the IRAS IIFSCz 60 um select catalog. We measured FUV and NUV flux
densities from GALEX images. We examined the SF and extinction of Local
galaxies using four bands of AKARI. Then, we calculated FUV and total IR
luminosities, and obtained the SF luminosity, L_{SF}, the total luminosity
related to star formation activity, and the SFR. We find that in most galaxies,
L_{SF} is dominated by L_{dust}. We also find that galaxies with higher SF
activity have a higher fraction of their SF hidden by dust. In fact, the SF of
galaxies with SFRs >20 M_{sun}/yr is almost completely hidden by dust. Our
results boast a significantly higher precision with respect to previously
published works, due to the use of much larger object samples from the AKARI
and GALEX all sky surveys.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Earth, Planets, and
Space, A few minor corrections, and a reference adde
1.65mic (H-band) surface photometry of galaxies. VI: The history of star formation in normal late-type galaxies
We have collected a large body of NIR (H band), UV (2000 A) and Halpha
measurements of late-type galaxies. These are used, jointly with spectral
evolutionary synthesis models, to study the initial mass function (IMF) in the
mass range m > 2 Mo. For spirals (Sa-Sd), Magellanic irregulars (Im) and blue
compact dwarfs (BCD), our determination is consistent with a Salpeter IMF with
an upper mass cutoff M_up = 80 Mo. The history of star formation and the amount
of total gas (per unit mass) of galaxies are found to depend primarily on their
total masses (as traced by the H band luminosities) and only secondarily on
morphological type. The present star formation activity of massive spirals is
up to 100 times smaller than that average over their lifetime, while in low
mass galaxies it is comparable to or higher than that at earlier epochs. Dwarf
galaxies have presently larger gas reservoirs per unit mass than massive
spirals. The efficiency in transforming gas into stars and the time scale for
gas depletion (10 Gyrs) are independent of the luminosity and/or of the
morphological type. These evidences are consistent with the idea that galaxies
are coeval systems,that they evolved as closed-boxes forming stars following a
simple, universal star formation law whose characteristic time scale is small
(1 Gyr) in massive spirals and large (10 Gyr) in low mass galaxies. A similar
conclusion was drawn by Gavazzi and Scodeggio (1996) to explain the
colour-magnitude relation of late-type galaxies. The consequences of this
interpretation on the evolution of the star formation rate and of the gas
density per comoving volume of the Universe with look-back time are discussed.Comment: LaTex, 24 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication on Astronomical
Journa
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