Orchestration of Starbirth Activity in Disk Galaxies: New Perspectives from Ultraviolet Imaging

Ultraviolet imaging of nearby disk galaxies reveals the star-forming activity in these systems with unprecedented clarity. UV images recently obtained with the Shuttle-borne Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) reveal a remarkable variety of star-forming morphologies. The respective roles of tides, waves, and resonances in orchestrating the observed patterns of starbirth activity are discussed in terms of the extant UV data.Comment: Paper format (latex); length of paper (4); 2 encapsulated postscript figure files; uses AIP Press files aipproc.cls, aipproc.sty; Journal Reference: to be published in proceedings in "Star Formation, Near and Far", Proceedings of the 7th annual Astrophysics Conference in Maryland, Steve Holt, Lee G. Mundy, editor