The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators

Spitzer data at 24, 70, and 160 μm and ground-based Hα images are analyzed for a sample of 189 nearby star-forming and starburst galaxies to investigate whether reliable star formation rate (SFR) indicators can be defined using the monochromatic infrared dust emission centered at 70 and 160 μm. We c...

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Autor: Gil De Paz, Armando
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/44885
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44885
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:52
Initial mass function
Diffuse ionized medium
Aromatic-hydrocarbon emission
Nearby spiral galaxies
Compact dwarf galaxies
Digital sky survey
H II regions
Starburst galaxies
Forming galaxies
Local universe
Astrofísica
Astronomía (Física)
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repository_id_str
spelling The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicatorsGil De Paz, Armando52Initial mass functionDiffuse ionized mediumAromatic-hydrocarbon emissionNearby spiral galaxiesCompact dwarf galaxiesDigital sky surveyH II regionsStarburst galaxiesForming galaxiesLocal universeAstrofísicaAstronomía (Física)Spitzer data at 24, 70, and 160 μm and ground-based Hα images are analyzed for a sample of 189 nearby star-forming and starburst galaxies to investigate whether reliable star formation rate (SFR) indicators can be defined using the monochromatic infrared dust emission centered at 70 and 160 μm. We compare recently published recipes for SFR measures using combinations of the 24 μm and observed Hα luminosities with those using 24 μm luminosity alone. From these comparisons, we derive a reference SFR indicator for use in our analysis. Linear correlations between SFR and the 70 μm and 160 μm luminosity are found for L(70)≳ 1.4 × 10^42 erg s^–1 and L(160) ≳ 2 × 10^42 erg s^–1, corresponding to SFR gsim 0.1-0.3 M_☉ yr–1, and calibrations of SFRs based on L(70) and L(160) are proposed. Below those two luminosity limits, the relation between SFR and 70 μm (160 μm) luminosity is nonlinear and SFR calibrations become problematic. A more important limitation is the dispersion of the data around the mean trend, which increases for increasing wavelength. The scatter of the 70 μm (160 μm) data around the mean is about 25% (factor ~2) larger than the scatter of the 24 μm data. We interpret this increasing dispersion as an effect of the increasing contribution to the infrared emission of dust heated by stellar populations not associated with the current star formation. Thus, the 70 (160) μm luminosity can be reliably used to trace SFRs in large galaxy samples, but will be of limited utility for individual objects, with the exception of infrared-dominated galaxies. The nonlinear relation between SFR and the 70 and 160 μm emission at faint galaxy luminosities suggests a variety of mechanisms affecting the infrared emission for decreasing luminosity, such as increasing transparency of the interstellar medium, decreasing effective dust temperature, and decreasing filling factor of star-forming regions across the galaxy. In all cases, the calibrations hold for galaxies with oxygen abundance higher than roughly 12 +log(O/H) ~ 8.1. At lower metallicity, the infrared luminosity no longer reliably traces the SFR because galaxies are less dusty and more transparent.American Astronomical SocietyUniversidad Complutense de Madrid20102010-05-1020102010-05-10journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44885reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/448852026-06-02T12:44:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
title The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
spellingShingle The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
Gil De Paz, Armando
52
Initial mass function
Diffuse ionized medium
Aromatic-hydrocarbon emission
Nearby spiral galaxies
Compact dwarf galaxies
Digital sky survey
H II regions
Starburst galaxies
Forming galaxies
Local universe
Astrofísica
Astronomía (Física)
title_short The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
title_full The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
title_fullStr The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
title_full_unstemmed The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
title_sort The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gil De Paz, Armando
author Gil De Paz, Armando
author_facet Gil De Paz, Armando
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 52
Initial mass function
Diffuse ionized medium
Aromatic-hydrocarbon emission
Nearby spiral galaxies
Compact dwarf galaxies
Digital sky survey
H II regions
Starburst galaxies
Forming galaxies
Local universe
Astrofísica
Astronomía (Física)
topic 52
Initial mass function
Diffuse ionized medium
Aromatic-hydrocarbon emission
Nearby spiral galaxies
Compact dwarf galaxies
Digital sky survey
H II regions
Starburst galaxies
Forming galaxies
Local universe
Astrofísica
Astronomía (Física)
description Spitzer data at 24, 70, and 160 μm and ground-based Hα images are analyzed for a sample of 189 nearby star-forming and starburst galaxies to investigate whether reliable star formation rate (SFR) indicators can be defined using the monochromatic infrared dust emission centered at 70 and 160 μm. We compare recently published recipes for SFR measures using combinations of the 24 μm and observed Hα luminosities with those using 24 μm luminosity alone. From these comparisons, we derive a reference SFR indicator for use in our analysis. Linear correlations between SFR and the 70 μm and 160 μm luminosity are found for L(70)≳ 1.4 × 10^42 erg s^–1 and L(160) ≳ 2 × 10^42 erg s^–1, corresponding to SFR gsim 0.1-0.3 M_☉ yr–1, and calibrations of SFRs based on L(70) and L(160) are proposed. Below those two luminosity limits, the relation between SFR and 70 μm (160 μm) luminosity is nonlinear and SFR calibrations become problematic. A more important limitation is the dispersion of the data around the mean trend, which increases for increasing wavelength. The scatter of the 70 μm (160 μm) data around the mean is about 25% (factor ~2) larger than the scatter of the 24 μm data. We interpret this increasing dispersion as an effect of the increasing contribution to the infrared emission of dust heated by stellar populations not associated with the current star formation. Thus, the 70 (160) μm luminosity can be reliably used to trace SFRs in large galaxy samples, but will be of limited utility for individual objects, with the exception of infrared-dominated galaxies. The nonlinear relation between SFR and the 70 and 160 μm emission at faint galaxy luminosities suggests a variety of mechanisms affecting the infrared emission for decreasing luminosity, such as increasing transparency of the interstellar medium, decreasing effective dust temperature, and decreasing filling factor of star-forming regions across the galaxy. In all cases, the calibrations hold for galaxies with oxygen abundance higher than roughly 12 +log(O/H) ~ 8.1. At lower metallicity, the infrared luminosity no longer reliably traces the SFR because galaxies are less dusty and more transparent.
publishDate 2010
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2010
2010-05-10
2010
2010-05-10
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44885
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44885
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv American Astronomical Society
publisher.none.fl_str_mv American Astronomical Society
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Docta Complutense
instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
reponame_str Docta Complutense
collection Docta Complutense
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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