DUST-CORRECTED STAR FORMATION RATES OF GALAXIES. I. COMBINATIONS OF Hα AND INFRARED TRACERS

We combine Hα emission-line and infrared (IR) continuum measurements of two samples of nearby galaxies to derive dust attenuation-corrected star formation rates (SFRs). We use a simple energy balance based method that has been applied previously to H ii regions in the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey, and extend the methodology to integrated measurements of galaxies. We find that our composite Hα + IR based SFRs are in excellent agreement with attenuation-corrected SFRs derived from integrated spectrophotometry, over the full range of SFRs (0.01–80 M☉ yr−1) and attenuations (0–2.5 mag) studied. We find that the combination of Hα and total IR luminosities provides the most robust SFR measurements, but combinations of Hα measurements with monochromatic luminosities at 24 μm and 8 μm perform nearly as well. The calibrations differ significantly from those obtained for H ii regions, with the difference attributable to a more evolved population of stars heating the dust. Our results are consistent with a significant component of diffuse dust (the “IR cirrus” component) that is heated by a non-star-forming population. The same methodology can be applied to [O ii]λ3727 emission-line measurements, and the radio continuum fluxes of galaxies can be applied in place of IR fluxes when the latter are not available. We assess the precision and systematic reliability of all of these composite methods.

[1]  D. Calzetti,et al.  AN AROMATIC INVENTORY OF THE LOCAL VOLUME , 2010, 1004.1441.

[2]  D. Calzetti,et al.  THE CALIBRATION OF MONOCHROMATIC FAR-INFRARED STAR FORMATION RATE INDICATORS , 2010, 1003.0961.

[3]  B. Groves,et al.  High-resolution panchromatic spectral models of galaxies including photoionization and dust , 2009, 0906.2156.

[4]  B. Weiner,et al.  DETERMINING STAR FORMATION RATES FOR INFRARED GALAXIES , 2008, 0810.4150.

[5]  Hong Wu,et al.  Correlations between Mid-Infrared, Far-Infrared, Hα, and FUV Luminosities for Spitzer SWIRE Field Galaxies , 2008 .

[6]  D. Calzetti,et al.  The relations among 8, 24 and 160 μm dust emission within nearby spiral galaxies , 2008, 0806.2758.

[7]  D. Elbaz,et al.  A simple model to interpret the ultraviolet, optical and infrared emission from galaxies , 2008, 0806.1020.

[8]  L. Vanzi,et al.  Metallicity Effects on Dust Properties in Starbursting Galaxies , 2008, 0801.1700.

[9]  C. Kochanek,et al.  Estimating the total infrared luminosity of galaxies up to z ∼ 2 from mid- and far-infrared observations , 2007, 0712.0965.

[10]  Benjamin D. Johnson,et al.  Ultraviolet through Infrared Spectral Energy Distributions from 1000 SDSS Galaxies: Dust Attenuation , 2007, 0712.3573.

[11]  Benjamin D. Johnson,et al.  Ultraviolet, Optical, and Infrared Constraints on Models of Stellar Populations and Dust Attenuation , 2007, 0712.3051.

[12]  E. Battaner,et al.  On the Metallicity Dependence of the 24 μm Luminosity as a Star Formation Tracer , 2007, 0708.2642.

[13]  D. Calzetti,et al.  Star Formation in NGC 5194 (M51a). II. The Spatially Resolved Star Formation Law , 2007, 0708.0922.

[14]  C. Conselice,et al.  The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: the role of galaxy environment in the cosmic star formation history , 2007, 0706.4089.

[15]  D. Calzetti,et al.  The Incidence of Highly Obscured Star-forming Regions in SINGS Galaxies , 2007, 0706.3501.

[16]  Porto,et al.  Bursty stellar populations and obscured active galactic nuclei in galaxy bulges , 2007, 0706.3113.

[17]  B. Brandl,et al.  High-Resolution Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies , 2007, 0706.0513.

[18]  Astronomy,et al.  The Calibration of Mid-Infrared Star Formation Rate Indicators , 2007, 0705.3377.

[19]  Jr.,et al.  The Mid-Infrared Spectrum of Star-forming Galaxies: Global Properties of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission , 2006, astro-ph/0610913.

[20]  C. Leitherer,et al.  An Ultraviolet-to-Radio Broadband Spectral Atlas of Nearby Galaxies , 2006, astro-ph/0610688.

[21]  A. Mazure,et al.  The VIMOS-VLT deep survey Color bimodality and the mix of galaxy populations up to z ∼ 2 , 2006, astro-ph/0607075.

[22]  M. Rieke,et al.  Near-Infrared and Star-forming Properties of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies , 2006, astro-ph/0606186.

[23]  T. Nagao,et al.  The Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate between Redshifts of 0.07 and 1.47 for Narrowband Emitters in the Subaru Deep Field , 2006, astro-ph/0610846.

[24]  Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille,et al.  ULTRAVIOLET THROUGH FAR-INFRARED SPATIALLY RESOLVED ANALYSIS OF THE RECENT STAR FORMATION IN M81 (NGC 3031) , 2006, astro-ph/0605605.

[25]  D. Schiminovich,et al.  Star Formation in the Nearby Universe: The Ultraviolet and Infrared Points of View , 2006, astro-ph/0601235.

[26]  K. Venn,et al.  The Spatial Homogeneity of Nebular and Stellar Oxygen Abundances in the Local Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxy NGC 6822 , 2005, astro-ph/0512428.

[27]  J. Moustakas,et al.  ApJ, accepted Preprint typeset using L ATEX style emulateapj v. 6/22/04 OPTICAL STAR-FORMATION RATE INDICATORS , 2006 .

[28]  J. Moustakas,et al.  An Integrated Spectrophotometric Survey of Nearby Star-forming Galaxies , 2005, astro-ph/0511729.

[29]  J. Bernard-Salas,et al.  Mid-Infrared Properties of Low-Metallicity Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies from the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph , 2005, astro-ph/0510856.

[30]  Chen Cao,et al.  PAH and Mid-Infrared Luminosities as Measures of Star Formation Rate in Spitzer First Look Survey Galaxies , 2005, astro-ph/0509281.

[31]  L. Kewley,et al.  Infrared Spectral Energy Distributions of Nearby Galaxies , 2005, astro-ph/0507645.

[32]  L. Kewley,et al.  Star Formation in NGC 5194 (M51a): The Panchromatic View from GALEX to Spitzer , 2005, astro-ph/0507427.

[33]  Guilaine Lagache,et al.  DUSTY INFRARED GALAXIES: Sources of the Cosmic Infrared Background , 2005, astro-ph/0507298.

[34]  M. Ruiz,et al.  Chemical Composition of Two H II Regions in NGC 6822 Based on VLT Spectroscopy , 2005, astro-ph/0507084.

[35]  G. Rieke,et al.  Metallicity Effects on Mid-Infrared Colors and the 8 μm PAH Emission in Galaxies , 2005, astro-ph/0506214.

[36]  L. Macarthur.  Dust Sensitivity of Absorption-Line Indices , 2004, astro-ph/0412506.

[37]  Dust Attenuation in the Nearby Universe: A Comparison between Galaxies Selected in the Ultraviolet and in the Far-Infrared , 2004, astro-ph/0411343.

[38]  A. Szalay,et al.  The Galaxy Evolution Explorer: A Space Ultraviolet Survey Mission , 2004, astro-ph/0411302.

[39]  S. Sakai,et al.  An Hα Imaging Survey of Galaxies in the Local 11 Mpc Volume , 2004, 0807.2035.

[40]  E. Peeters,et al.  Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as a Tracer of Star Formation? , 2004 .

[41]  G. Gavazzi,et al.  Mid-IR emission of galaxies in the Virgo cluster and in the Coma supercluster IV. The nature of the dust heating sources , 2004, astro-ph/0409110.

[42]  George H. Rieke,et al.  Energy Sources of the Far-Infrared Emission of M33 , 2004 .

[43]  E. Peeters,et al.  PAHs as a tracer of star formation , 2004, astro-ph/0406183.

[44]  D. Calzetti,et al.  Spatially Resolved Ultraviolet, Hα, Infrared, and Radio Star Formation in M81 , 2004, astro-ph/0406064.

[45]  M. Sauvage,et al.  Warm dust and aromatic bands as quantitative probes of star-formation activity , 2004, astro-ph/0402388.

[46]  Heidelberg,et al.  Modelling the spectral energy distribution of galaxies. III. Attenuation of stellar light in spiral galaxies , 2004, astro-ph/0401630.

[47]  L. Kewley,et al.  [O II] as a Star Formation Rate Indicator , 2004, astro-ph/0401172.

[48]  J. Brinkmann,et al.  The physical properties of star-forming galaxies in the low-redshift universe , 2003, astro-ph/0311060.

[49]  Timothy M. Heckman,et al.  The host galaxies of active galactic nuclei , 2003 .

[50]  S. M. Fall,et al.  Star formation history and dust content of galaxies drawn from ultraviolet surveys , 2003, astro-ph/0312474.

[51]  P. Kroupa,et al.  Galactic-Field Initial Mass Functions of Massive Stars , 2003 .

[52]  Star formation rate in galaxies from UV, IR, and Hα estimators , 2003, astro-ph/0308531.

[53]  Galactic-Field IMFs of Massive Stars , 2003, astro-ph/0308356.

[54]  R. Nichol,et al.  Star Formation Rate Indicators in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey , 2003, astro-ph/0306621.

[55]  D. Lemke,et al.  The spiral galaxy M33 mapped in the FIR by ISOPHOT. A spatially resolved study of the warm and cold dust. , 2003, astro-ph/0306558.

[56]  J. Surace,et al.  The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample , 2003, astro-ph/0306263.

[57]  G. Chabrier.  Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function , 2003, astro-ph/0304382.

[58]  J. Brinkmann,et al.  The Host Galaxies of AGN , 2003, astro-ph/0304239.

[59]  THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL: ACCEPTED ON DECEMBER 5TH, 2002 Preprint typeset using L ATEX style emulateapj v. 26/01/00 ESTIMATING STAR FORMATION RATES FROM INFRARED AND RADIO LUMINOSITIES: THE ORIGIN OF THE RADIO–INFRARED CORRELATION , 2002 .

[60]  L. Kewley,et al.  The Hα and Infrared Star Formation Rates for the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey , 2002, astro-ph/0208508.

[61]  U. Klaas,et al.  The relation of PAH strength with cold dust in galaxies , 2002 .

[62]  E. Grebel,et al.  The Magellanic Clouds Photomtric Survey: The Small Magellanic Cloud Stellar Catalog and Extinction Map , 2001, astro-ph/0110665.

[63]  D. Calzetti.  The Dust Opacity of Star‐forming Galaxies , 2001, astro-ph/0109035.

[64]  Lyman Continuum Extinction by Dust in H II Regions of Galaxies , 2001, astro-ph/0106520.

[65]  Jr.,et al.  SINGS: The SIRTF Nearby Galaxies Survey , 2001, astro-ph/0305437.

[66]  S. Serjeant,et al.  SWIRE: The SIRTF Wide‐Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey , 2001, astro-ph/0305375.

[67]  H. Roussel,et al.  The relationship between star formation rates and mid-infrared emission in galactic disks ? , 2001, astro-ph/0104088.

[68]  H. Hirashita,et al.  Effect of Dust Extinction on Estimating the Star Formation Rate of Galaxies: Lyman Continuum Extinction , 2001, astro-ph/0103231.

[69]  E. Skillman,et al.  H II Regions and Abundances in the “Dark Galaxy” DDO 154 and the Chemical Evolution of Dwarf Irregular Galaxies , 2001 .

[70]  M. Yun,et al.  Radio Properties of Infrared-selected Galaxies in the IRAS 2 Jy Sample , 2001, astro-ph/0102154.

[71]  S. Charlot,et al.  Nebular emission from star-forming galaxies , 2001, astro-ph/0101097.

[72]  H. Hirashita,et al.  Emission from dust in galaxies: Metallicity dependence , 2000, astro-ph/0011237.

[73]  Stuart Lumsden,et al.  Optical Classification of Southern Warm Infrared Galaxies , 2001 .

[74]  G. Helou,et al.  The Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of Normal Star-forming Galaxies: Calibration at Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Wavelengths , 2002, astro-ph/0205085.

[75]  S. M. Fall,et al.  A Simple Model for the Absorption of Starlight by Dust in Galaxies , 2000, astro-ph/0003128.

[76]  S. Madden.  Effects of Massive Star Formation on the ISM of Dwarf Galaxies , 2000, astro-ph/0002046.

[77]  K. Gordon,et al.  The Flux Ratio Method for Determining the Dust Attenuation of Starburst Galaxies , 1999, astro-ph/9912034.

[78]  D. Fabricant,et al.  Spectrophotometry of Nearby Field Galaxies: The Data , 1999, astro-ph/9910095.

[79]  K. Gordon,et al.  Multiple Scattering in Clumpy Media. II. Galactic Environments , 1999, astro-ph/9907342.

[80]  A. Kinney,et al.  The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-forming Galaxies , 1999, astro-ph/9911459.

[81]  Hia,et al.  Differential Galaxy Evolution in Cluster and Field Galaxies at z ≈ 0.3 , 1999, astro-ph/9906470.

[82]  Timothy M. Heckman,et al.  Dust Absorption and the Ultraviolet Luminosity Density at z ≈ 3 as Calibrated by Local Starburst Galaxies , 1999, astro-ph/9903054.

[83]  Denis Foo Kune,et al.  Starburst99: Synthesis Models for Galaxies with Active Star Formation , 1999, astro-ph/9902334.

[84]  R. Terlevich,et al.  Carbon in Spiral Galaxies from HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Spectroscopy , 1998, astro-ph/9810026.

[85]  F. Bresolin,et al.  The Ionizing Stars of Extragalactic H II Regions , 1998, astro-ph/9809105.

[86]  J. Salzer,et al.  Spectroscopy of Outlying H II Regions in Spiral Galaxies: Abundances and Radial Gradients , 1998, astro-ph/9808315.

[87]  Jr.,et al.  STAR FORMATION IN GALAXIES ALONG THE HUBBLE SEQUENCE , 1998, astro-ph/9807187.

[88]  R. Wyse,et al.  The Extreme Outer Regions of Disk Galaxies. I. Chemical Abundances of H II Regions , 1998, astro-ph/9805166.

[89]  Jr.,et al.  The Global Schmidt law in star forming galaxies , 1997, astro-ph/9712213.

[90]  J. Salzer,et al.  Optical Colors and the Metallicities of Gas-Rich Quiescent Dwarf Galaxies , 1997 .

[91]  S. Sagan,et al.  Interstellar Abundance Gradients in NGC 2403: Comparison to M33 , 1997 .

[92]  L. Allen,et al.  The global rate and efficiency of star formation in spiral galaxies as a function of morphology and environment , 1996 .

[93]  T. Heckman,et al.  Internal Absorption and the Luminosity of Disk Galaxies , 1996 .

[94]  B. Miller,et al.  Spectroscopy of H II Regions in M81 Group Dwarf Galaxies , 1996 .

[95]  E. Greisen,et al.  The NRAO VLA Sky Survey , 1996 .

[96]  R. Kennicutt,et al.  Past and Future Star Formation in Disk Galaxies , 1994 .

[97]  A. Kinney,et al.  Dust extinction of the stellar continua in starburst galaxies: The Ultraviolet and optical extinction law , 1994 .

[98]  J. E. O'Donnell.  R(sub nu)-dependent optical and near-ultraviolet extinction , 1994 .

[99]  J. Huchra,et al.  H II regions and the abundance properties of spiral galaxies , 1994 .

[100]  R. Kennicutt,et al.  Abundances of H II regions in early-type spiral galaxies , 1993 .

[101]  M. Sauvage,et al.  On the Use of Far-Infrared Luminosity as a Star Formation Indicator in Galaxies , 1992 .

[102]  Robert C. Kennicutt,et al.  The Integrated spectra of nearby galaxies: General properties and emission line spectra , 1992 .

[103]  James J. Condon,et al.  Radio Emission from Normal Galaxies , 1992 .

[104]  George Helou,et al.  Correlations between the far-infrared, radio, and blue luminosities of spiral galaxies , 1991 .

[105]  M. M. Moshir,et al.  IRAS Faint Source Catalogue, version 2.0. , 1990 .

[106]  G. Neugebauer,et al.  The IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample. IV. Complete IRAS observations , 1989 .

[107]  R. Kennicutt.  The Star Formation Law in Galactic Disks , 1989 .

[108]  G. Neugebauer,et al.  A catalog of IRAS observations of large optical galaxies , 1988 .

[109]  J. Condon.  A 1.49 GHz atlas of spiral galaxies with B(T) = +12 or less and delta = -45 deg or greater , 1987 .

[110]  D. Garnett,et al.  Composition gradient across M81 , 1987 .

[111]  G. Helou,et al.  ON THE ORIGIN OF THE 40-120 MICRON EMISSION OF GALAXY DISKS: A COMPARISON WITH H-ALPHA FLUXES , 1987 .

[112]  D. G. Hummer,et al.  Recombination-line intensities for hydrogenic ions. I - Case B calculations for H I and He II. [in astronomical objects , 1987 .

[113]  G. Neugebauer,et al.  The iras view of the extragalactic sky , 1987 .

[114]  G. A. Shields,et al.  The chemistry of galaxies. I. The nature of giant extragalactic H II regions. , 1985 .

[115]  J. Stauffer,et al.  Metallicity estimates for H II regions in M81 , 1984 .

[116]  B. Webster,et al.  Abundance gradients in galaxies in the Sculptor and Centaurus groups , 1983 .

[117]  A. G. Bruzual.  Spectral evolution of galaxies. 1. Early-type systems , 1983 .

[118]  R. Kennicutt.  The Rate of star formation in normal disk galaxies , 1983 .

[119]  S. Hawley,et al.  Spectrophotometry of H II regions and the nucleus of NGC 1566 , 1980 .

[120]  E. Salpeter.  The Luminosity function and stellar evolution , 1955 .