The Mid‐Infrared Fine‐Structure Lines of Neon as an Indicator of Star Formation Rate in Galaxies

AbstractWe present continuous, monochromatic star formation rate (SFR) indicators over the mid-infrared wavelength range of 6–70 μm. We use a sample of 58 star forming galaxies (SFGs) in the Spitzer-SDSS-GALEX Spectroscopic Survey (SSGSS) at z<0.2, for which there is a rich suite of multi-wavelength photometry and spectroscopy from the ultraviolet through to the infrared. The data from the Spitzer infrared spectrograph (IRS) of these galaxies, which spans 5–40 μm, is anchored to their photometric counterparts. The spectral region between 40-70 μm is interpolated using dust model fits to the IRS spectrum anchored by Spitzer 70 and 160 μm photometry. Since there are no sharp spectral features in this region, we expect these interpolations to be robust. This spectral range is calibrated as a SFR diagnostic using several reference SFR indicators to mitigate potential bias. Our band-specific continuous SFR indicators are found to be consistent with monochromatic calibrations in the local universe, as derived from Spitzer, WISE, and Herschel photometry. Additionally, in the era of the James Webb Space Telescope this will become a flexible tool, applicable to any SFG up to z∼3.

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From the outside looking in: what can Milky Way analogues tell us about the star formation rate of our own galaxy?

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/stz2493 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 489 (4) ◽

pp. 5030-5036 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Amelia Fraser-McKelvie ◽

Michael Merrifield ◽

Alfonso Aragón-Salamanca

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Standard Deviation ◽

Milky Way ◽

Star Formation Rate ◽

Formation Rate ◽

Structural Features ◽

Mid Infrared ◽

Recent Estimate ◽

The Mean

ABSTRACT The Milky Way has been described as an anaemic spiral, but is its star formation rate (SFR) unusually low when compared to its peers? To answer this question, we define a sample of Milky Way analogues (MWAs) based on stringent cuts on the best literature estimates of non-transient structural features for the Milky Way. This selection yields only 176 galaxies from the whole of the SDSS DR7 spectroscopic sample which have morphological classifications in Galaxy Zoo 2, from which we infer SFRs from two separate indicators. The mean SFRs found are $\log (\rm {SFR}_{SED}/\rm {M}_{\odot }~\rm {yr}^{-1})=0.53$ with a standard deviation of 0.23 dex from SED fits, and $\log (\rm {SFR}_{W4}/\rm {M}_{\odot }~\rm {yr}^{-1})=0.68$ with a standard deviation of 0.41 dex from a mid-infrared calibration. The most recent estimate for the Milky Way’s SFR of $\log (\rm {SFR}_{MW}/\rm {M}_{\odot }~\rm {yr}^{-1})=0.22$ fits well within 2$\sigma$ of these values, where $\sigma$ is the standard deviation of each of the SFR indicator distributions. We infer that the Milky Way, while being a galaxy with a somewhat low SFR, is not unusual when compared to similar galaxies.

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AKARI/IRC Broadband Mid-Infrared Data as an Indicator of the Star-Formation Rate

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan ◽

10.1093/pasj/63.6.1207 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 63 (6) ◽

pp. 1207-1217 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Fang-Ting Yuan ◽

Tsutomu T. Takeuchi ◽

Véronique Buat ◽

Sébastien Heinis ◽

Elodie Giovannoli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Star Formation Rate ◽

Formation Rate ◽

Mid Infrared ◽

Infrared Data

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AKARI/IRC broadband mid-infrared data as an indicator of the Star Formation Rate

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921312009416 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (S284) ◽

pp. 357-359

Author(s):

Fang-Ting Yuan ◽

Tsutomu T. Takeuchi ◽

Véronique Buat ◽

Sébastien Heinis ◽

Elodie Giovannoli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Star Formation Rate ◽

Formation Rate ◽

Infrared Camera ◽

Far Infrared ◽

Mid Infrared ◽

Extended Sources ◽

Nearby Galaxies ◽

First Time ◽

Infrared Data

AbstractWith the goal of constructing Star-Formation Rates (SFR) from AKARI Infrared Camera (IRC) data, we analyzed an IR-selected GALEX-SDSS-2MASS-AKARI(IRC & Far-Infrared Surveyor) sample of 153 nearby galaxies. The far-infrared fluxes were obtained from AKARI diffuse maps to correct the underestimation for extended sources raised by PSF photometry. SFRs of these galaxies were derived using the SED fitting program CIGALE. In spite of complicated features contained in these bands, both the S9W and L18W emissions correlate with the SFR of galaxies. The SFR calibrations using S9W and L18W are presented for the first time. These calibrations agree well with previous work based on Spitzer data within the scatter, and should be applicable to dust-rich galaxies.

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