We have fit the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to sub-millimeter (850 μm) spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the 61 galaxies from the Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: A Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel ...(KINGFISH). The fitting has been performed using three models: the Code for Investigating GALaxy Evolution (CIGALE), the GRAphite-SILicate approach (GRASIL), and the Multiwavelength Analysis of Galaxy PHYSical properties (MAGPHYS). We have analyzed the results of the three codes in terms of the SED shapes, and by comparing the derived quantities with simple “recipes” for stellar mass (Mstar), star-formation rate (SFR), dust mass (Mdust), and monochromatic luminosities. Although the algorithms rely on different assumptions for star-formation history, dust attenuation and dust reprocessing, they all well approximate the observed SEDs and are in generally good agreement for the associated quantities. However, the three codes show very different behavior in the mid-infrared regime: in the 5–10 μm region dominated by PAH emission, and also between 25 and 70 μm where there are no observational constraints for the KINGFISH sample. We find that different algorithms give discordant SFR estimates for galaxies with low specific SFR, and that the standard recipes for calculating FUV absorption overestimate the extinction compared to the SED-fitting results. Results also suggest that assuming a “standard” constant stellar mass-to-light ratio overestimates Mstar relative to the SED fitting, and we provide new SED-based formulations for estimating Mstar from WISE W1 (3.4 μm) luminosities and colors. From a principal component analysis of Mstar, SFR, Mdust, and O/H, we reproduce previous scaling relations among Mstar, SFR, and O/H, and find that Mdust can be predicted to within ∼0.3 dex using only Mstar and SFR.
In this work, we study the relation of the cosmic environment and morphology with the star formation and stellar population of galaxies. Most importantly, we examine if this relation differs for ...systems with active and non-active supermassive black holes. For that purpose, we used 551 X-ray detected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and 16 917 non-AGN galaxies in the COSMOS-Legacy survey for which surface-density field measurements are available. The sources lie at a redshift of 0.3 <
z
< 1.2, probe X-ray luminosities of 42 < log
L
X,2−10 keV
(erg s
−1
) < 44, and have stellar masses of 10.5 < log
M
*
(
M
⊙
) < 11.5. Our results show that isolated AGNs (field) have lower star formation rates (SFRs) compared to non-AGNs at all
L
X
spanned by our sample. However, in denser environments (filaments and clusters), moderate
L
X
AGN (log
L
X,2−10 keV
(erg s
−1
) > 43) and non-AGN galaxies have similar SFRs. We also examined the stellar populations and the morphology of the sources in different cosmic fields. For the same morphological type, we find that non-AGN galaxies tend to have older stellar populations and are less likely to have undergone a recent burst in denser environments compared to their field counterparts. The differences in the stellar populations concerning density field are mainly driven by quiescent systems. Moreover, low
L
X
AGNs present negligible variations of their stellar populations in all cosmic environments, whereas moderate
L
X
AGNs have, on average, younger stellar populations and are more likely to have undergone a recent burst in high-density fields. Finally, in the case of non-AGN galaxies, the fraction of bulge-dominated (BD) systems increases with the density field, while BD AGNs are scarce in denser environments. Our results are consistent with a scenario in which a common mechanism, such as mergers, triggers both the star-formation and the AGN activity.
ABSTRACT
The analysis of star cluster ages in tandem with the morphology of their H ii regions can provide insight into the processes that clear a cluster’s natal gas, as well as the accuracy of ...cluster ages and dust reddening derived from Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) fitting. We classify 3757 star clusters in 16 nearby galaxies according to their H α morphology (concentrated, partially exposed, no emission), using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging from the Legacy ExtraGalactic Ultraviolet Survey (LEGUS). We find: (1) The mean SED ages of clusters with concentrated (1–2 Myr) and partially exposed H ii region morphologies (2–3 Myr) indicate a relatively early onset of gas clearing and a short (1–2 Myr) clearing time-scale. (2) The reddening of clusters can be overestimated due to the presence of red supergiants, which is a result of stochastic sampling of the IMF in low mass clusters. (3) The age-reddening degeneracy impacts the results of the SED fitting – out of 1408 clusters with M* ≥ 5000 M⊙, we find that at least 46 (3 per cent) have SED ages which appear significantly underestimated or overestimated based on H α and their environment, while the total percentage of poor age estimates is expected to be several times larger. (4) Lastly, we examine the dependence of the morphological classifications on spatial resolution. At HST resolution, our conclusions are robust to the distance range spanned by the sample (3–10 Mpc). However, analysis of ground-based H α images shows that compact and partially exposed morphologies frequently cannot be distinguished from each other.
The radiation from stars heats dust grains in the diffuse interstellar medium and in star-forming regions in galaxies. Modelling this interaction provides information on dust in galaxies, a vital ...ingredient for their evolution. It is not straightforward to identify the stellar populations heating the dust, and to link attenuation to emission on a sub-galactic scale. Radiative transfer models are able to simulate this dust-starlight interaction in a realistic, three-dimensional setting. We investigate the dust heating mechanisms on a local and global galactic scale, using the Andromeda galaxy (M31) as our laboratory. We have performed a series of panchromatic radiative transfer simulations of Andromeda with our code SKIRT. The high inclination angle of M31 complicates the 3D modelling and causes projection effects. However, the observed morphology and flux density are reproduced fairly well from UV to sub-millimeter wavelengths. Our model reveals a realistic attenuation curve, compatible with previous, observational estimates. We find that the dust in M31 is mainly (91% of the absorbed luminosity) heated by the evolved stellar populations. The bright bulge produces a strong radiation field and induces non-local heating up to the main star-forming ring at 10 kpc. The relative contribution of unevolved stellar populations to the dust heating varies strongly with wavelength and with galactocentric distance. The dust heating fraction of unevolved stellar populations correlates strongly with NUV-r colour and specific star formation rate. These two related parameters are promising probes for the dust heating sources at a local scale.
We obtained optical/near-IR rest-frame Magellan FIRE spectra (including Paβ and Paγ) of 25 starburst galaxies at 0.5 < z < 0.9, with average star formation rates (SFRs) seven times above the main ...sequence (MS). We find that Paschen-to-Balmer line ratios saturate around a constant value corresponding to AV ∼ 2-3 mag, while line-to-IR-luminosity ratios suggest a large range of more extreme obscurations and appear to be uncorrelated with the former. This behavior is not consistent with standard attenuation laws derived for local and distant galaxies, yet is remarkably consistent with observations of starburst cores in which young stars and dust are homogeneously mixed. This model implies AV = 2-30 mag attenuation to the center of starburst cores, with a median of ∼9 mag (a factor of 4000). X-ray hardness ratios for six AGNs in our sample and column densities derived from observed dust masses and radio sizes independently confirm this level of attenuation. In these conditions observed optical/near-IR emission comes from surface regions, while inner starburst cores are invisible. We thus attribute the high N ii/H ratios to widespread shocks from accretion, turbulence, and dynamic disturbances rather than to AGNs. The large range of optical depths demonstrates that substantial diversity is present within the starburst population, possibly connected to different merger phases or progenitor properties. The majority of our targets are, in fact, morphologically classified as mergers. We argue that the extreme obscuration provides in itself smoking gun evidence of their merger origin, and a powerful tool for identifying mergers at even higher redshifts.
The dust in nearby galaxies absorbs a fraction of the UV-optical-near-infrared radiation produced by stars. This energy is consequently re-emitted in the infrared. We investigate the portion of the ...stellar radiation absorbed by spiral galaxies from the Herschel Reference Survey (HRS) by modelling their UV-to-submillimetre spectral energy distributions. Our models provide an attenuated and intrinsic spectral energy distribution (SED), from which we find that on average 32% of all starlight is absorbed by dust. We define the UV heating fraction as the percentage of dust luminosity that comes from absorbed UV photons and find this to be 56%, on average. This percentage varies with morphological type, with later types having significantly higher UV heating fractions. We find a strong correlation between the UV heating fraction and specific star formation rate and provide a power-law fit. Our models allow us to revisit the IRX – AFUV relations, and derive these quantities directly within a self-consistent framework. We calibrate this relation for different bins of NUV − r colour and provide simple relations to relate these parameters. We investigated the robustness of our method and conclude that the derived parameters are reliable within the uncertainties that are inherent to the adopted SED model. This calls for a deeper investigation of how well extinction and attenuation can be determined through panchromatic SED modelling.
Aims. Our knowledge of the cosmic mass assembly relies on measurements of star formation rates (SFRs) and stellar masses (Mstar), of galaxies as a function of redshift. These parameters must be ...estimated in a consistent way with a good knowledge of systematics before studying their correlation and the variation of the specific SFR. Constraining these fundamental properties of galaxies across the Universe is of utmost importance if we want to understand galaxy formation and evolution. Methods. We seek to derive SFRs and stellar masses in distant galaxies and to quantify the main uncertainties affecting their measurement. We explore the impact of the assumptions made in their derivation with standard calibrations or through a fitting process, as well as the impact of the available data, focusing on the role of infrared emission originating from dust. Results. We build a sample of galaxies with z > 1, all observed from the ultraviolet to the infrared in their rest frame. The data are fitted with the code CIGALE, which is also used to build and analyse a catalogue of mock galaxies. Models with different star formation histories are introduced: an exponentially decreasing or increasing SFR and a more complex one coupling a decreasing SFR with a younger burst of constant star formation. We define different sets of data, with or without a good sampling of the ultraviolet range, near-infrared, and thermal infrared data. Variations of the metallicity are also investigated. The impact of these different cases on the determination of stellar mass and SFR are analysed. Conclusions. Exponentially decreasing models with a redshift formation of the stellar population zf ≃ 8 cannot fit the data correctly. All the other models fit the data correctly at the price of unrealistically young ages when the age of the single stellar population is taken to be a free parameter, especially for the exponentially decreasing models. The best fits are obtained with two stellar populations. As long as one measurement of the dust emission continuum is available, SFR are robustly estimated whatever the chosen model is, including standard recipes. The stellar mass measurement is more subject to uncertainty, depending on the chosen model and the presence of near-infrared data, with an impact on the SFR-Mstar scatter plot. Conversely, when thermal infrared data from dust emission are missing, the uncertainty on SFR measurements largely exceeds that of stellar mass. Among all physical properties investigated here, the stellar ages are found to be the most difficult to constrain and this uncertainty acts as a second parameter in SFR measurements and as the most important parameter for stellar mass measurements.
Abstract
Star formation rate density, Σ
SFR
, has shown a remarkable correlation with both components of the baryonic mass kiloparsec scales (i.e., the stellar mass density and molecular gas mass ...density, Σ
*
and Σ
mol
, respectively) for galaxies in the nearby universe. In this study, we propose an empirical relation between Σ
SFR
and the baryonic mass surface density (Σ
b
= Σ
mol,Av
+ Σ
*
, where Σ
mol,Av
is the molecular gas derived from the optical extinction,
A
V
) at kiloparsec scales using the spatially resolved properties of the MaNGA survey, the largest sample of galaxies observed via integral field spectroscopy (∼8400 objects). We find that Σ
SFR
tightly correlates with Σ
b
. Furthermore, we derive an empirical relation between Σ
SFR
and a second-degree polynomial of Σ
b
, yielding a one-to-one relation between these two observables. Both Σ
b
and its polynomial form show a stronger correlation and smaller scatter with respect to Σ
SFR
than the relations derived using the individual components of Σ
b
. Our results suggest that these three parameters are indeed physically correlated, suggesting a scenario in which the two components of the baryonic mass regulate the star formation activity at kiloparsec scales.
We present an analysis of the dust and gas in Andromeda, using Herschel images sampling the entire far-infrared peak. We fit a modified-blackbody model to ~4000 quasi-independent pixels with spatial ...resolution of ~ 140 pc and find that a variable dust-emissivity index (beta) is required to fit the data. We find no significant long-wavelength excess above this model, suggesting there is no cold dust component. We show that the gas-to-dust ratio varies radially, increasing from ~20 in the center to ~70 in the star-forming ring at 10 kpc, consistent with the metallicity gradient. In the 10 kpc ring the average beta is ~1.9, in good agreement with values determined for the Milky Way (MW). However, in contrast to the MW, we find significant radial variations in beta, which increases from 1.9 at 10 kpc to ~2.5 at a radius of 3.1 kpc and then decreases to 1.7 in the center. The dust temperature is fairly constant in the 10 kpc ring (ranging from 17 to 20 K), but increases strongly in the bulge to ~30 K. Within 3.1 kpc we find the dust temperature is highly correlated with the 3.6 mum flux, suggesting the general stellar population in the bulge is the dominant source of dust heating there. At larger radii, there is a weak correlation between the star formation rate and dust temperature. We find no evidence for "dark gas" in M31 in contrast to recent results for the MW. Finally, we obtained an estimate of the CO X-factor by minimizing the dispersion in the gas-to-dust ratio, obtaining a value of (1.9 + or - 0.4) x 10 super(20) cm super(-2) K km s super(-1) super(-1).
We present an update to the ultraviolet-to-radio database of global broadband photometry for the 79 nearby galaxies that comprise the union of the KINGFISH (Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: A ...Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel) and SINGS (Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey) samples. The 34-band data set presented here includes contributions from observational work carried out with a variety of facilities including GALEX, SDSS, Pan-STARRS1, NOAO, 2MASS, Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, Spitzer, Herschel, Planck, JCMT, and the VLA. Improvements of note include recalibrations of previously published SINGS BVRCIC and KINGFISH far-infrared/submillimeter photometry. Similar to previous results in the literature, an excess of submillimeter emission above model predictions is seen primarily for low-metallicity dwarf or irregular galaxies. This 33-band photometric data set for the combined KINGFISH+SINGS sample serves as an important multiwavelength reference for the variety of galaxies observed at low redshift. A thorough analysis of the observed spectral energy distributions is carried out in a companion paper.
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