No Arabic abstract
We have used the Spitzer Space Telescope to study the dust properties of a sample of star-forming dwarf galaxies. The differences in the mid-infrared spectral energy distributions for these galaxies which, in general, are low metallicity systems, indicate differences in the physical properties, heating, and/or distribution of the dust. Specifically, these galaxies have more hot dust and/or very small grains and less PAH emission than either spiral or higher luminosity starburst galaxies. As has been shown in previous studies, there is a gradual decrease in PAH emission as a function of metallicity. Because much of the energy from star formation in galaxies is re-radiated in the mid-infrared, star-formation rate indicators based on both line and continuum measurements in this wavelength range are coming into more common usage. We show that the variations in the interstellar medium properties of galaxies in our sample, as measured in the mid-infrared, result in over an order of magnitude spread in the computed star-formation rates.
We present evolutionary synthesis models of starbursts on top of old stellar populations to investigate in detailed time evolution the relation between Ha luminosity and star formation rate (SFR). The models show that several effects have an impact on the ratio between L(Ha) and SFR. Metallicity different from solar abundance, a time delay between star formation and maximum Ha-luminosity, and a varying stellar initial mass function give rise to strong variations in the ratio of Ha luminosity to SFR and can cause large errors in the determination of the SFR when employing well-known calibrations. When studying star-bursting dwarf galaxies, and sub-galactic fragments at high redshift, which show SFR fluctuating on short timescales, these effects can add up to errors of two orders of magnitude compared with the calibrations. To accurately determine the true current SFR additional data in combination with models for the spectral energy distribution are needed.
Star forming dwarf galaxies (SFDGs) have a high gas content and low metallicities, reminiscent of the basic entities in hierarchical galaxy formation scenarios. In the young universe they probably also played a major role in the cosmic reionization. Their abundant presence in the local volume and their youthful character make them ideal objects for detailed studies of the initial stellar mass function (IMF), fundamental star formation processes and its feedback to the interstellar medium. Occasionally we witness SFDGs involved in extreme starbursts, giving rise to strongly elevated production of super star clusters and global superwinds, mechanisms yet to be explored in more detail. SFDGs is the initial state of all dwarf galaxies and the relation to the environment provides us with a key to how different types of dwarf galaxies are emerging. In this review we will put the emphasis on the exotic starburst phase, as it seems less important for present day galaxy evolution but perhaps fundamental in the initial phase of galaxy formation.
We present the first results from a near-IR spectroscopic survey of the COSMOS field, using the Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Subaru telescope, designed to characterize the star-forming galaxy population at $1.4<z<1.7$. The high-resolution mode is implemented to detect H$alpha$ in emission between $1.6{rm -}1.8 mathrm{mu m}$ with $f_{rm Halpha}gtrsim4times10^{-17}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. Here, we specifically focus on 271 sBzK-selected galaxies that yield a H$alpha$ detection thus providing a redshift and emission line luminosity to establish the relation between star formation rate and stellar mass. With further $J$-band spectroscopy for 89 of these, the level of dust extinction is assessed by measuring the Balmer decrement using co-added spectra. We find that the extinction ($0.6lesssim A_mathrm{Halpha} lesssim 2.5$) rises with stellar mass and is elevated at high masses compared to low-redshift galaxies. Using this subset of the spectroscopic sample, we further find that the differential extinction between stellar and nebular emission hbox{$E_mathrm{star}(B-V)/E_mathrm{neb}(B-V)$} is 0.7--0.8, dissimilar to that typically seen at low redshift. After correcting for extinction, we derive an H$alpha$-based main sequence with a slope ($0.81pm0.04$) and normalization similar to previous studies at these redshifts.
We use the data for the Hbeta emission-line, far-ultraviolet (FUV) and mid-infrared 22 micron continuum luminosities to estimate star formation rates <SFR> averaged over the galaxy lifetime for a sample of about 14000 bursting compact star-forming galaxies (CSFGs) selected from the Data Release 12 (DR12) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The average coefficient linking <SFR> and the star formation rate SFR_0 derived from the Hbeta luminosity at zero starburst age is found to be 0.04. We compare <SFR>s with some commonly used SFRs which are derived adopting a continuous star formation during a period of ~100 Myr, and find that the latter ones are 2-3 times higher. It is shown that the relations between SFRs derived using a geometric mean of two star-formation indicators in the UV and IR ranges and reduced to zero starburst age have considerably lower dispersion compared to those with single star-formation indicators. We suggest that our relations for <SFR> determination are more appropriate for CSFGs because they take into account a proper temporal evolution of their luminosities. On the other hand, we show that commonly used SFR relations can be applied for approximate estimation within a factor of ~2 of the <SFR> averaged over the lifetime of the bursting compact galaxy.
Star forming galaxies exhibit a variety of physical conditions, from quiescent normal spirals to the most powerful dusty starbursts. In order to study these complex systems, we need a suitable tool to analyze the information coming from observations at all wavelengths. We present a new spectro-photometric model which considers in a consistent way starlight as reprocessed by gas and dust. We discuss preliminary results to interpret some observed properties of VLIRGs.