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A simple model to interpret the ultraviolet, optical and infrared SEDs of galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2010

Elisabete da Cunha ,
Stéphane Charlot  and
David Elbaz
Elisabete da Cunha
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece IESL/Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, 71110 Heraklion, Greece email: dacunha@physics.uoc.gr
Stéphane Charlot
Affiliation:
UPMC Univ. Paris 6, UMR7095, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 75014 Paris, France CNRS, UMR7095, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 75014 Paris, France
David Elbaz
Affiliation:
Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, IRFU/Service d'Astrophysique, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
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Abstract

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We present a simple, largely empirical but physically motivated model, which is designed to interpret consistently multi-wavelength observations from large samples of galaxies in terms of physical parameters, such as star formation rate, stellar mass and dust content. Our model is both simple and versatile enough to allow the derivation of statistical constraints on the star formation histories and dust contents of large samples of galaxies using a wide range of ultraviolet, optical and infrared observations. We illustrate this by deriving median-likelihood estimates of a set of physical parameters describing the stellar and dust contents of local star-forming galaxies from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Sample (SINGS) and from a newly-matched sample of SDSS galaxies observed with GALEX, 2MASS, and IRAS. The model reproduces well the observed spectral energy distributions of these galaxies across the entire wavelength range from the far-ultraviolet to the far-infrared. We find important correlations between the physical parameters of galaxies which are useful to investigate the star formation activity and dust properties of galaxies. Our model can be straightforwardly applied to interpret observed ultraviolet-to-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from any galaxy sample.

Keywords

dustextinctiongalaxies: stellar contentgalaxies: ISMgalaxies: statistics
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S262: Stellar Populations – Planning for the Next Decade , August 2009 , pp. 81 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

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