GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters

L. Wang; P. Norberg; M. L. P. Gunawardhana; S. Heinis; I. K. Baldry; J. Bland-Hawthorn; N. Bourne; S. Brough; M. J. I. Brown; M. E. Cluver; A. Cooray; E. da Cunha; S. P. Driver; L. Dunne; S. Dye; S. Eales; M. W. Grootes; B. W. Holwerda; A. M. Hopkins; E. Ibar; R. Ivison; C. Lacey; M. A. Lara-Lopez; J. Loveday; S. J. Maddox; M. J. Michałowski; I. Oteo; M. S. Owers; C. C. Popescu; D. J. B. Smith; E. N. Taylor; R. J. Tuffs; P. van der Werf

doi:10.1093/mnras/stw1450

GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters

L. Wang^*, P. Norberg, M. L. P. Gunawardhana, S. Heinis, I. K. Baldry, J. Bland-Hawthorn, N. Bourne, S. Brough, M. J. I. Brown, M. E. Cluver, A. Cooray, E. da Cunha, S. P. Driver, L. Dunne, S. Dye, S. Eales, M. W. Grootes, B. W. Holwerda, A. M. Hopkins, E. IbarR. Ivison, C. Lacey, M. A. Lara-Lopez, J. Loveday, S. J. Maddox, M. J. Michałowski, I. Oteo, M. S. Owers, C. C. Popescu, D. J. B. Smith, E. N. Taylor, R. J. Tuffs, P. van der Werf

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We compare common star formation rate (SFR) indicators in the local Universe in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) equatorial fields (~160 deg²), using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from GALEX, far-infrared and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry from Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey, and Hα spectroscopy from the GAMA survey. With a high-quality sample of 745 galaxies (median redshift 〈z〉 = 0.08), we consider three SFR tracers: UV luminosity corrected for dust attenuation using the UV spectral slope β (SFR_{UV, corr}), Hα line luminosity corrected for dust using the Balmer decrement (BD) (SFR_{Hα, corr}), and the combination of UV and infrared (IR) emission (SFR_{UV + IR}). We demonstrate that SFR_{UV, corr} can be reconciled with the other two tracers after applying attenuation corrections by calibrating Infrared excess (IRX; i.e. the IR to UV luminosity ratio) and attenuation in the Hα (derived from BD) against β. However, β, on its own, is very unlikely to be a reliable attenuation indicator. We find that attenuation correction factors depend on parameters such as stellar mass (M_*), z and dust temperature (T_dust), but not on Hα equivalent width or Sérsic index. Due to the large scatter in the IRX versus β correlation, when compared to SFR_{UV + IR}, the β-corrected SFR_{UV, corr} exhibits systematic deviations as a function of IRX, BD and T_dust.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1898-1916
Number of pages	19
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	461
Issue number	2
Early online date	20 Jun 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1450
Publication status	Published - 11 Sept 2016

Keywords

Galaxies: photometry
Galaxies: statistics
Infrared: galaxies
Methods: statistical
Ultraviolet: galaxies

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© 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1450
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Wang, L., Norberg, P., Gunawardhana, M. L. P., Heinis, S., Baldry, I. K., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Bourne, N., Brough, S., Brown, M. J. I., Cluver, M. E., Cooray, A., da Cunha, E., Driver, S. P., Dunne, L., Dye, S., Eales, S., Grootes, M. W., Holwerda, B. W., Hopkins, A. M., ... van der Werf, P. (2016). GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 461(2), 1898-1916. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1450

@article{8811a33fc2be4216a9b0990122b9bf37,

title = "GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters",

abstract = "We compare common star formation rate (SFR) indicators in the local Universe in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) equatorial fields (~160 deg2), using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from GALEX, far-infrared and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry from Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey, and Hα spectroscopy from the GAMA survey. With a high-quality sample of 745 galaxies (median redshift 〈z〉 = 0.08), we consider three SFR tracers: UV luminosity corrected for dust attenuation using the UV spectral slope β (SFRUV, corr), Hα line luminosity corrected for dust using the Balmer decrement (BD) (SFRHα, corr), and the combination of UV and infrared (IR) emission (SFRUV + IR). We demonstrate that SFRUV, corr can be reconciled with the other two tracers after applying attenuation corrections by calibrating Infrared excess (IRX; i.e. the IR to UV luminosity ratio) and attenuation in the Hα (derived from BD) against β. However, β, on its own, is very unlikely to be a reliable attenuation indicator. We find that attenuation correction factors depend on parameters such as stellar mass (M*), z and dust temperature (Tdust), but not on Hα equivalent width or S{\'e}rsic index. Due to the large scatter in the IRX versus β correlation, when compared to SFRUV + IR, the β-corrected SFRUV, corr exhibits systematic deviations as a function of IRX, BD and Tdust.",

keywords = "Galaxies: photometry, Galaxies: statistics, Infrared: galaxies, Methods: statistical, Ultraviolet: galaxies",

author = "L. Wang and P. Norberg and Gunawardhana, {M. L. P.} and S. Heinis and Baldry, {I. K.} and J. Bland-Hawthorn and N. Bourne and S. Brough and Brown, {M. J. I.} and Cluver, {M. E.} and A. Cooray and {da Cunha}, E. and Driver, {S. P.} and L. Dunne and S. Dye and S. Eales and Grootes, {M. W.} and Holwerda, {B. W.} and Hopkins, {A. M.} and E. Ibar and R. Ivison and C. Lacey and Lara-Lopez, {M. A.} and J. Loveday and Maddox, {S. J.} and Micha{\l}owski, {M. J.} and I. Oteo and Owers, {M. S.} and Popescu, {C. C.} and Smith, {D. J. B.} and Taylor, {E. N.} and Tuffs, {R. J.} and {van der Werf}, P.",

note = "SD acknowledges support from a STFC Ernest Rutherford fellowship.",

year = "2016",

month = sep,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stw1450",

language = "English",

volume = "461",

pages = "1898--1916",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "2",

}

Wang, L, Norberg, P, Gunawardhana, MLP, Heinis, S, Baldry, IK, Bland-Hawthorn, J, Bourne, N, Brough, S, Brown, MJI, Cluver, ME, Cooray, A, da Cunha, E, Driver, SP, Dunne, L, Dye, S, Eales, S, Grootes, MW, Holwerda, BW, Hopkins, AM, Ibar, E, Ivison, R, Lacey, C, Lara-Lopez, MA, Loveday, J, Maddox, SJ, Michałowski, MJ, Oteo, I, Owers, MS, Popescu, CC, Smith, DJB, Taylor, EN, Tuffs, RJ & van der Werf, P 2016, 'GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 461, no. 2, pp. 1898-1916. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1450

TY - JOUR

T1 - GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters

AU - Wang, L.

AU - Norberg, P.

AU - Gunawardhana, M. L. P.

AU - Heinis, S.

AU - Baldry, I. K.

AU - Bland-Hawthorn, J.

AU - Bourne, N.

AU - Brough, S.

AU - Brown, M. J. I.

AU - Cluver, M. E.

AU - Cooray, A.

AU - da Cunha, E.

AU - Driver, S. P.

AU - Dunne, L.

AU - Dye, S.

AU - Eales, S.

AU - Grootes, M. W.

AU - Holwerda, B. W.

AU - Hopkins, A. M.

AU - Ibar, E.

AU - Ivison, R.

AU - Lacey, C.

AU - Lara-Lopez, M. A.

AU - Loveday, J.

AU - Maddox, S. J.

AU - Michałowski, M. J.

AU - Oteo, I.

AU - Owers, M. S.

AU - Popescu, C. C.

AU - Smith, D. J. B.

AU - Taylor, E. N.

AU - Tuffs, R. J.

AU - van der Werf, P.

N1 - SD acknowledges support from a STFC Ernest Rutherford fellowship.

PY - 2016/9/11

Y1 - 2016/9/11

N2 - We compare common star formation rate (SFR) indicators in the local Universe in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) equatorial fields (~160 deg2), using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from GALEX, far-infrared and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry from Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey, and Hα spectroscopy from the GAMA survey. With a high-quality sample of 745 galaxies (median redshift 〈z〉 = 0.08), we consider three SFR tracers: UV luminosity corrected for dust attenuation using the UV spectral slope β (SFRUV, corr), Hα line luminosity corrected for dust using the Balmer decrement (BD) (SFRHα, corr), and the combination of UV and infrared (IR) emission (SFRUV + IR). We demonstrate that SFRUV, corr can be reconciled with the other two tracers after applying attenuation corrections by calibrating Infrared excess (IRX; i.e. the IR to UV luminosity ratio) and attenuation in the Hα (derived from BD) against β. However, β, on its own, is very unlikely to be a reliable attenuation indicator. We find that attenuation correction factors depend on parameters such as stellar mass (M*), z and dust temperature (Tdust), but not on Hα equivalent width or Sérsic index. Due to the large scatter in the IRX versus β correlation, when compared to SFRUV + IR, the β-corrected SFRUV, corr exhibits systematic deviations as a function of IRX, BD and Tdust.

AB - We compare common star formation rate (SFR) indicators in the local Universe in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) equatorial fields (~160 deg2), using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from GALEX, far-infrared and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) photometry from Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey, and Hα spectroscopy from the GAMA survey. With a high-quality sample of 745 galaxies (median redshift 〈z〉 = 0.08), we consider three SFR tracers: UV luminosity corrected for dust attenuation using the UV spectral slope β (SFRUV, corr), Hα line luminosity corrected for dust using the Balmer decrement (BD) (SFRHα, corr), and the combination of UV and infrared (IR) emission (SFRUV + IR). We demonstrate that SFRUV, corr can be reconciled with the other two tracers after applying attenuation corrections by calibrating Infrared excess (IRX; i.e. the IR to UV luminosity ratio) and attenuation in the Hα (derived from BD) against β. However, β, on its own, is very unlikely to be a reliable attenuation indicator. We find that attenuation correction factors depend on parameters such as stellar mass (M*), z and dust temperature (Tdust), but not on Hα equivalent width or Sérsic index. Due to the large scatter in the IRX versus β correlation, when compared to SFRUV + IR, the β-corrected SFRUV, corr exhibits systematic deviations as a function of IRX, BD and Tdust.

KW - Galaxies: photometry

KW - Galaxies: statistics

KW - Infrared: galaxies

KW - Methods: statistical

KW - Ultraviolet: galaxies

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stw1450

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw1450

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84982267384

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 461

SP - 1898

EP - 1916

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 2

ER -

GAMA/H-ATLAS: common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters

Abstract

Keywords

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