TY - JOUR
T1 - GAMA/H-ATLAS
T2 - common star formation rate indicators and their dependence on galaxy physical parameters
AU - Wang, L
AU - Norberg, Peder
AU - Gunawardhana, M. L P
AU - Heinis, S.
AU - Baldry, I. K.
AU - Bland-Hawthorn, Jonathan
AU - Bourne, Nathan
AU - Brough, Sarah
AU - Brown, Michael
AU - Cluver, Michelle E
AU - Cooray, Anne A
AU - da Cunha, E.
AU - Driver, Simon P
AU - Dunne, L
AU - Dye, S
AU - Eales, S
AU - Grootes, Meiert W
AU - Holwerda, Benne W
AU - Hopkins, Andrew Mark
AU - Ibar, Edo
AU - Ivison, R J
AU - Lacey, Cameron J
AU - Lara-Lopez, Maritza Arlene
AU - Loveday, Jonathan
AU - Maddox, Steve J
AU - Michalowski, Michal J
AU - Oteo, I.
AU - Owers, Matthew S
AU - Popescu, Cristina Carmen
AU - Smith, Daniel James B
AU - Taylor, Edward N
AU - Tuffs, Richard J
AU - van der Werf, P
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
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84982267384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/461/2/1898.full.pdf+html
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stw1450
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw1450
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84982267384
VL - 461
SP - 1898
EP - 1916
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
IS - 2
ER -