ON STAR FORMATION RATES AND STAR FORMATION HISTORIES OF GALAXIES OUT TO z {approx} 3
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
- Herschel Science Centre, ESAC, Villanueva de la Canada, 28691 Madrid (Spain)
- ESO, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany)
- Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Universite Paris Diderot, IRFU/Service d'Astrophysique, Bat.709, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, 38205 La Laguna (Spain)
- Departamento di Astronomia, Universita di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna (Italy)
- Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
- INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone (Italy)
- University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
We compare multi-wavelength star formation rate (SFR) indicators out to z {approx} 3 in the GOODS-South field. Our analysis uniquely combines U to 8 {mu}m photometry from FIREWORKS, MIPS 24 {mu}m and PACS 70, 100, and 160 {mu}m photometry from the PEP, and H{alpha} spectroscopy from the SINS survey. We describe a set of conversions that lead to a continuity across SFR indicators. A luminosity-independent conversion from 24 {mu}m to total infrared luminosity yields estimates of L{sub IR} that are in the median consistent with the L{sub IR} derived from PACS photometry, albeit with significant scatter. Dust correction methods perform well at low-to-intermediate levels of star formation. They fail to recover the total amount of star formation in systems with large SFR{sub IR}/SFR{sub UV} ratios, typically occuring at the highest SFRs (SFR{sub UV+IR} {approx}> 100 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}) and redshifts (z {approx}> 2.5) probed. Finally, we confirm that H{alpha}-based SFRs at 1.5 < z < 2.6 are consistent with SFR{sub SED} and SFR{sub UV+IR} provided extra attenuation toward H II regions is taken into account (A{sub V,neb} = A{sub V,continuum}/0.44). With the cross-calibrated SFR indicators in hand, we perform a consistency check on the star formation histories inferred from spectral energy distribution (SED) modeling. We compare the observed SFR-M relations and mass functions at a range of redshifts to equivalents that are computed by evolving lower redshift galaxies backward in time. We find evidence for underestimated stellar ages when no stringent constraints on formation epoch are applied in SED modeling. We demonstrate how resolved SED modeling, or alternatively deep UV data, may help to overcome this bias. The age bias is most severe for galaxies with young stellar populations and reduces toward older systems. Finally, our analysis suggests that SFHs typically vary on timescales that are long (at least several 100 Myr) compared to the galaxies' dynamical time.
- OSTI ID:
- 21582860
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 738, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/738/1/106; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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