Far-infrared emission and star formation in spiral galaxies

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/167634· OSTI ID:5595047

Trinchieri, G; Fabbiano, G; Bandiera, R ^[1]

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1. Arcetri Osservatorio Astrofisico, Florence (Italy)

The correlations between the emission in the far-IR, H-alpha, and blue in a sample of normal spiral galaxies are investigated. It is found that the luminosities in these three bands are all tightly correlated, although both the strength of the correlations and their functional dependencies are a function of the galaxies' morphological types. The best-fit power laws to these correlations are different for the comparison of different quantities and deviate significantly from linearity in some cases, implying the presence of additional emission mechanisms not related to the general increase of luminosity with galactic mass. Clear evidence is found of two independent effects in the incidence of warm far-IR emission in late-type spirals. One is a luminosity effect shown by the presence of excess far-IR relative to H-alpha or optical emission in the more luminous galaxies. The other is a dependence on widespread star-formation activity. 24 refs.

• OSTI ID: 5595047
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal; (USA) Vol. 342; ISSN ASJOA; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BALMER LINES
CONFIGURATION
CORRELATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION SPECTRA
FAR INFRARED RADIATION
GALAXIES
INFRARED RADIATION
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
LUMINOSITY
MASS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTOMETRY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
SPACE
SPECTRA
SPIRAL CONFIGURATION
STAR EVOLUTION