Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Star-Forming Or Starbursting? The Ultraviolet Conundrum, M Boquien, D Calzetti, R Kennicutt, D Dale, C Engelbracht, Kd Gordon, S Hong, Jc Lee, J Portouw

Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series

Compared to starburst galaxies, normal star-forming galaxies have been shown to display a much larger dispersion of the dust attenuation at fixed reddening through studies of the IRX-β diagram (the IR/UV ratio "IRX" versus the UV color "β"). To investigate the causes of this larger dispersion and attempt to isolate second parameters, we have used GALEX UV, ground-based optical, and Spitzer infrared imaging of eight nearby galaxies, and examined the properties of individual UV and 24 μm selected star-forming regions. We concentrated on star-forming regions, in order to isolate simpler star formation histories than those that characterize whole galaxies. We …