Star formation and dust extinction properties of local galaxies as seen from AKARI and GALEX

Abstract

An accurate estimation of the star formation-related properties of galaxies is crucial for understanding the evolution of galaxies. In galaxies, ultraviolet (UV) light emitted by recently formed massive stars is attenuated by dust, which is also produced by star formation (SF) activity, and is re-emitted at mid- and far- infrared (IR) wavelengths. In this study, we investigate the star formation rate (SFR) and dust extinction using UV and IR data. We selected local galaxies which are detected at AKARI FIS 90 μm and matched the IRAS IIFSCz 60 μm select catalog. We measured FUV and NUV flux densities from GALEX images. We examined the SF and extinction of Local galaxies using four bands of AKARI. Then, we calculated FUV and total IR luminosities, and obtained the SF luminosity, LSF the total luminosity related to star formation activity, and the SFR. We find that in most galaxies, LSF is dominated by Ldust- We also find that galaxies with higher SF activity have a higher fraction of their SF hidden by dust. In fact, the SF of galaxies with SFRs > 20 M0 yr-1 is almost completely hidden by dust. Our results boast a significantly higher precision with respect to previously published works, due to the use of much larger object samples from the AKARI and GALEX all sky surveys. © The Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (SGEPSS); The Seismological Society of Japan; The Volcanological Society of Japan; The Geodetic Society of Japan; The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences; TERRAPUB.