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Global properties of star formation in spiral galaxies

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Abstract

Samples of spiral galaxies from two catalogues of 21 cm line observations and a catalogue of near-infrared observations of nearby galaxies have been used in conjunction with Infrared Astronomical Satellite data to study correlations involving MG, the dynamic mass of the galaxies, the luminosities in theH band (1.6Μm), the blue band and the far infrared bands and the mass of atomic hydrogen, it is found that both the blue and the far-IR luminosities which are indicators of star formation averaged over ∼3 × l09 and ∼107 years respectively, have a linear dependence onM G On the other hand, theH luminosity which is a measure of star formation averaged over the lifetime of galaxies, has a steeper power law dependence onM G. The correlations observed do not have significant dependence on the morophological type of the galaxies There is a poor correlation between the far-infrared luminosity and the mass of atomic hydrogen. The mass of atomic hydrogen has a dependence of the formM G. Because of the decrease in the mean mass for later morphological types and due to differences in power law dependences of luminosities in different bands onM G, the mean value of luminosity-to-mass ratio is a constant for blue and far-IR bands, decreases for theH band and the gas-to-mass ratio increases as morphological type increases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, 400005, Bombay

    T. N. Rengarajan & K. V. K. Iyengar

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  1. T. N. Rengarajan
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  2. K. V. K. Iyengar
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Rengarajan, T.N., Iyengar, K.V.K. Global properties of star formation in spiral galaxies. J. Astrophys. Astr. 9, 79–91 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02715685

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02715685

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