The IRAS colors of normal galaxies

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (350) References (17) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS The IRAS Colors of Normal Galaxies Helou, George Abstract In the IRAS color-color diagram, galaxies powered only by star formation are distributed in a band such that as systems get cooler at 12/25 microns they get warmer at 60/100 microns. A simple phenomenology is proposed which describes the emission from each galaxy as a combination of two components: cool, relatively constant 'cirrus' emission from the neutral medium, and from 'active' regions warmer emission whose colors depend on mean physical parameters in these regions. The model accounts for the IRAS colors of all galaxies detected as point sources in all four bands. The model implies that a galaxy's far-infrared flux as measured by IRAS is not simply proportional to the recent star formation rate, because only a (variable) fraction of the infrared is due to massive young stars, and only part of these stars' luminosity is reemitted in the infrared. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: December 1986 DOI: 10.1086/184793 Bibcode: 1986ApJ...311L..33H Keywords: Astronomical Photometry; Galactic Structure; Infrared Spectra; Star Formation; Stellar Color; Astronomical Models; Color-Color Diagram; Emission Spectra; Far Infrared Radiation; Infrared Astronomy Satellite; Star Formation Rate; Stellar Luminosity; Temperature Dependence; Astrophysics; GALAXIES: PHOTOMETRY; INFRARED: SPECTRA full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (4) NED (4)