Recent Star Formation Rate Research Articles

CHARACTERIZING THE STAR FORMATION OF THE LOW-MASS SHIELD GALAXIES FROMHUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPEIMAGING

The Survey of HI in Extremely Low-mass Dwarfs (SHIELD) is an on-going multi-wavelength program to characterize the gas, star formation, and evolution in gas-rich, very low-mass galaxies that populate the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. The galaxies were selected from the first ~10% of the HI ALFALFA survey based on their low HI mass and low baryonic mass. Here, we measure the star-formation properties from optically resolved stellar populations for 12 galaxies using a color-magnitude diagram fitting technique. We derive lifetime average star-formation rates (SFRs), recent SFRs, stellar masses, and gas fractions. Overall, the recent SFRs are comparable to the lifetime SFRs with mean birthrate parameter of 1.4, with a surprisingly narrow standard deviation of 0.7. Two galaxies are classified as dwarf transition galaxies (dTrans). These dTrans systems have star-formation and gas properties consistent with the rest of the sample, in agreement with previous results that some dTrans galaxies may simply be low-luminosity dIrrs. We do not find a correlation between the recent star-formation activity and the distance to the nearest neighboring galaxy, suggesting that the star-formation process is not driven by gravitational interactions, but regulated internally. Further, we find a broadening in the star-formation and gas properties (i.e., specific SFRs, stellar masses, and gas fractions) compared to the generally tight correlation found in more massive galaxies. Overall, the star-formation and gas properties indicate these very low-mass galaxies host a fluctuating, non-deterministic, and inefficient star-formation process.

UPDATED MODELS FOR THE CREATION OF A LOW-ZQSO ABSORBER BY A DWARF GALAXY WIND

We present new GALEX images and optical spectroscopy of J1229+02, a dwarf post-starburst galaxy located 81 kpc from the 1585 km/s absorber in the 3C 273 sight line. The absence of H\alpha\ emission and the faint GALEX UV fluxes confirm that the galaxy's recent star formation rate is $<10^{-3} M_{\odot}$/yr. Absorption-line strengths and the UV-optical SED give similar estimates of the acceptable model parameters for its youngest stellar population where $f_m$ < 60% of its total stars (by mass) formed in a burst $t_sb$ = 0.7-3.4 Gyr ago with a stellar metallicity of -1.7 < [Fe/H] < +0.2; we also estimate the stellar mass of J1229+02 to be 7.3 < log($M_*/M_{\odot}$) < 7.8. Our previous study of J1229+02 found that a supernova-driven wind was capable of expelling all of the gas from the galaxy (none is observed today) and could by itself plausibly create the nearby absorber. But, using new data, we find a significantly higher galaxy/absorber velocity difference, a younger starburst age, and a smaller starburst mass than previously reported. Simple energy-conserving wind models for J1229+02 using fiducial values of $f_m$ ~ 0.1, $t_sb$ ~ 2 Gyr, and log(M$_*/M_{\odot}$) ~ 7.5 allow us to conclude that the galaxy alone cannot produce the observed QSO absorber; i.e., any putative ejecta must interact with ambient gas from outside J1229+02. Because J1229+02 is located in the southern extension of the Virgo cluster ample potential sources of this ambient gas exist. Based on the two nearest examples of strong metal-line absorbers discovered serendipitously (the current one and the 1700 km/s metal-line absorber in the nearby Q1230+0115 sight line), we conclude that absorbers with $10^{14} < N_{HI} < 10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$ at impact parameters >1$R_{vir}$ are likely intergalactic systems and cannot be identified unambiguously as the circumgalactic material of any one individual galaxy.

The Herschel view of the Galactic center

AbstractThe 3.5 meter diameter Herschel Space Observatory conducted a ∼720 square-degree survey of the Galactic plane, the Herschel Galactic plane survey (Hi-GAL). These data provide the most sensitive and highest resolution observations of the far-IR to sub-mm continuum from the central molecular zone (CMZ) at λ = 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm obtained to date. Hi-GAL can be used to map the distributions of temperature and column density of dust in CMZ clouds, warm dust in Hii regions, and identify highly embedded massive protostars and clusters and the dusty shells ejected by supergiant stars. These data enable classification of sources and re-evaluation of the current and recent star-formation rate in the CMZ. The outer CMZ beyond |l| = 0.9 degrees (Rgal &gt; 130 pc) contains most of the dense (n &gt; 104 cm−3 gas in the Galaxy but supports very little star formation. The Hi-GAL and Spitzer data show that almost all star formation occurs in clouds moving on x2 orbits at Rgal &lt; 100 pc. While the 106 M⊙ Sgr B2 complex, the 50 km s−1 cloud near Sgr A, and the Sgr C region are forming clusters of massive stars, other clouds are relatively inactive star formers, despite their high densities, large masses, and compact sizes. The asymmetric distribution of dense gas about Sgr A* on degree scales (most dense CMZ gas and dust is at positive Galactic longitudes and positive VLSR) and compact 24 μm sources (most are at negative longitudes) may indicate that eposidic mini-starbursts occasionally ‘blow-out’ a portion of the gas on these x2 orbits. The resulting massive-star feedback may fuel the compact 30 pc scale Galactic center bubble associated with the Arches and Quintuplet clusters, the several hundred pc scale Sofue-Handa lobe, and the kpc-scale Fermi/LAT bubble, making it the largest ‘superbubble’ in the Galaxy. A consequence of this model is that in our Galaxy, instead of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) limiting star formation, star formation may limit the growth of the SMBH.

The role of ultraviolet imaging in studies of resolved and unresolved young stellar populations. M31 and M33

We discuss the relevance of UV data in the detection and characterization of hot massive stars and young stellar populations in galaxies. We show results from recent extensive surveys in M31 and M33 with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) multi-wavelength data including UV filters, which imaged several regions at a linear resolution (projected) of less than half a pc in these galaxies, and from GALEX far-UV and near-UV wide-field, low-resolution imaging of the entire galaxies. Both datasets allow us to study the hierarchical structure of star formation: the youngest stellar groups are the most compact, and are often arranged within broader, sparser structures. The derived recent star-formation rates are rather similar for the two galaxies, when scaled for the respective areas. We show how uncertainties in metallicity and type of selective extinction for the internal reddening may affect the results, and how an appropriate complement of UV filters could reduce such uncertainties, and significantly alleviate some parameter degeneracies.

MOLECULAR GAS AND STAR FORMATION IN NEARBY DISK GALAXIES

We compare molecular gas traced by 12CO(2-1) maps from the HERACLES survey, with tracers of the recent star formation rate (SFR) across 30 nearby disk galaxies. We demonstrate a first-order linear correspondence between Sig_mol and Sig_SFR but also find important second-order systematic variations in the apparent molecular gas depletion time, t_dep^mol = Sig_mol / Sig_SFR. At our 1 kpc common resolution, CO correlates closely with many tracers of the recent SFR. Weighting each line of sight equally and using a fixed, Milky Way alpha_CO, our data yield a molecular gas depletion time, t_dep^mol=Sig_mol/Sig_SFR ~ 2.2 Gyr with 0.3 dex scatter, in good agreement with literature data. We apply a forward-modeling approach to constrain the power-law index, N, that relates the SFR surface density and the molecular gas surface density and find N=1+/-0.15 for our full data set with some variation from galaxy to galaxy. However, we caution that a power law treatment oversimplifies the topic given that we observe correlations between t_dep^mol and other local and global quantities. The strongest of these are a decreased t_dep^mol in low-mass, low-metallicity galaxies and a correlation of the kpc-scale t_dep^mol with dust-to-gas ratio, D/G. These correlations can be explained by a CO-to-H2 conversion factor that depends on D/G in the theoretically expected way. This is not a unique interpretation, but external evidence of conversion factor variations makes it a conservative one. After applying a D/G-dependent alpha_CO, some weak correlations between t_dep^mol and local conditions persist. In particular, we observe lower t_dep^mol and enhanced CO excitation associated with some nuclear gas concentrations. These appear to reflect real enhancements in the SFR/H2 and t_dep appears multivalued at fixed Sig_mol, supporting the the idea of "disk" and "starburst" modes driven by environmental factors.

THE ACS NEARBY GALAXY SURVEY TREASURY. XI. THE REMARKABLY UNDISTURBED NGC 2403 DISK

We present detailed analysis of color-magnitude diagrams of NGC2403, obtained from a deep (m<28) Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observation of the outer disk of NGC2403, supplemented by several shallow (m<26) HST Advanced Camera for Surveys fields. We derive the spatially resolved star formation history of NGC2403 out to 11 disk scale lengths. In the inner portions of the galaxy, we compare the recent star formation rates (SFRs) we derive from the resolved stars with those measured using GALEX FUV + Spitzer 24-micron fluxes, finding excellent agreement between the methods. Our measurements also show that the radial gradient in recent SFR mirror s the disk exponential profile to 11 scale lengths with no break, extending to SFR densities a factor of 100 lower than those that can be measured with GALEX and Spitzer (2x10^{-6} M_{\sun} yr^{-1} kpc^{-2}). Furthermore, we find that the cumulative stellar mass of the disk was formed at similar times at all radii. We compare these characteristics of NGC2403 to those of its "morphological twins," NGC300 and M33, showing that the structure and age distributions of the NGC2403 disk are more similar to those of the relatively isolated system NGC300 than to those of the Local Group analog M33. We also discuss the environments and HI morphologies of these three nearby galaxies, comparing them to integrated light studies of larger samples of more distant galaxy disks. Taken together, the physical properties and evolutionary history of NGC2403 suggest that the galaxy has had no close encounters with other M81 group members and may be falling into the group for the first time.

THECHANDRALOCAL VOLUME SURVEY: THE X-RAY POINT-SOURCE CATALOG OF NGC 300

We present the source catalog of a new Chandra ACIS-I observation of NGC 300 obtained as part of the Chandra Local Volume Survey. Our 63 ks exposure covers ~88% of the D25 isophote (R~6.3 kpc) and yields a catalog of 95 X-ray point sources detected at high significance to a limiting unabsorbed 0.35-8 keV luminosity of ~10^36 erg s^-1. Sources were cross-correlated with a previous XMM-Newton catalog, and we find 75 "X-ray transient candidate" sources that were detected by one observatory, but not the other. We derive an X-ray scale length of 1.7+/-0.2 kpc and a recent star formation rate of 0.12 Msun yr^-1, in excellent agreement with optical observations. Deep, multi-color imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope, covering ~32% of our Chandra field, was used to search for optical counterparts to the X-ray sources, and we have developed a new source classification scheme to determine which sources are likely X-ray binaries, supernova remnants, and background AGN candidates. Finally, we present the X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) at different X-ray energies, and we find the total NGC 300 X-ray point source population to be consistent with other late-type galaxies hosting young stellar populations (<50 Myr). We find XLF of sources associated with older stellar populations has a steeper slope than the XLF of X-ray sources coinciding with young stellar populations, consistent with theoretical predictions.

THE SDSS-II SUPERNOVA SURVEY: PARAMETERIZING THE TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA RATE AS A FUNCTION OF HOST GALAXY PROPERTIES

Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Supernova Survey-II, we measure the rate of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) as a function of galaxy properties at intermediate redshift. A sample of 342 SNe Ia with 0.05<z<0.25 is constructed. Using broad-band photometry we use the PEGASE spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to estimate host galaxy stellar masses and recent star-formation rates. We find that the rate of SNe Ia per unit stellar mass is significantly higher (by a factor of ~30) in highly star-forming galaxies compared to passive galaxies. When parameterizing the SN Ia rate (SNR_Ia) based on host galaxy properties, we find that the rate of SNe Ia in passive galaxies is not linearly proportional to the stellar mass, instead a SNR_Ia proportional to M^0.68 is favored. However, such a parameterization does not describe the observed SN Ia rate in star-forming galaxies. The SN Ia rate in star-forming galaxies is well fit by SNR_Ia = 1.05\pm0.16x10^{-10} M ^{0.68\pm0.01} + 1.01\pm0.09x10^{-3} SFR^{1.00\pm0.05} (statistical errors only), where M is the host galaxy mass and SFR is the star-formation rate. These results are insensitive to the selection criteria used, redshift limit considered and the inclusion of non-spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia. We also show there is a dependence between the distribution of the MLCS light-curve decline rate parameter, \Delta, and host galaxy type. Passive galaxies host less luminous SNe Ia than seen in moderately and highly star-forming galaxies, although a population of luminous SNe is observed in passive galaxies, contradicting previous assertions that these SNe Ia are only observed in younger stellar systems. The MLCS extinction parameter, A_V, is similar in passive and moderately star-forming galaxies, but we find indications that it is smaller, on average, in highly star-forming galaxies. We confirm these results using the SALT2 light-curve fitter.

THE STATE OF THE GAS AND THE RELATION BETWEEN GAS AND STAR FORMATION AT LOW METALLICITY: THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We compare atomic gas, molecular gas, and the recent star formation rate (SFR) inferred from H-alpha in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). By using infrared dust emission and local dust-to-gas ratios, we construct a map of molecular gas that is independent of CO emission. This allows us to disentangle conversion factor effects from the impact of metallicity on the formation and star formation efficiency of molecular gas. On scales of 200 pc to 1 kpc we find a characteristic molecular gas depletion time of ~1.6 Gyr, similar to that observed in the molecule-rich parts of large spiral galaxies on similar spatial scales. This depletion time shortens on much larger scales to ~0.6 Gyr because of the presence of a diffuse H-alpha component, and lengthens on much smaller scales to ~7.5 Gyr because the H-alpha and H2 distributions differ in detail. We estimate the systematic uncertainties in our measurement to be a factor of 2-3. We suggest that the impact of metallicity on the physics of star formation in molecular gas has at most this magnitude. The relation between SFR and neutral (H2+HI) gas surface density is steep, with a power-law index ~2.2+/-0.1, similar to that observed in the outer disks of large spiral galaxies. At a fixed total gas surface density the SMC has a 5-10 times lower molecular gas fraction (and star formation rate) than large spiral galaxies. We explore the ability of the recent models by Krumholz et al. (2009) and Ostriker et al. (2010) to reproduce our observations. We find that to explain our data at all spatial scales requires a low fraction of cold, gravitationally-bound gas in the SMC. We explore a combined model that incorporates both large scale thermal and dynamical equilibrium and cloud-scale photodissociation region structure and find that it reproduces our data well, as well as predicting a fraction of cold atomic gas very similar to that observed in the SMC.

THE STELLAR ARCHEOLOGY OF THE M33 DISK: RECENT STAR-FORMING HISTORY AND CONSTRAINTS ON THE TIMING OF AN INTERACTION WITH M31,

Images recorded with MegaCam are used to investigate the recent (t ⩽ 0.25 Gyr) star-forming history (SFH) of the Local Group Sc galaxy M33. The data sample the entire star-forming disk, as well as areas immediately to the north and south of the galaxy. The properties of the stellar disk change near RGC = 8 kpc. Within this radius the luminosity function of main-sequence stars indicates that the star formation rate (SFR) has been constant with time during at least the past 250 Myr, while at larger radii the SFR has declined during this same time period. That the recent SFR in the inner disk has been constant suggests that M33 has evolved in isolation for at least the past ∼0.5 Gyr, thereby providing a constraint on the timing of any recent interaction with M31. The color of the main-sequence ridgeline changes with radius, suggesting a gradient in extinction of size ΔAV/ΔRGC = −0.05 mag kpc−1. The fractional contribution that young stars make to the total mass of the stellar disk changes with radius, peaking near 8 kpc. Evidence is also presented of systematic spatial variations in the SFH of the disk, such that the SFR during the past 100 Myr in the southern half of the galaxy has been ∼0.4 dex higher than in the northern half. Finally, structures with sizes spanning many kpc that contain blue objects—presumably main-sequence stars that formed during intermediate epochs—are identified near the disk boundary. It is argued that these are tidal features that were pulled from the main body of M33 and—in some cases—are the fossil remnants of star formation that occurred in an extended disk during intermediate epochs.

A MOLECULAR STAR FORMATION LAW IN THE ATOMIC-GAS-DOMINATED REGIME IN NEARBY GALAXIES

We use the IRAM HERACLES survey to study CO emission from 33 nearby spiral galaxies down to very low intensities. Using atomic hydrogen (HI) data, mostly from THINGS, we predict the local mean CO velocity from the mean HI velocity. By renormalizing the CO velocity axis so that zero corresponds to the local mean HI velocity we are able to stack spectra coherently over large regions as function of radius. This enables us to measure CO intensities with high significance as low as Ico = 0.3 K km/s (H2_SD = 1 Msun/pc2), an improvement of about one order of magnitude over previous studies. We detect CO out to radii Rgal = R25 and find the CO radial profile to follow a uniform exponential decline with scale length of 0.2 R25. Comparing our sensitive CO profiles to matched profiles of HI, Halpha, FUV, and IR emission at 24um and 70um, we observe a tight, roughly linear relation between CO and IR intensity that does not show any notable break between regions that are dominated by molecular (H2) gas (H2_SD > HI_SD) and those dominated by atomic gas (H2_SD < HI_SD). We use combinations of FUV+24um and Halpha+24um to estimate the recent star formation rate (SFR) surface density, SFR_SD, and find approximately linear relations between SFR_SD and H2_SD. We interpret this as evidence for stars forming in molecular gas with little dependence on the local total gas surface density. While galaxies display small internal variations in the SFR-to-H2 ratio, we do observe systematic galaxy-to-galaxy variations. These galaxy-to-galaxy variations dominate the scatter in relations between CO and SFR tracers measured at large scales. The variations have the sense that less massive galaxies exhibit larger ratios of SFR-to-CO than massive galaxies. Unlike the SFR-to-CO ratio, the balance between HI and H2 depends strongly on the total gas surface density and radius. It must also depend on additional parameters.

THE HISTORY OF STAR FORMATION IN GALAXY DISKS IN THE LOCAL VOLUME AS MEASURED BY THE ADVANCED CAMERA FOR SURVEYS NEARBY GALAXY SURVEY TREASURY

We present a measurement of the age distribution of stars residing in spiral disks and dwarf galaxies. We derive a complete star formation history of the ~140 Mpc^3 covered by the volume-limited sample of galaxies in the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST). The total star formation rate density history is dominated by the large spirals in the volume, although the sample consists mainly of dwarf galaxies. Our measurement shows a factor of ~3 drop at z~2, in approximate agreement with results from other measurement techniques. While our results show that the overall star formation rate density has decreased since z~1, the measured rates during this epoch are higher than those obtained from other measurement techniques. This enhanced recent star formation rate appears to be largely due to an increase in the fraction of star formation contained in low-mass disks at recent times. Finally, our results indicate that despite the differences at recent times, the epoch of formation of ~50% of the stellar mass in dwarf galaxies was similar to that of ~50% of the stellar mass in large spiral galaxies (z>~2), despite the observed galaxy-to-galaxy diversity among the dwarfs.

The GALEX-SDSS NUV and FUV flux density and local star formation rate

We calculate the local UV flux density in the GALEX MIS FUV and NUV bands using redshifts provided by SDSS DR7. Luminosity functions are calculated for the overlapping MIS and SDSS sample, allowing flux densities to be measured and the local star formation rate (SFR) to be calculated using volumes much larger than previous FUV based estimates. We calculate flux densities for a dust corrected low redshift (0.013 < z < 0.1) sample of f[FUV] = 22.24 \pm 3.13 \times 10^25 h ergs s^-1 Hz^-1 Mpc^-3, f[NUV] = 38.54 \pm 5.30 \times 10^25 h ergs s^-1 Hz^-1 Mpc^-3. The star formation rate density found is 0.0312\pm0.0045 h M\odot yr^-1 Mpc^-3. This is larger than published rates recently found using the UV implied SFR, though the major discrepancy is the correction made for dust attenuation and once this is dealt with consistently the results agree well. These values are also consistent with recent Halpha derived SFRs. Once cosmic variance is taken into account most of the recent SFRs at low redshift (z < 0.3) found in the literature can be brought into agreement, however the lowest redshift values (z < 0.045) do appear to be significantly lower.

A CONSTANT MOLECULAR GAS DEPLETION TIME IN NEARBY DISK GALAXIES

We combine new sensitive, wide-field CO data from the HERACLES survey with ultraviolet and infrared data from GALEX and Spitzer to compare the surface densities of H2, Sigma_H2, and recent star formation rate, Sigma_SFR, over many thousands of positions in 30 nearby disk galaxies. We more than quadruple the size of the galaxy sample compared to previous work and include targets with a wide range of galaxy properties. Even though the disk galaxies in this study span a wide range of properties, we find a strong and approximately linear correlation between Sigma_SFR and Sigma_H2 at our common resolution of 1kpc. This implies a roughly constant median H2 consumption time, tau_H2 = Sigma_H2 / Sigma_SFR, of ~2.35Gyr (including heavy elements) across our sample. At 1kpc resolution, there is only a weak correlation between Sigma_H2 and tau_H2 over the range Sigma_H2~5-100M_sun/pc^2, which is probed by our data. We compile a broad set of literature measurements that have been obtained using a variety of star formation tracers, sampling schemes and physical scales and show that overall, these data yield almost exactly the same results, although with more scatter. We interpret these results as strong, albeit indirect evidence that star formation proceeds in a uniform way in giant molecular clouds in the disks of spiral galaxies.

THE SCALE DEPENDENCE OF THE MOLECULAR GAS DEPLETION TIME IN M33

We study the Local Group spiral galaxy M33 to investigate how the observed scaling between the (kpc-averaged) surface density of molecular gas (\Sigma_H2) and recent star formation rate (\Sigma_SFR) relates to individual star-forming regions. To do this, we measure the ratio of CO emission to extinction-corrected Halpha emission in apertures of varying sizes centered both on peaks of CO and Halpha emission. We parameterize this ratio as a molecular gas (H_2) depletion time (\tau_dep). On large (kpc) scales, our results are consistent with a molecular star formation law (Sigma_SFR \sim Sigma_H2^b) with b \sim 1.1 - 1.5 and a median \tau_dep \sim 1 Gyr, with no dependence on type of region targeted. Below these scales, \tau_dep is a strong function of adopted angular scale and the type of region that is targeted. Small (\lesssim 300pc) apertures centered on CO peaks have very long \tau_dep (i.e., high CO-to-Halpha flux ratio) and small apertures targeted toward Halpha peaks have very short \tau_dep. This implies that the star formation law observed on kpc scales breaks down once one reaches aperture sizes of \lesssim 300pc. For our smallest apertures (75pc), the difference in \tau_dep between the two types of regions is more than one order of magnitude. This scale behavior emerges from averaging over star-forming regions with a wide range of CO-to-Halpha ratios with the natural consequence that the breakdown in the star formation law is a function of the surface density of the regions studied. We consider the evolution of individual regions the most likely driver for region-to-region differences in \tau_dep (and thus the CO-to-Halpha ratio).

The luminosity function and the rate of Swift's gamma-ray bursts

We invert directly the redshift - luminosity distribution of observed long Swift GRBs to obtain their rate and luminosity function. Our best fit rate is described by a broken power law that rises like (1+z)^2.1{+0.5-0.6} for 0<z<3 and decrease like (1+z)^-1.4{+2.4-1.0} for z>3. The local rate is 1.3^{+0.6-0.7} [Gpc^-3 yr^-1]. The luminosity function is well described by a broken power law with a break at L* = 10^52.5{+-0.2}[erg/sec] and with indices alpha = 0.2^{+0.2-0.1} and beta = 1.4^{+0.3-0.6}. The recently detected GRB 090423, with redshift ~8, fits nicely into the model's prediction, verifying that we are allowed to extend our results to high redshifts. While there is a possible agreement with the star formation rate (SFR) for z<3, the high redshift slope is shallower than the steep decline in the SFR for 4<z. However we cannot rule out a GRB rate that follows one of the recent SFR models.

THE ADVANCED CAMERA FOR SURVEYS NEARBY GALAXY SURVEY TREASURY. VI. THE ANCIENT STAR-FORMING DISK OF NGC 404

We present HST/WFPC2 observations across the disk of the nearby isolated dwarf S0 galaxy NGC 404, which hosts an extended gas disk. Our deepest field reaches the red clump and main-sequence stars with ages <500 Myr. Although we detect trace amounts of star formation at times more recent than 10 Gyr for all fields, the proportion of red giant stars to asymptotic giants and main sequence stars suggests that the disk is dominated by an ancient (>10 Gyr) population. Detailed modeling of the color-magnitude diagram suggests that ~70% of the stellar mass in the NGC 404 disk formed by z~2 (10 Gyr ago) and at least ~90% formed prior to z~1 (8 Gyr ago). These results indicate that the stellar populations of the NGC 404 disk are on average significantly older than those of other nearby disk galaxies, suggesting that early and late type disks may have different long-term evolutionary histories, not simply differences in their recent star formation rates. Comparisons of the spatial distribution of the young stellar mass and FUV emission in GALEX images show that the brightest FUV regions contain the youngest stars, but that some young stars (<160 Myr) lie outside of these regions. FUV luminosity appears to be strongly affected by both age and stellar mass within individual regions. Finally, we use our measurements to infer the relationship between the star formation rate and the gas density of the disk at previous epochs. We find that most of the history of the NGC 404 disk is consistent with star formation that has decreased with the gas density according to the Schmidt law. However, 0.5-1 Gyr ago, the star formation rate was unusually low for the inferred gas density, consistent with the possibility that there was a gas accretion event that reignited star formation ~0.5 Gyr ago. Such an event could explain why this S0 galaxy hosts an extended gas disk.

THE RECENT STAR FORMATION HISTORY OF NGC 5102

We present Hubble Space Telescope photometry of young stars in NGC 5102, a nearby gas-rich post-starburst S0 galaxy with a bright young stellar nucleus. We use the IAC-pop/MinnIAC algorithm to derive the recent star formation history in three fields in the bulge and disk of NGC 5102. In the disk fields, the recent star formation rate has declined monotonically and is now barely detectable, but a starburst is still in progress in the bulge and has added about 2 percent to the mass of the bulge over the last 200 Myr. Other studies of star formation in NGC 5102 indicate that about 20 percent of its stellar mass was added over the past Gyr. If this is correct, then much of the stellar mass of the bulge may have formed over this period. It seems likely that this star formation was fueled by the accretion of a gas-rich system with HI mass of about 2 x 10^9 Msol which has now been almost completely converted into stars. The large mass of recently formed stars and the blue colours of the bulge suggest that the current starburst, which is now fading, may have made a significant contribution to build the bulge of NGC 5102.

THE STAR FORMATION HISTORY OF THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We present the first ever global, spatially resolved reconstruction of the star formation history (SFH) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), based on the application of our StarFISH analysis software to the multiband photometry of 20 million of its stars from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey. The general outlines of our results are consistent with previously published results: following an initial burst of star formation, there was a quiescent epoch from approximately 12 to 5 Gyr ago. Star formation then resumed and has proceeded until the current time at an average rate of roughly 0.2 M☉ yr−1, with temporal variations at the factor of 2 level. The re-ignition of star formation about 5 Gyr ago, in both the LMC and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), is suggestive of a dramatic event at that time in the Magellanic system. Among the global variations in the recent star formation rate are peaks at roughly 2 Gyr, 500 Myr, 100 Myr, and 12 Myr. The peaks at 500 Myr and 2 Gyr are nearly coincident with similar peaks in the SFH of the SMC, suggesting a joint history for these galaxies extending back at least several Gyr. The chemical enrichment history recovered from our StarFISH analysis is in broad agreement with that inferred from the LMC's star cluster population, although our constraints on the ancient chemical enrichment history are weak. We conclude from the concordance between the star formation and chemical enrichment histories of the field and cluster populations that the field and cluster star formation modes are tightly coupled.

The correlation of star formation quenching with internal galaxy properties and environment

We investigate the correlation of star formation quenching with internal galaxy properties and large-scale environment (halo mass) in empirical data and theoretical models. We make use of the halo-based group catalogue of Yang and collaborators, which is based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Data from the Galaxy evolution explorer are also used to extract the recent star formation rate. In order to investigate the environmental effects, we examine the properties of 'central' and 'satellite' galaxies separately. For central galaxies, we are unable to conclude whether star formation quenching is primarily connected with halo mass or stellar mass, because these two quantities are themselves strongly correlated. For satellite galaxies, a nearly equally strong dependence on halo mass and stellar mass is seen. We make the same comparison for five different semi-analytic models based on three independently developed codes. We find that the models with active galactic nuclei feedback reproduce reasonably well the dependence of the fraction of central red and passive galaxies on halo mass and stellar mass. However, for satellite galaxies, the same models badly overproduce the fraction of red/passive galaxies and do not reproduce the empirical trends with stellar mass or halo mass. This satellite overquenching problem is caused by the too-rapid stripping of the satellites' hot gas haloes, which leads to rapid strangulation of star formation.