A simple model to interpret the ultraviolet, optical and infrared SEDs of galaxies

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple, empirically motivated model that interprets multi-wavelength galaxy observations to derive physical parameters like star formation rate, stellar mass, and dust content, effectively fitting observed spectral energy distributions across UV to infrared.

Contribution

The model is novel in its simplicity and versatility, enabling statistical analysis of large galaxy samples to understand their star formation histories and dust properties.

Findings

The model accurately reproduces galaxy SEDs from UV to IR.

Strong correlations found between galaxy physical parameters.

Effective for analyzing large galaxy surveys.

Abstract

We present a simple, largely empirical but physically motivated model, which is designed to interpret consistently multi-wavelength observations from large samples of galaxies in terms of physical parameters, such as star formation rate, stellar mass and dust content. Our model is both simple and versatile enough to allow the derivation of statistical constraints on the star formation histories and dust contents of large samples of galaxies using a wide range of ultraviolet, optical and infrared observations. We illustrate this by deriving median-likelihood estimates of a set of physical parameters describing the stellar and dust contents of local star-forming galaxies from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Sample (SINGS) and from a newly-matched sample of SDSS galaxies observed with GALEX, 2MASS, and IRAS. The model reproduces well the observed spectral energy distributions of these galaxies across the entire wavelength range from the far-ultraviolet to the far-infrared. We find important correlations between the physical parameters of galaxies which are useful to investigate the star formation activity and dust properties of galaxies. Our model can be straightforwardly applied to interpret observed ultraviolet-to-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from any galaxy sample.