Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: We present a H i optical catalog of ∼30,000 galaxies based on the 100% complete Arecibo Legacy Fast Arecibo L -band Feed Array (ALFALFA) survey combined with data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Our goal is to facilitate the public use of the completed ALFALFA catalog by providing carefully determined matches to SDSS counterparts, including matches for ∼10,000 galaxies that do not have SDSS spectra. These identifications can provide a basis for further crossmatching with other surveys using SDSS photometric IDs as a reference point. We derive absolute magnitudes and stellar masses for each galaxy using optical colors combined with an internal reddening correction designed for small- and intermediate-mass galaxies with active star formation. We also provide measures of stellar masses and star formation rates based on infrared and/or ultraviolet photometry for galaxies that are detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and/or the Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Finally, we compare the galaxy population in the ALFALFA-SDSS sample with the populations in several other publicly available galaxy catalogs and confirm that ALFALFA galaxies typically have lower masses and bluer colors.
Source: The Astronomical Journal
Authors: Adriana Durbala, Rose A. Finn, Mary Crone Odekon, Martha P. Haynes, Rebecca A. Koopmann, Aileen A. O’Donoghue
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Yale University, Vanderbilt University, Princeton University, Ohio State University, California Institute of Technology, University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, University of Central Florida, University of Portsmouth, New Mexico State University, Universities Space Research Association, York University, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, University of California, Los Angeles, Astrophysics Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Awards: Collaborative Research: Enhancing Undergraduate Research Experiences Through Extragalactic Radio Astronomy, The Undergraduate ALFALFA Team, Collaborative Research: Enhancing Undergraduate Research Experiences Through Extragalactic Radio Astronomy, RUI: Collaborative Research: The Effect of Filaments on the Gas in Galaxies, CAREER: Gas Stripping in Low-Redshift Groups & Clusters, How Do Galaxies End Their Star-Formation?, Harvesting ALFALFA: Tracking the Gas-Rich Halos at z=0, G4412332716, G4961910479, Management and Operations of the Arecibo Observatory (AO), Management and Operations of the Arecibo Observatory, STAR FORMATION REGULATION IN GALAXIES: INSIGHTS FROM THE DATABASE OF ONE (+TEN) MILLION GALAXIES OBSERVED BY GALEX 2MASS AND WISE. WE PROPOSE TO CONSTRUCT SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS (SEDS) SPANNING FROM THE FAR-UV TO THE MID-IR (1500A TO 22 MICRONS) FOR 11 MILLION GALAXIES IN THE PRESENT-DAY UNIVERSE. OUR ANALYSIS WILL BRING TOGETHER BROAD-BAND PHOTOMETRY FROM GALEX SDSS 2MASS AND WISE ALONG WITH ADVANCED SED MODELING TECHNIQUES TO SYSTEMATICALLY CONSTRAIN THE BASIC PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GALAXIES: STELLAR MASS STAR FORMATION RATE (SFR) STAR FORMATION HISTORY DUST ATTENUATION AND POPULATION AGE. THE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVE IS TO QUANTIFY THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROCESSES THAT REGULATE STAR FORMATION (SF) IN GALAXIES OVER FIVE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE IN MASS. OUR PARTICULAR STRATEGY IS TO FOCUS ON GALAXIES IN TRANSITION BETWEEN BEING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE IN ORDER TO PINPOINT THE MAIN MECHANISMS THAT DRIVE AND EXTINGUISH STAR FORMATION. TRANSITIONAL GALAXY POPULATIONS WILL BE SELECTED BASED ON THE SED-DERIVED SFR PER UNIT STELLAR MASS WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR THE EFFECTS OF DUST AND METALLICITY. THE NECESSARY SENSITIVITY TO LOW LEVELS OF SF NEEDED TO SEPARATE TRANSITIONAL GALAXIES FROM TRULY "RED AND DEAD" PASSIVE GALAXIES IS PROVIDED BY THE INCLUSION OF GALEX PHOTOMETRY INTO THE SEDS. WE WILL STUDY THE REGULATION PROCESSES AS A FUNCTION OF GALAXY STELLAR MASS. AT THE MASSIVE END WE WILL EXPLORE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SF SUPPRESSION AND THE PRESENCE OF AGN AS WELL AS THE REVERSE PROCESS: REJUVENATION OF STAR FORMATION DUE TO MINOR MERGERS OR THE ACCRETION OF NEW INTERGALALCTIC GAS. AT LOWER GALAXY MASSES OUR FOCUS WILL SHIFT TOWARD STELLAR FEEDBACK AND THE EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT ON STAR FORMATION.OUR RESULTING DATABASE WILL ENABLE A VAST RANGE OF STUDIES IN GALAXY EVOLUTION AND STAR FORMATION BEYOND THOSE OUTLINED HERE. NO SIMILAR RESOURCE THAT EXPLOITS WIDE-FIELD MULTIWAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS AT SUCH SCALE EXISTS TODAY. WE WILL THEREFORE MAKE THE SEDS AND DATABASE OF DERIVED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY BOTH AS A STAND-ALONE RESOURCE AND THROUGH INTEGRATION WITH THE NASA/IPAC EXTRAGALACTIC DATABASE (NED)., Low Mass Galaxies and the Baryonic Tully Fisher Relation as a Distance Indicator
OpenAlex ID: W3095517486