Published December 2007 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Nitrogen Production in Starburst Galaxies Detected by GALEX

  • 1. ROR icon University of California, Los Angeles
  • 2. ROR icon University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • 3. ROR icon Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
  • 4. ROR icon Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
  • 5. ROR icon University of Arizona
  • 6. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 7. ROR icon Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 8. ROR icon Columbia University
  • 9. ROR icon Johns Hopkins University
  • 10. ROR icon Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
  • 11. ROR icon Yonsei University
  • 12. ROR icon Carnegie Observatories
  • 13. ROR icon University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

We investigate the production of nitrogen in star-forming galaxies with ultraviolet (UV) radiation detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer Satellite (GALEX). We use a sample of 8745 GALEX emission-line galaxies matched to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic sample. We derive both gas-phase oxygen and nitrogen abundances for the sample and apply stellar population synthesis models to derive stellar masses and star formation histories of the galaxies. We compare oxygen abundances derived using three different diagnostics. We derive the specific star formation rates of the galaxies by modeling the seven-band GALEX+SDSS photometry. We find that galaxies that have log (SFR/M_*) ≳ − 10.0 typically have values of log (N/O) ~ 0.05 dex less than galaxies with log (SFR/M_*) ≾ − 10.0 and similar oxygen abundances.

Additional Information

© 2007 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2006 October 13; accepted 2007 April 5. GALEX is a NASA Small Explorer, launched in 2003 April. We gratefully acknowledge NASA's support for construction, operation, and science analysis for the GALEX mission, developed in cooperation with the CNES of France and the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology. Funding for the creation and distribution of the SDSS Archive has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, NASA, NSF, DoE, Monbukagakusho, and the Max Planck Society. Facilities: GALEX.

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17464
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CaltechAUTHORS:20100212-094447213

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2010-02-16
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