Observations of star formation rates (SFRs) in galaxies provide vital clues to the physical nature of the Hubble sequence and are key probes of the evolutionary histories of galaxies. The focus of this review is on the broad patterns in the star formation properties of galaxies along the Hubble sequence and their implications for understanding galaxy evolution and the physical processes that drive the evolution. Star formation in the disks and nuclear regions of galaxies are reviewed separately, then discussed within a common interpretive framework. The diagnostic methods used to measure SFRs are also reviewed, and a self-consistent set of SFR calibrations is presented as an aid to workers in the field. One of the most recognizable features of galaxies along the Hubble sequence is the wide range in young stellar content and star formation activity. This variation in stellar content is part of the basis of the Hubble classification itself (Hubble 1926), and understanding its physical nature and origins is fundamental to understanding galaxy evolution in its broader context. This review deals with the global star formation properties of galaxies, the systematics of those properties along the Hubble sequence, and their implications for galactic evolution. I interpret “Hubble sequence” in this context very loosely, to encompass not only morphological type but other properties such as gas content, mass, bar structure, and dynamical environment, which can strongly influence the largescale star formation rate (SFR).

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Star formation in galaxies along the hubble sequence

Starburst99 is a comprehensive set of model predictions for spectrophotometric and related properties of galaxies with active star formation. The models are an improved and extended version of the data set previously published by Leitherer & Heckman. We have upgraded our code by implementing the latest set of stellar evolution models of the Geneva group and the model atmosphere grid compiled by Lejeune et al. Several predictions which were not included in the previous publication are shown here for the first time. The models are presented in a homogeneous way for five metallicities between Z = 0.040 and 0.001 and three choices of the initial mass function. The age coverage is 106—109 yr. We also show the spectral energy distributions which are used to compute colors and other quantities. The full data set is available for retrieval at a Web site, which allows users to run specific models with nonstandard parameters as well. We also make the source code available to the community.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/313233/pdf

Starburst99: Synthesis Models for Galaxies with Active Star Formation

Over the past two decades, an avalanche of data from multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic surveys has revolutionized our view of galaxy formation and evolution. Here we review the range of complementary techniques and theoretical tools that allow astronomers to map the cosmic history of star formation, heavy element production, and reionization of the Universe from the cosmic "dark ages" to the present epoch. A consistent picture is emerging, whereby the star-formation rate density peaked approximately 3.5 Gyr after the Big Bang, at z~1.9, and declined exponentially at later times, with an e-folding timescale of 3.9 Gyr. Half of the stellar mass observed today was formed before a redshift z = 1.3. About 25% formed before the peak of the cosmic star-formation rate density, and another 25% formed after z = 0.7. Less than ~1% of today's stars formed during the epoch of reionization. Under the assumption of a universal initial mass function, the global stellar mass density inferred at any epoch matches reasonably well the time integral of all the preceding star-formation activity. The comoving rates of star formation and central black hole accretion follow a similar rise and fall, offering evidence for co-evolution of black holes and their host galaxies. The rise of the mean metallicity of the Universe to about 0.001 solar by z = 6, one Gyr after the Big Bang, appears to have been accompanied by the production of fewer than ten hydrogen Lyman-continuum photons per baryon, a rather tight budget for cosmological reionization.

/pdf/cosmic-star-formation-history-5ce1d74cmt.pdf

Cosmic Star-Formation History

We review progress over the past decade in observations of large-scale star formation, with a focus on the interface between extragalactic and Galactic studies. Methods of measuring gas contents and star-formation rates are discussed, and updated prescriptions for calculating star-formation rates are provided. We review relations between star formation and gas on scales ranging from entire galaxies to individual molecular clouds.

Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies

We have modeled a large sample of infrared starburst galaxies using both the PEGASE v2.0 and STARBURST99 codes to generate the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the young star clusters. PEGASE utilizes the Padova group tracks, while STARBURST99 uses the Geneva group tracks, allowing comparison between the two. We used our MAPPINGS III code to compute photoionization models that include a self-consistent treatment of dust physics and chemical depletion. We use the standard optical diagnostic diagrams as indicators of the hardness of the EUV radiation field in these galaxies. These diagnostic diagrams are most sensitive to the spectral index of the ionizing radiation field in the 1-4 ryd region. We find that warm infrared starburst galaxies contain a relatively hard EUV field in this region. The PEGASE ionizing stellar continuum is harder in the 1-4 ryd range than that of STARBURST99. As the spectrum in this regime is dominated by emission from Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars, this discrepancy is most likely due to the differences in stellar atmosphere models used for the W-R stars. The PEGASE models use the Clegg & Middlemass planetary nebula nuclei (PNN) atmosphere models for the W-R stars, whereas the STARBURST99 models use the Schmutz, Leitherer, & Gruenwald W-R atmosphere models. We believe that the Schmutz et al. atmospheres are more applicable to the starburst galaxies in our sample; however, they do not produce the hard EUV field in the 1-4 ryd region required by our observations. The inclusion of continuum metal blanketing in the models may be one solution. Supernova remnant (SNR) shock modeling shows that the contribution by mechanical energy from SNRs to the photoionization models is 20%. The models presented here are used to derive a new theoretical classification scheme for starbursts and active galactic nucleus (AGN) galaxies based on the optical diagnostic diagrams.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/321545/pdf

Theoretical Modeling of Starburst Galaxies

We present evidence of the co-existence of either an AGN or an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), together with a young super stellar cluster in the 3 central parsecs of NGC4303. The galaxy contains a low luminosity AGN and hosts a number of starburst regions in a circumnuclear spiral, as well as in the nucleus itself. A high spatial resolution Chandra image of this source reveals that the soft X-ray emission traces the ultraviolet nuclear spiral down to a core, which is unresolved both in soft and hard X-rays. The astrometry of the X-ray core coincides with the UV core within the Chandra positioning accuracy. The total X-ray luminosity of the core, 1.5*10^{39} erg/s, is similar to that from some LINERs or from the weakest Seyferts detected so far. The soft X-rays in both the core and the extended structure surrounding it can be well reproduced by evolutionary synthesis models (which include the emission expected from single stars, the hot diffuse gas, supernova remnants and binary systems), consistent with the properties of the young stellar clusters identified in the UV. The hard X-ray tail detected in the core spectrum, however, most likely requires the presence of an additional source. This additional source could either be a weak active nucleus black hole or an ultraluminous X-ray object. The implications of these results are discussed.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0304465.pdf

Nuclear activity and massive star formation in the low luminosity AGN NGC4303: Chandra X-ray observations

Star Formation Through Time

High-resolution Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet images of the Seyfert 2 galaxies NGC 1667, NGC 3982, NGC 5427, and NGC 5953, previously known to have circumnuclear star-forming rings, are presented. The UV images of all four Seyfert 2 galaxies show the presence of several compact UV-bright knots at distances of ~0.7-2 kpc from the nucleus and associated to the circumnuclear star-forming ring. The optically bright Seyfert 2 nucleus is barely detected in the UV. The UV images provide the first direct empirical evidence that the UV flux emitted by galaxies having a Seyfert 2-type nucleus surrounded by a circumnuclear star-forming ring is dominated by radiation coming from clusters of young hot stars distributed along the star-forming ring. The contribution of the Seyfert 2 nucleus amounts to ~1%-10% of the observed UV flux in these four galaxies. If circumnuclear star-forming rings of 2-3 kpc in diameter, or smaller, are a common feature of Seyfert 2 galaxies, we conclude that (a) the observed UV flux in Seyfert 2 galaxies is not dominated by the radiation from the nuclear ionizing source and (b) the observed UV flux is dominated by emission from clusters of young hot stars located in circumnuclear star-forming regions. Whatever the nature of the nuclear ionizing source in these Seyfert 2 galaxies, this must be obscured. The UV and Hα luminosities associated to the Seyfert 2 nucleus in these galaxies are consistent with the scenario of the nuclear ionizing source being an obscured power-law ionizing source or a young (2-4 Myr) obscured high-metallicity (≥Z☉) nuclear starburst.

On the Origin of the Ultraviolet Continuum in Seyfert 2 Galaxies

We present the results of a double analysis of the ionizing cluster in NGC 588, a giant HII region (GHR) in the outskirts of the nearby galaxy M33. For this purpose, we obtained ground based long-slit spectroscopy and combined it with archival ground based and space borne imaging and spectroscopy, in the wavelength range 1100-9800 A. A first modeling of the cluster was performed using integrated properties, such as the spectral energy distribution (SED), broad band colors, nebular emission Hbeta equivalent width, the main ultraviolet resonance lines, and the presence of Wolf-Rayet star features. By applying standard assumptions about the initial mass function (IMF), we were unable to fit satisfactorily these observational data. This contradictory result led us to carry out a second modeling, based on a resolved photometric analysis of individual stars in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images, by means of finding the best fit isochrone in color-magnitude diagrams (CMD), and assigning a theoretical SED to each individual star. The overall SED of the cluster, obtained by integrating the individual stellar SEDs, is found to fit better the observed SED than the best solution found through the integrated first analysis, but at a significantly later stage of evolution of the cluster of 4.2 Myr, as obtained from the best fit to the CMD. A comparative analysis of both methods traces the different results to the effects of statistical fluctuations in the upper end of the IMF, which are significant in NGC 588, with a computed cluster mass of 5600 Msun, as predicted by Cervino et al (2002). We discuss the results in terms of the strong influence of the few most massive stars, six in the case of NGC 588, that dominate the overall SED and, in particular, the ionizing far ultraviolet range beyond the Lyman limit.

On the importance of the few most massive stars: the ionizing cluster of NGC 588

Evolutionary synthesis models of a stellar population in the far-ultraviolet are presented. The spectra include the lines O VI λλ1032, 1038, Lyβ, and C II λλ1036, 1037. They are based on a stellar library built with observations of O and B stars collected with Copernicus and the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT). This library is used as input into an evolutionary synthesis code. The line profile of O VI + Lyβ + C II is computed for different star formation histories (instantaneous burst and continuous star formation) and different assumptions about the initial mass function (IMF). The metallicity is near the solar value. O VI λλ1032, 1038 is a very sensitive indicator of the presence or absence of O stars. O VI develops a P Cygni profile when formed in stellar winds of the most massive stars. When these stars are absent, no O VI is formed. In contrast, Lyβ and C II are very sensitive indicators for B stars. If these stars dominate, as is the case in poststarburst galaxies, Lyβ and C II are present as strong absorption features, and they are formed in the photosphere of B stars. An equivalent width of Lyβ + C II larger than 1 A always indicates a population younger than 1 Gyr. Because of the universal strength of O VI in O stars, O VI is not a good discriminator between instantaneous versus continuous star formation for ages in the starburst phase, but the absence of O VI and the presence of stellar Lyβ and C II is a good indicator of a short burst duration and for the galaxy being in a poststarburst phase. Application of this technique to starburst or poststarburst galaxies will require careful attention to interstellar absorption.

Rosa M. González Delgado

Papers

Nuclear activity and massive star formation in the low luminosity AGN NGC4303: Chandra X-ray observations

Star Formation Through Time

On the Origin of the Ultraviolet Continuum in Seyfert 2 Galaxies

On the importance of the few most massive stars: the ionizing cluster of NGC 588

O VI + Lyβ + C II from Starburst and Poststarburst Galaxies. I. Stellar Library and Evolutionary Synthesis Profiles