Speaker
Andrew Battisti
(UMass Amherst)
Description
The presence of dust in galaxies can significantly alter their observed spectral
energy distribution. If not properly accounted for, this effect can lead to incorrect
values of derived physical quantities such as the star formation rate, stellar mass,
and photometric redshift. Virtually all studies of star forming galaxies, both local
and distant, make use the attenuation curve derived from a small sample of local
starburst galaxies to correct for the effects of dust. However, it is not clear how
reasonable the general application of this curve is for more typical star forming
galaxies. In this talk, I will present results from a study utilizing ~10000 local
(z<0.1) star forming galaxies to identify the extent to which attenuation varies as a
function of galactic physical properties.
Primary author
Andrew Battisti
(UMass Amherst)
Co-authors
Daniela Calzetti
(UMass Amherst)
Ranga-Ram Chary
(U.S. Planck Data Center, Caltech)
