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).
$268,515FY2014National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
Trustees Of Indiana University, Bloomington IN