Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:astro-ph/9712213)
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (2917) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· SIMBAD Objects (93)
· NED Objects (92)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
· HEP/Spires Information
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
The Global Schmidt Law in Star-forming Galaxies
Authors:
Kennicutt, Robert C., Jr.
Affiliation:
AA(Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 498, Issue 2, pp. 541-552. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
05/1998
Origin:
APJ; UCP
Astronomy Keywords:
GALAXIES: EVOLUTION, GALAXIES: ISM, GALAXIES: SPIRAL, GALAXIES: STELLAR CONTENT, GALAXIES: STARBURST, STARS: FORMATION, Galaxies: Evolution, Galaxies: ISM, Galaxies: Spiral, Galaxies: Starburst, Galaxies: Stellar Content, Stars: Formation
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 1998: The American Astronomical Society
DOI:
10.1086/305588
Bibliographic Code:
1998ApJ...498..541K

Abstract

Measurements of Hα, H I, and CO distributions in 61 normal spiral galaxies are combined with published far-infrared and CO observations of 36 infrared-selected starburst galaxies, in order to study the form of the global star formation law over the full range of gas densities and star formation rates (SFRs) observed in galaxies. The disk-averaged SFRs and gas densities for the combined sample are well represented by a Schmidt law with index N = 1.4 +/- 0.15. The Schmidt law provides a surprisingly tight parametrization of the global star formation law, extending over several orders of magnitude in SFR and gas density. An alternative formulation of the star formation law, in which the SFR is presumed to scale with the ratio of the gas density to the average orbital timescale, also fits the data very well. Both descriptions provide potentially useful ``recipes'' for modeling the SFR in numerical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
  New!

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints