Poster Presentation

Spatial Variations and Calibration of PAH to SFR in Nearby Galaxies

Author(s): Lulu Zhang (KIAA, PKU; DoA, PKU);Luis C. Ho (KIAA, PKU);Mingyang Zhuang (KIAA, PKU; DoA, PKU);Jinyi Shangguan (MPE);Yanxia Xie (KIAA, PKU)

Presenter: Lulu Zhang (KIAA, PKU; DoA, PKU)

The mid-infrared (MIR) spectrum contains rich information to probe the physical properties of a galaxy, among which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions are the most prominent features and have the potential to be a powerful indicator of the star formation rate (SFR) in galaxies suffering minimal extinction. Here we propose to study the spatial variations of the PAH features and to provide the spatially resolved PAH star formation rate calibration for a group of nearby galaxies from SINGS, by making use of Spitzer/IRS mapping mode observations. This sample spans a large range in luminosity, nuclear powering source, and overall morphology. The preliminary work gives an illustration of our analysis on spatial distribution of PAH emissions. We compare spatially resolved PAH emissions with FUV continuum and Hα map which are used as the direct indicator of SFR. We investigate the fidelity of calibrating PAH to SFR quantitatively among different types of galaxies on sub-kpc scale.