Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:53:27.037Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Luminous Stellar Content of the Galaxy: Inferences from Radio and Infrared Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2017

P. G. Mezger
P. G. Mezger*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 5300 Bonn 1, F.R.G.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Lyman continuum (Lyc) photon production rates can be estimated from radio free-free emission and used to estimate the star formation rate (SFR) of 0 stars. If this SFR is linked to the total SFR through a constant IMF (m ≳0.1 m⊙) one derives for our Galaxy a present-day SFR of ∼10 m⊙ yr−1, which is close to the average SFR over the age of the galactic disk. This is difficult to reconcile with a formation law of the form SFR φ∝Mgas k with k>0 which yields SFRs which decrease with time. Even more severe is the fact that the mass distribution of the galactic disk cannot be reproduced by the present-day SFR with a constant IMF. Bimodal star formation, however, reduces the rate at which matter is permanently locked up in low mass and dead stars by nearly a factor of three, and gets reasonable agreement between the present-day distribution of stellar mass and lock-up rate. Bimodal star formation means that stars with m >0.1 m⊙ form in the interarm region while in spiral arms induced star formation produces only stars with m >mc ∼2–3 m⊙.

Type
Session 8. Luminous Stellar Content of Galaxies-Integrated Properties-II
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 116: Luminous Stars and Associations in Galaxies , 1986 , pp. 479 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1986 

References

Cox, P., Krügel, E., Mezger, P.G. (1985), Astron. Astrophys. (in print) (Paper II) Google Scholar
Güsten, R. (1985) “The Chemical Evolution of the Milky Way”, Erice Lectures, preprint Google Scholar
Güsten, R., Mezger, P.G. (1983) Vistas in Astronomy 26, 159 (Paper I) Google Scholar
Hayakawa, S., Ito, K., Matsumoto, T., Ugama, K. (1977) Astron. Astrophys. 58, 325 Google Scholar
Ito, K., Matsumoto, T., Uyama, K. (1977) Nature 256, 517 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, F.D. (1974) Astron. Astrophys. 37, 149 Google Scholar
Larson, R.B. (1985) “Bimodal star formation and remnant-dominant galactic models”, preprint, subm. to MNRAS Google Scholar
Léger, A., Puget, J.L. (1984) Astron. Astrophys. 137, L5 Google Scholar
Mathis, J., Mezger, P.G., Panagia, N. (1983) Astron. Astrophys. 128, 212 Google Scholar
Mezger, P.G. (1979) in “Radio Recombination Lines”, (Shaver, P.A., ed.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., p. 81 Google Scholar
Mezger, P.G., Wink, J. (1983) Proc. ESO Workshop on “Primodial Helium”, (Shaver, Kunth, and Kjär, , eds.), p. 281 Google Scholar
Miller, G.E., Scalo, J.M. (1979) Astrophys. J. Suppl. 41, 513 Google Scholar
Oda, N., Maihara, T., Sugiyama, T., Okuda, H. (1979) Astron. Astrophys. 72, 309 Google Scholar
Panagia, N. (1979) in “Radio Recombination Lines”, (Shaver, P.A., ed.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., p. 99 Google Scholar
Salpeter, E.E. (1955) Astropyhs. J. 121, 161 Google Scholar
Vader, J.P., de Jong, T. (1981) Astron. Astrophys. 100, 124 Google Scholar