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L. V. Jones (University of Florida)
I present the results from my dissertation study of nearby spiral galaxies. First, I demonstrate the superiority of Brackett Gamma (Br\gamma, \lambda=2.165\mum) as a star formation indicator by comparing the extinctions determined from Br\gamma/H\beta, Pa\beta /H\beta (Paschen Beta, \lambda=1.2818\mum) and H\alpha/H\beta ratios to the extinction determined by a linear fit to all three ratios. Then, I model stellar populations that are represented by different data sets: a young population (1 Myr) from the emission line data, and an old population (12 Gyr) from the continuum data. Next, I choose an appropriate extinction model and determine the amount of light extincted for each population. Then, PIXON image reconstruction is performed on the IRAS HIRES data to increase resolution, and all other images are blurred to the resolution of the 100\mum image. Finally, I perform an energy analysis to determine the heating source, by comparing the amount of FIR that is observed to the energy input (extincted radiation) from each population.
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: lauren@astro.ufl.edu