[Previous] | [Session 55] | [Next]
M. Seibert, G.R. Meurer (JHU)
As more sensitive telescopes and instruments begin to probe even fainter galaxies at high redshift, principally from their rest-frame UV, a general method of correcting for intrinsic UV extinction becomes crucial. It is known that starburst galaxies exhibit a correlation between their UV spectral slope (equivalent to UV color) and their infrared excess (ratio of far-IR to far-UV; IRX). This relationship indicates that dust surrounds starburst regions and can be modeled to provide an estimate of the UV extinction as a simple function of the UV color. We are attempting to determine if a UV-reddening law exists for normal star forming galaxies. We present the preliminary results of a UV spectral slope -- IRX relation for nearby star forming galaxies. The spectral slope is determined from UIT far-UV and near-UV imaging data. The infrared excess is based on IRAS 60 and 100 micron HIRES data.
This work is supported by the NASA ADP program under the grant NAG5-8279.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: mseibert@pha.jhu.edu