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M. A. Agüeros, L. M. Walkowicz, Z. Ivezic (University of Washington), M. Obric (Kapteyn Institute)
We discuss the UV and optical properties of sources detected by the the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), as part of its Early Release Observations (ERO), and by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Practically all GALEX sources in the overlap region are detected by SDSS; the few ERO sources without an SDSS counterpart within our 6 arcsec search radius are mostly unflagged artifacts. GALEX sources represent roughly 2.5% of all SDSS sources, and about half are optically unresolved. Optically unresolved GALEX-SDSS sources are dominated by bright (r < 18) blue (turn-off) thick disk stars. The remaining unresolved sources include low-redshift (z < 2) quasars, white dwarfs, and white dwarf/M dwarf pairs. SDSS galaxies detected by GALEX are dominated by blue spiral galaxies, and are mostly fainter than the SDSS spectroscopic limit. Most galaxies are detected in both GALEX bands - these measurements of the UV color allow much more accurate and robust estimates of star-formation rate than possible using only SDSS data. With the aid of 2MASS data, we construct and discuss mean UV-IR spectral energy distributions for various subsamples of stars, quasars, and galaxies.
M. A. Agüeros is a NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellow.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.