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R. C. Kennicutt, J. C. Lee, S. Akiyama, J. G. Funes (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona), S. Sakai (Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCLA)
We have completed an H\alpha and R-band imaging survey of a volume-limited sample of 340 spiral and irregular galaxies within a distance of 11Mpc. The goal of this survey is to characterize the demographics and star formation properties of nearby galaxies, with an emphasis on dwarf galaxies which dominate the sample population. The data also provide a foundation for follow-up studies of the HII region populations, star formation, chemical abundance, and ISM properties of the galaxy sample.
We describe the physical and completeness properties of the galaxy sample, and present representative images along with preliminary results from several analyses of the dataset. These include a multi-parametric study of the integrated star formation properties of the galaxies, and an investigation of the statistical importance of starbursts in dwarf galaxies.
The H\alpha imaging from this survey will be complemented by UV imaging through a recently approved GALEX Legacy program, which is described in a companion poster. The combined H\alpha and UV volume-complete dataset (11HUGS: 11Mpc H\alpha and Ultraviolet Galaxy Survey) will yield powerful constraints on the systematic errors in inferred star formation related quantities and further insights into the temporal behavior of star formation in low-mass galaxies.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.