Multi-wavelength study of 14000 star-forming galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (1310.1559v1)

Abstract: (abridged) We studied a large sample of ~14000 dwarf star-forming galaxies with strong emission lines selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and distributed in the redshift range of z~0-0.6. We modelled spectral energy distributions (SED) of all galaxies which were based on the SDSS spectra in the visible range of 0.38-0.92 micron and included both the stellar and ionised gas emission. These SEDs were extrapolated to the UV and mid-infrared ranges to cover the wavelength range of 0.1-22 micron. The SDSS spectroscopic data were supplemented by photometric data from the GALEX, SDSS, 2MASS, WISE, IRAS, and NVSS all-sky surveys. We derived global characteristics of the galaxies, such as their element abundances, luminosities, and stellar masses. The luminosities and stellar masses range within the sample over ~5 orders of magnitude, thereby linking low-mass and low-luminosity blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies to luminous galaxies, which are similar to high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs). The luminosity L(Hbeta) of the Hbeta emission line, a characteristic of the youngest stellar population with an age of a few Myr, is correlated with luminosities in other wavelength ranges. This implies that the most recent burst of star formation makes a significant contribution to the emission in the visible range and dominates in other wavelength ranges. We found 20 galaxies with very red WISE mid-infrared m(3.4micron)-m(4.6micron) colour (>2 mag), which suggests the important contribution of the hot (with a temperature of several hundred degree) dust emission in these galaxies. Our analysis of the balance between the luminosity in the WISE bands that covered a wavelength range of 3.4-22 micron and the luminosity of the emission absorbed at shorter wavelengths showed that the luminosity of the hot dust emission is increased with increasing L(Hbeta) and EW(Hbeta).