Nitrogen Production in Starburst Galaxies Detected by GALEX

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© 2007. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation Ryan P. Mallery et al 2007 ApJS 173 482 DOI 10.1086/518833

0067-0049/173/2/482

Abstract

We investigate the production of nitrogen in star-forming galaxies with ultraviolet (UV) radiation detected by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer Satellite (GALEX). We use a sample of 8745 GALEX emission-line galaxies matched to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic sample. We derive both gas-phase oxygen and nitrogen abundances for the sample and apply stellar population synthesis models to derive stellar masses and star formation histories of the galaxies. We compare oxygen abundances derived using three different diagnostics. We derive the specific star formation rates of the galaxies by modeling the seven-band GALEX+SDSS photometry. We find that galaxies that have log (SFR/M*) ≳ − 10.0 typically have values of log (N/O) ∼ 0.05 dex less than galaxies with log (SFR/M*) ≲ − 10.0 and similar oxygen abundances.

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10.1086/518833