2000/07/27 by M. S. Seigar, P. A. James, Seigar, M. S. +1
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0007416
2 pages. To be published in the proceedings of ``Galaxy Disks and Disk Galaxies''
arxiv created 2000/07/27 · openalex publication_date 2000/07/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We have imaged a sample of 20 face-on spiral galaxies in Hαand in the near-IR K-band (2.2 microns), in order to determine the location and strength of star formation with respect to perturbations in the old stellar population. We found that star formation rates are significantly enhanced near K-band arms. If K-band light is dominated by emission from old stars, this shows that density waves trigger star formation. However, no significant correlation was found between the global underlying disk properties of spiral galaxies and their total star formation rates.