2005/09/14 by Edward N Taylor, Taylor, Edward N
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0509378
Proceedings for the 5th Marseille International Cosmology Conference: The Fabulous Destiny of Galaxies; 2 pages, 1 figure; v2: updated figure and references
arxiv created 2005/11/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We have developed a simple, static model designed to place a very solid lower limit on the star formation rate (SFR) expected in a dwarf disk galaxy, which leads to the prediction of a previously undocumented relation between HI mass, MHI, and SFR. Over the mass range 108--1010 Msun, a wide variety of galaxies are observed to follow such a relation -- SFR ~ MHI1.4 -- with the same slope and similar scatter to our prediction. Within the model, this relation is a manifestation of self-regulating star formation (SF), in which the ISM is kept warm and stable by a UV interstellar radiation field (ISRF) that is maintained by constant regeneration of O--B stars. Regardless of the actual mode of star formation, it seems that the majority of dwarfs are presently forming stars in the same way.