The SAMI galaxy survey: Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation?

S. N. Richards; J. J. Bryant; S. M. Croom; A. M. Hopkins; A. L. Schaefer; J. Bland-Hawthorn; J. T. Allen; S. Brough; G. Cecil; L. Cortese; L. M.R. Fogarty; M. L.P. Gunawardhana; M. Goodwin; A. W. Green; I. T. Ho; L. J. Kewley; I. S. Konstantopoulos; J. S. Lawrence; N. P.F. Lorente; A. M. Medling; M. S. Owers; R. Sharp; S. M. Sweet; E. N. Taylor

doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2453

The SAMI galaxy survey: Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation?

S. N. Richards^*, J. J. Bryant, S. M. Croom, A. M. Hopkins, A. L. Schaefer, J. Bland-Hawthorn, J. T. Allen, S. Brough, G. Cecil, L. Cortese, L. M.R. Fogarty, M. L.P. Gunawardhana, M. Goodwin, A. W. Green, I. T. Ho, L. J. Kewley, I. S. Konstantopoulos, J. S. Lawrence, N. P.F. Lorente, A. M. MedlingM. S. Owers, R. Sharp, S. M. Sweet, E. N. Taylor

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

In the low-redshift Universe (z < 0.3), our view of galaxy evolution is primarily based on fibre optic spectroscopy surveys. Elaborate methods have been developed to address aperture effects when fixed aperture sizes only probe the inner regions for galaxies of ever decreasing redshift or increasing physical size. These aperture corrections rely on assumptions about the physical properties of galaxies. The adequacy of these aperture corrections can be tested with integralfield spectroscopic data. We use integral-field spectra drawn from 1212 galaxies observed as part of the SAMI Galaxy Survey to investigate the validity of two aperture correction methods that attempt to estimate a galaxy's total instantaneous star formation rate.We show that biases arise when assuming that instantaneous star formation is traced by broad-band imaging, and when the aperture correction is built only from spectra of the nuclear region of galaxies. These biases may be significant depending on the selection criteria of a survey sample. Understanding the sensitivities of these aperture corrections is essential for correct handling of systematic errors in galaxy evolution studies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2826-2838
Number of pages	13
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	455
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2453
Publication status	Published - 21 Jan 2016

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Richards, S. N., Bryant, J. J., Croom, S. M., Hopkins, A. M., Schaefer, A. L., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Allen, J. T., Brough, S., Cecil, G., Cortese, L., Fogarty, L. M. R., Gunawardhana, M. L. P., Goodwin, M., Green, A. W., Ho, I. T., Kewley, L. J., Konstantopoulos, I. S., Lawrence, J. S., Lorente, N. P. F., ... Taylor, E. N. (2016). The SAMI galaxy survey: Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 455(3), 2826-2838. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2453

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title = "The SAMI galaxy survey: Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation?",

abstract = "In the low-redshift Universe (z < 0.3), our view of galaxy evolution is primarily based on fibre optic spectroscopy surveys. Elaborate methods have been developed to address aperture effects when fixed aperture sizes only probe the inner regions for galaxies of ever decreasing redshift or increasing physical size. These aperture corrections rely on assumptions about the physical properties of galaxies. The adequacy of these aperture corrections can be tested with integralfield spectroscopic data. We use integral-field spectra drawn from 1212 galaxies observed as part of the SAMI Galaxy Survey to investigate the validity of two aperture correction methods that attempt to estimate a galaxy's total instantaneous star formation rate.We show that biases arise when assuming that instantaneous star formation is traced by broad-band imaging, and when the aperture correction is built only from spectra of the nuclear region of galaxies. These biases may be significant depending on the selection criteria of a survey sample. Understanding the sensitivities of these aperture corrections is essential for correct handling of systematic errors in galaxy evolution studies.",

keywords = "Galaxies: evolution, Techniques: spectroscopic",

author = "Richards, {S. N.} and Bryant, {J. J.} and Croom, {S. M.} and Hopkins, {A. M.} and Schaefer, {A. L.} and J. Bland-Hawthorn and Allen, {J. T.} and S. Brough and G. Cecil and L. Cortese and Fogarty, {L. M.R.} and Gunawardhana, {M. L.P.} and M. Goodwin and Green, {A. W.} and Ho, {I. T.} and Kewley, {L. J.} and Konstantopoulos, {I. S.} and Lawrence, {J. S.} and Lorente, {N. P.F.} and Medling, {A. M.} and Owers, {M. S.} and R. Sharp and Sweet, {S. M.} and Taylor, {E. N.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 The Author.",

year = "2016",

month = jan,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stv2453",

language = "English",

volume = "455",

pages = "2826--2838",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

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Richards, SN, Bryant, JJ, Croom, SM, Hopkins, AM, Schaefer, AL, Bland-Hawthorn, J, Allen, JT, Brough, S, Cecil, G, Cortese, L, Fogarty, LMR, Gunawardhana, MLP, Goodwin, M, Green, AW, Ho, IT, Kewley, LJ, Konstantopoulos, IS, Lawrence, JS, Lorente, NPF, Medling, AM, Owers, MS, Sharp, R, Sweet, SM & Taylor, EN 2016, 'The SAMI galaxy survey: Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation?', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 455, no. 3, pp. 2826-2838. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2453

TY - JOUR

T1 - The SAMI galaxy survey

T2 - Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation?

AU - Richards, S. N.

AU - Bryant, J. J.

AU - Croom, S. M.

AU - Hopkins, A. M.

AU - Schaefer, A. L.

AU - Bland-Hawthorn, J.

AU - Allen, J. T.

AU - Brough, S.

AU - Cecil, G.

AU - Cortese, L.

AU - Fogarty, L. M.R.

AU - Gunawardhana, M. L.P.

AU - Goodwin, M.

AU - Green, A. W.

AU - Ho, I. T.

AU - Kewley, L. J.

AU - Konstantopoulos, I. S.

AU - Lawrence, J. S.

AU - Lorente, N. P.F.

AU - Medling, A. M.

AU - Owers, M. S.

AU - Sharp, R.

AU - Sweet, S. M.

AU - Taylor, E. N.

PY - 2016/1/21

Y1 - 2016/1/21

N2 - In the low-redshift Universe (z < 0.3), our view of galaxy evolution is primarily based on fibre optic spectroscopy surveys. Elaborate methods have been developed to address aperture effects when fixed aperture sizes only probe the inner regions for galaxies of ever decreasing redshift or increasing physical size. These aperture corrections rely on assumptions about the physical properties of galaxies. The adequacy of these aperture corrections can be tested with integralfield spectroscopic data. We use integral-field spectra drawn from 1212 galaxies observed as part of the SAMI Galaxy Survey to investigate the validity of two aperture correction methods that attempt to estimate a galaxy's total instantaneous star formation rate.We show that biases arise when assuming that instantaneous star formation is traced by broad-band imaging, and when the aperture correction is built only from spectra of the nuclear region of galaxies. These biases may be significant depending on the selection criteria of a survey sample. Understanding the sensitivities of these aperture corrections is essential for correct handling of systematic errors in galaxy evolution studies.

AB - In the low-redshift Universe (z < 0.3), our view of galaxy evolution is primarily based on fibre optic spectroscopy surveys. Elaborate methods have been developed to address aperture effects when fixed aperture sizes only probe the inner regions for galaxies of ever decreasing redshift or increasing physical size. These aperture corrections rely on assumptions about the physical properties of galaxies. The adequacy of these aperture corrections can be tested with integralfield spectroscopic data. We use integral-field spectra drawn from 1212 galaxies observed as part of the SAMI Galaxy Survey to investigate the validity of two aperture correction methods that attempt to estimate a galaxy's total instantaneous star formation rate.We show that biases arise when assuming that instantaneous star formation is traced by broad-band imaging, and when the aperture correction is built only from spectra of the nuclear region of galaxies. These biases may be significant depending on the selection criteria of a survey sample. Understanding the sensitivities of these aperture corrections is essential for correct handling of systematic errors in galaxy evolution studies.

KW - Galaxies: evolution

KW - Techniques: spectroscopic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959123320&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stv2453

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stv2453

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 455

SP - 2826

EP - 2838

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 3

ER -

The SAMI galaxy survey: Can we trust aperture corrections to predict star formation?

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