Related papers: Local Starbursts: Perspectives from the Optical
Recent observational and theoretical results on starburst galaxies related to the wavelength regime below 1200 A are discussed. The review covers stars, dust, as well as hot and cold gas. This wavelength region follows trends similar to…
The optical/near-IR stellar continuum carries unique information about the stellar population in a galaxy, its mass function and star-formation history. Star-forming regions display rich emission-line spectra from which we can derive the…
The reddening properties and the star formation history of a sample of 19 starburst galaxies are investigated using multiwavelength spectroscopy and infrared broad band photometry. The difference in reddening between the ionized gas and the…
What else can be said about star formation rate indicators that has not been said already many times over? The `coming of age' of large ground-based surveys and the unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution and/or field-of-view of…
A spectrophotometric model able to compute the integrated spectrum of a galaxy, including the contribution both of the stellar populations and of the ionized interstellar gas of the HII regions powered by young hot stars, has been used to…
Among star forming galaxies, a spectral combination of a strong Hdelta line in absorption and a moderate [OII] emission has been suggested to be a useful method to identify dusty starburst galaxies at any redshift, on the basis of optical…
We outline a method to infer the global history of star formation in galaxies with input only from absorption-line observations of quasars. The application of the method to existing data leads to the conclusion that most stars formed at…
Promising methods for studying galaxy evolution rely on optical emission line width measurements to compare intermediate-redshift objects to galaxies with equivalent masses at the present epoch. However, emission lines can be misleading. We…
Old starburst galaxies are deficient in O stars, and hence do not exhibit strong line emission in the optical regime. However, there remain many B stars, which are expected to heat dust grains and generate strong continuum emission in the…
The rate of star formation varies between galaxy types and evolves with redshift. Most stars in the universe have formed in episodes of an exceptionally high star-forming activity, commonly called a starburst. We here summarize basic…
It is well established in the local Universe that regions of high star-formation rate are dusty. As a result of this physical causal link, galaxies of increasing current star formation activity emit a larger proportion of their bolometric…
We investigate the star formation and dust extinction properties of very luminous infrared galaxies whose spectra display a strong Hdelta line in absorption and a moderate [OII] emission (e[a] spectrum). This spectral combination has been…
The star formation rate (SFR) is a fundamental property of galaxies and it is crucial to understand the build-up of their stellar content, their chemical evolution, and energetic feedback. The SFR of galaxies is typically obtained by…
Star-formation and the Starburst phenomenon are presented with respect to a number of nearby star-forming galaxies where our understanding of the process can be calibrated. Methods of estimating star-formation rates are discussed together…
(Abridged) We present a study of the optical spectra of a sample of eight star-forming nuclear rings and the nuclei of their host galaxies. The spectra were obtained with the ISIS spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope and cover a…
Dusty galaxies with luminosities in excess of 10^11 solar luminosities have been detected out to redshifts of about unity by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), and to higher redshifts using millimetre(mm)- and submm-wave cameras on…
The behaviour of the 4000 Angstrom break index and of the equivalent width of the main Balmer lines is investigated a) for a single star as a function of effective temperature, gravity and metallicity and b) for a single stellar population…
In this contribution I introduce some of the major issues that motivate the conference, with an emphasis on how starbursts fit into the ``big picture''. I begin by defining starbursts in several different ways, and discuss the merits and…
Although starburst galaxies have relatively flat spectral energy distributions, their strong optical emission lines and near-UV continua make it very feasible to estimate their redshifts photometrically. In this work, I describe a…
The global star formation rate in high redshift galaxies, based on optical surveys, shows a strong peak at a redshift of z=1.5, which implies that we have already seen most of the formation. High redshift galaxies may, however, emit most of…