Bibcode
DOI
Hoeppe, G.; Brinks, E.; Klein, U.; Giovanardi, C.; Altschuler, D. R.; Price, R. M.; Deeg, H.-J.
Bibliographical reference
The Astronomical Journal, vol. 108, no. 2, p. 446-455
Advertised on:
8
1994
Citations
11
Refereed citations
9
Description
We present Very Large Array (VLA) radio continuum and Infrared Astronomy
Satellite (IRAS) far-infrared (FIR) observations of 16 low luminosity
galaxies of mostly low surface brightness. All galaxies had previously
claimed single dish radio continuum detections. However, at the
frequencies of our observations (1.49 and 8.48 GHz), we find significant
radio emission for two objects only. We show that the other previously
claimed detections are due to confusion with physically unrelated
background sources. This implies a low radio continuum detection rate
for these galaxies. Re-reduced IRAS scans yield significant far-infrared
flux densities in at least one IRAS band for 6 of the 16 galaxies.
These, together with the FIR and radio continuum upper limits, are
consistent with the well established radio/FIR relation, where most of
our galaxies populate the low-luminosity end. From the radio continuum
and FIR flux densities and their upper limits we estimate the current
star formation rates and demonstrate that the galaxies are currently
passive in forming stars, in agreement with previous optical
investigations. There is an indication that the galaxies were forming
stars more intensively averaged over their lifetime than they are
presently.