Modeling the Panchromatic Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
Abstract
The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies are shaped by nearly every physical property of the system, including the star-formation history, metal content, abundance pattern, dust mass, grain size distribution, star-dust geometry, and interstellar radiation field. The principal goal of stellar population synthesis (SPS) is to extract these variables from observed SEDs. In this review I provide an overview of the SPS technique and discuss what can be reliably measured from galaxy SEDs. Topics include stellar masses, star-formation rates and histories, metallicities and abundance patterns, dust properties, and the stellar initial mass function.
- Publication:
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Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- August 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1146/annurev-astro-082812-141017
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1301.7095
- Bibcode:
- 2013ARA&A..51..393C
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 66 pages, 14 figures, to appear in Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ARAA), vol 51