A Star-Formation Rate Atlas of the Nearby Universe

We present our work in constructing a star-formation rate (SFR) atlas of nearby galaxies. We utilize GALEX far-ultraviolet (FUV) data and Spitzer 24 micron data to compute the SFR map of each galaxy using the relation described in Leroy et al. (2008). For each galaxy, the 24 micron data were downloaded from the Spitzer Heritage Archive and subjected to outlier and overlap corrections through the automated Spitzer pipeline MOPEX. The FUV images were constructing using gphoton, and we then performed background subtraction using source-free regions away from the galaxy. These SFR maps represent an attempt to systematically characterize the local SFR in nearby galaxies, which we will then use to explore the relationship of SFR to the incidence of other phenomena such as supernovae and ultraluminous X-ray sources. We will make all SFR maps available to the community.