Systematics in the Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting Parameter Estimation of Composite Galaxies

Derivation of physical properties of galaxies using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting is a powerful method, but can suffer from various systematics arising from model assumptions. Previously, such biases were mostly studied in the context of individual galaxies. In this study, we investigat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2022-04, Vol.929 (1), p.91
Main Authors: Zine, Katherine, Salim, Samir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Cosmic dust
Dust
Dust content
Galaxies
Galaxy distribution
Galaxy masses
Galaxy mergers
Galaxy properties
Parameter estimation
Physical properties
Spectral energy distribution
Star & galaxy formation
Star formation
Star formation rate
Stars & galaxies
Stellar mass
Systematics
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Summary:Derivation of physical properties of galaxies using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting is a powerful method, but can suffer from various systematics arising from model assumptions. Previously, such biases were mostly studied in the context of individual galaxies. In this study, we investigate potential biases arising from performing the SED fitting on the combined light of two galaxies, as would be the case in postmerger systems. We use the GALEX-SDSS-WISE Legacy Catalog of z < 0.3 galaxies to identify 9000 galaxy pairs that could eventually merge. For these we investigate if the UV/optical SED fitting accurately determines the stellar mass and (specific) star formation rate (sSFRs) if the pair was unresolved (merged). The sum of the stellar masses (and star formation rates (SFRs)) of individual galaxies in the pair establishes the ground truth for these quantities. For star-forming galaxies no biases (
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ac5cb9