Spectral Energy Distributions for 258 Local Volume Galaxies

Abstract

We present model spectral energy distribution (SED) fits to ultraviolet/optical/infrared observations for the 258 nearby galaxies in the Local Volume Legacy survey, a sample dominated by lower-luminosity dwarf irregular systems. The data for each galaxy include up to 26 spatially-integrated broadband and narrowband fluxes from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Infrared Astronomical Satellite space-based platforms, and from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and other ground-based efforts. The CIGALE SED fitting package is employed using a delayed star-formation history with an optional late burst or quenching episode to constrain 11 different free parameters that characterize the properties of each galaxy's stellar and dust emission, with the overriding constraint that the ultraviolet/optical emission absorbed by interstellar dust grains is emitted in equal energy portions at infrared wavelengths. The main results are: (i) 94% of the SED fits yield reduced χ 2 values less than 3; (ii) the modeled stellar masses agree with those derived from 3.6 μm-based measures with a scatter of 0.07 dex; (iii) for a typical galaxy in the sample the SED-derived star-formation rate averaged over the past 100 Myr is about 88% of the value derived from standard hybrid indicators on similar timescales; and (iv) there is a statistically significant inverse relation between the stellar mass fraction appearing in the late burst and the total stellar mass. These results build upon prior SED modeling efforts in the local volume and lay the groundwork for future studies of more distant low-metallicity galaxies with JWST.