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| Paper: |
Star Formation in Starbursts and Active Galactic Nuclei |
| Volume: |
249, The Central Kiloparsec of Starbursts and AGN: the La Palma Connection |
| Page: |
457 |
| Authors: |
Leitherer, Claus |
| Abstract: |
An overview of our current understanding of star formation in starburst galaxy centers and in active galactic nuclei is presented. On kpc-wide scales the average star formation density depends on the mean surface density of the molecular gas. Observations at higher spatial resolution indicate structure at sizes down to a few pc. These structures are identified as very luminous star clusters, which may be the smallest unit of star formation in starbursts. The most luminous galaxies whose energy production is dominated by a starburst have luminosities of about 2 times 1012 Ls. At higher luminosities, active galactic nuclei always dominate the energy release. There is clear evidence for a close association of the starburst and AGN phenomena. While a causal relation between starbursts and AGN, if it exists, has not yet been established observationally, the ubiquity of starbursts around many AGN suggests a common triggering and feeding mechanism. Operated by AURA, Inc., for NASA under contract NAS5-26555. Financial support from the conference organizers is gratefully acknowledged. Daniela Calzetti kindly provided an updated version of Fig. 5 and made several suggestions which improved an earlier version of the manuscript. |
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