2009ApJ...692..556R

We show that measures of star formation rates (SFRs) for infrared galaxies using either single-band 24 µm or extinction-corrected Paα luminosities are consistent in the total infrared luminosity = L(TIR) ∼ 10¹⁰ L_☉range. MIPS 24 µm photometry can yield SFRs accurately from this luminosity upward: SFR(M_☉/yr) = 7.8x10^–10 L(24 µm, L_☉) from L(TIR) = 5x 10⁹ L_☉ to 10¹¹ L_☉and SFR = 7.8x10^–10 L(24 µm, L_☉)(7.76x10^–11 L(24))^0.048 for higher L(TIR). For galaxies with L(TIR) ≥ 10¹⁰ L_☉, these new expressions should provide SFRs to within 0.2 dex. For L(TIR) ≥ 10¹¹ L_☉, we find that the SFR of infrared galaxies is significantly underestimated using extinction-corrected Paα (and presumably using any other optical or near-infrared recombination lines). As a part of this work, we constructed spectral energy distribution templates for eleven luminous and ultraluminous purely star forming infrared galaxies and over the spectral range 0.4 µm to 30 cm. We use these templates and the SINGS data to construct average templates from 5 µm to 30 cm for infrared galaxies with L(TIR) = 5x 10⁹ to 10¹³ L_☉. All of these templates are made available online.