Integral Field Spectroscopy from CALIFA

Abstract. The Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey (CALIFA survey) is providing Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) data in the entire optical window for a diameter-limited sample of 600 objects in the Local Universe (0.005<z<0.03). One of the main goals of this survey is to explore the spatial distribution of the star forma-tion in nearby galaxies free from the limitations associated to either UV (dust attenu-ation) or narrow-band Hα imaging (underlying Hβ absorption). These are limitations that have prevented (until now) carrying out a detailed study of the evolution of the SFR by components (nuclei, bulges, disks), even locally. This kind of studies are key, for example, for understanding how galaxies really evolve from the Blue Cloud to the Red Sequence. We will first discuss in detail the validity of the assumption that the SFR given by the extincion-corrected Hα is a good measure of the total SFR by means of cross-comparing this with other SFR estimators, namely the integrated UV+22µm, UV+TIR, Hαobs+22µm, or Hαobs+TIR. Only once these effects are properly accounted for we can obtain preliminary results from the spatially-resolved analysis of the contri-bution of disks to the total SFR in the Local Universe, as a local benchmark for future studies of disks at high redshift. Our analysis shows that at least in the Local Universe the Hα luminosity derived from observations of the CALIFA IFS survey can be used to trace the SFR and that the disk to total (disk + bulge) SFR ratio is on average ∼88 %. 1