We show that measures of star formation rates ( SFRs ) for infrared galaxies using either single-band 24 \mu m or extinction-corrected Pa \alpha luminosities are consistent in the total infrared luminosity = L ( TIR ) \sim 10 ^ { 10 } L _ { \odot } range .
MIPS 24 \mu m photometry can yield star formation rates accurately from this luminosity upward : SFR ( M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } ) = 7.8 \times 10 ^ { -10 } L ( 24 \mu m , L _ { \odot } ) from L ( TIR ) = 5 \times 10 ^ { 9 } L _ { \odot } to 10 ^ { 11 } L _ { \odot } and SFR = 7.8 \times 10 ^ { -10 } L ( 24 \mu m , L _ { \odot } ) ( 7.76 \times 10 ^ { -11 } L ( 24 ) ) ^ { 0.048 } for higher L ( TIR ) .
For galaxies with L ( TIR ) \geq 10 ^ { 10 } L _ { \odot } , these new expressions should provide SFRs to within 0.2 dex .
For L ( TIR ) \geq 10 ^ { 11 } L _ { \odot } , we find that the SFR of infrared galaxies is significantly underestimated using extinction-corrected Pa \alpha ( and presumably using any other optical or near infrared recombination lines ) .
As a part of this work , we constructed spectral energy distribution ( SED ) templates for eleven luminous and ultraluminous purely star forming infrared galaxies ( LIRGs and ULIRGs ) and over the spectral range 0.4 \mu m to 30 cm .
We use these templates and the SINGS data to construct average templates from 5 \mu m to 30 cm for infrared galaxies with L ( TIR ) = 5 ~ { } \times 10 ^ { 9 } to 10 ^ { 13 } L _ { \odot } .
All of these templates are made available on line .