Spectral Energy Distribution ( SED ) fitting is a well-developed astrophysical tool that has recently been applied to high-redshift Ly \alpha -emitting galaxies .
If rest-frame ultraviolet through near-infrared photometry is available , it allows the simultaneous determination of the star formation history and dust extinction of a galaxy .
Ly \alpha -emitter SED fitting results from the literature find star formation rates \sim 3 M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } , stellar masses \sim 10 ^ { 9 } M _ { \odot } for the general population but \sim 10 ^ { 10 } M _ { \odot } for the subset detected by IRAC , and very low dust extinction , A _ { V } \leq 0.3 , although a couple of outlying analyses prefer significantly more dust and higher intrinsic star formation rates .
A checklist of 14 critical choices that must be made when performing SED fitting is discussed .