MASSIVE STAR-FORMATION ALONG THE HUBBLE SEQUENCE

Far-infrared fluxes have been extracted from the IRAS database for gal axies in the Nearby Galaxies Catalog. The IRAS data are used to determ ine the Hubble type dependence of the far-infrared luminosity, the L(F IR)/L(Blue) luminosity ratio and, for a subset of the galaxies, the L( FIR)/M(H-2) ratio. Adopting the far-infrared luminosity as a measure o f the massive star formation rate, one finds that the IRAS data reveal a previously unsuspected population of early-type (Sa-Sab) spirals wi th massive star formation rates that rival the most prodigiously star- forming Sc galaxies. Thus, the IRAS data do not support the distinctio n between the global star-forming capabilities of early- and late-type spirals that has been reported previously in the published literature . (C) 1997 American Astronomical Society.