  We show that measures of star formation rates (SFRs) for infrared galaxies
using either single-band 24 um or extinction-corrected Paschen-alpha
luminosities are consistent in the total infrared luminosity = L(TIR) ~ 10^10
L_sun range. MIPS 24 micron photometry can yield star formation rates
accurately from this luminosity upward: SFR(M_sun/yr) = 7.8 x 10^-10 L(24 um,
L_sun) from L(TIR) = 5 x 10^9 L_sun to 10^11 L_sun, and SFR = 7.8 x 10^-10 L(24
um, L_sun) x (7.76 x 10^-11 L(24))^0.048 for higher L(TIR). For galaxies with
L(TIR) >= 10^10 L_sun, these new expressions should provide SFRs to within 0.2
dex. For L(TIR) >= 10^11 L_sun, 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 microns to 30 cm. We use
these templates and the SINGS data to construct average templates from 5
microns to 30 cm for infrared galaxies with L(TIR) = 5 x 10^9 to 10^13 L_sun.
All of these templates are made available on line.
