1,819 research outputs found
The spectral energy distribution of galaxies at z > 2.5: Implications from the Herschel/SPIRE color-color diagram
We use the Herschel SPIRE color-color diagram to study the spectral energy
distribution (SED) and the redshift estimation of high-z galaxies. We compiled
a sample of 57 galaxies with spectroscopically confirmed redshifts and SPIRE
detections in all three bands at , and compared their average SPIRE
colors with SED templates from local and high-z libraries. We find that local
SEDs are inconsistent with high-z observations. The local calibrations of the
parameters need to be adjusted to describe the average colors of high-z
galaxies. For high-z libraries, the templates with an evolution from z=0 to 3
can well describe the average colors of the observations at high redshift.
Using these templates, we defined color cuts to divide the SPIRE color-color
diagram into different regions with different mean redshifts. We tested this
method and two other color cut methods using a large sample of 783
Herschel-selected galaxies, and find that although these methods can separate
the sample into populations with different mean redshifts, the dispersion of
redshifts in each population is considerably large. Additional information is
needed for better sampling.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The bolometric and UV attenuation in normal spiral galaxies of the Herschel Reference Survey
The dust in nearby galaxies absorbs a fraction of the
UV-optical-near-infrared radiation produced by stars. This energy is
consequently re-emitted in the infrared. We investigate the portion of the
stellar radiation absorbed by spiral galaxies from the HRS by modelling their
UV-to-submillimetre spectral energy distributions. Our models provide an
attenuated and intrinsic SED from which we find that on average 32 % of all
starlight is absorbed by dust. We define the UV heating fraction as the
percentage of dust luminosity that comes from absorbed UV photons and find that
this is 56 %, on average. This percentage varies with morphological type, with
later types having significantly higher UV heating fractions. We find a strong
correlation between the UV heating fraction and specific star formation rate
and provide a power-law fit. Our models allow us to revisit the IRX-AFUV
relations, and derive these quantities directly within a self-consistent
framework. We calibrate this relation for different bins of NUV-r colour and
provide simple relations to relate these parameters. We investigated the
robustness of our method and we conclude that the derived parameters are
reliable within the uncertainties which are inherent to the adopted SED model.
This calls for a deeper investigation on how well extinction and attenuation
can be determined through panchromatic SED modelling.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
The selective effect of environment on the atomic and molecular gas-to-dust ratio of nearby galaxies in the Herschel Reference Survey
We combine dust, atomic (HI) and molecular (H) hydrogen mass
measurements for 176 galaxies in the Herschel Reference Survey to investigate
the effect of environment on the gas-to-dust mass ()
ratio of nearby galaxies. We find that, at fixed stellar mass, the average
ratio varies by no more than a factor of 2
when moving from field to cluster galaxies, with Virgo galaxies being slightly
more dust rich (per unit of gas) than isolated systems. Remarkably, once the
molecular and atomic hydrogen phases are investigated separately, we find that
\hi-deficient galaxies have at the same time lower
ratio but higher ratio than \hi-normal systems. In
other words, they are poorer in atomic but richer in molecular hydrogen if
normalized to their dust content. By comparing our findings with the
predictions of theoretical models, we show that the opposite behavior observed
in the and ratios is
fully consistent with outside-in stripping of the interstellar medium (ISM),
and is simply a consequence of the different distribution of dust, \hi\ and
H across the disk. Our results demonstrate that the small environmental
variations in the total ratio, as well as in the
gas-phase metallicity, do not automatically imply that environmental mechanisms
are not able to affect the dust and metal content of the ISM in galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Towards understanding the relation between the gas and the attenuation in galaxies at kpc scales
[abridged]
Aims. The aim of the present paper is to provide new and more detailed
relations at the kpc scale between the gas surface density and the face-on
optical depth directly calibrated on galaxies, in order to compute the
attenuation not only for semi-analytic models but also observationally as new
and upcoming radio observatories are able to trace gas ever farther in the
Universe.
Methods. We have selected a sample of 4 nearby resolved galaxies and a sample
of 27 unresolved galaxies from the Herschel Reference Survey and the Very
Nearby Galaxies Survey, for which we have a large set of multi-wavelength data
from the FUV to the FIR including metallicity gradients for resolved galaxies,
along with radio HI and CO observations. For each pixel in resolved galaxies
and for each galaxy in the unresolved sample, we compute the face-on optical
depth from the attenuation determined with the CIGALE SED fitting code and an
assumed geometry. We determine the gas surface density from HI and CO
observations with a metallicity-dependent XCO factor.
Results. We provide new, simple to use, relations to determine the face-on
optical depth from the gas surface density, taking the metallicity into
account, which proves to be crucial for a proper estimate. The method used to
determine the gas surface density or the face-on optical depth has little
impact on the relations except for galaxies that have an inclination over 50d.
Finally, we provide detailed instructions on how to compute the attenuation
practically from the gas surface density taking into account possible
information on the metallicity.
Conclusions. Examination of the influence of these new relations on simulated
FUV and IR luminosity functions shows a clear impact compared to older oft-used
relations, which in turn could affect the conclusions drawn from studies based
on large scale cosmological simulations.Comment: 24 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The dust energy balance in the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4565
We combine new dust continuum observations of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC
4565 in all Herschel/SPIRE (250, 350, 500 micron) wavebands, obtained as part
of the Herschel Reference Survey, and a large set of ancillary data (Spitzer,
SDSS, GALEX) to analyze its dust energy balance. We fit a radiative transfer
model for the stars and dust to the optical maps with the fitting algorithm
FitSKIRT. To account for the observed UV and mid-infrared emission, this
initial model was supplemented with both obscured and unobscured star-forming
regions. Even though these star-forming complexes provide an additional heating
source for the dust, the far-infrared/submillimeter emission long wards of 100
micron is underestimated by a factor of 3-4. This inconsistency in the dust
energy budget of NGC 4565 suggests that a sizable fraction (two-thirds) of the
total dust reservoir (Mdust ~ 2.9e+8 Msun) consists of a clumpy distribution
with no associated young stellar sources. The distribution of those dense dust
clouds would be in such a way that they remain unresolved in current
far-infrared/submillimeter observations and hardly comtribute to the
attenuation at optical wavelengths. More than two-thirds of the dust heating in
NGC 4565 is powered by the old stellar population, with localized embedded
sources supplying the remaining dust heating in NGC 4565. The results from this
detailed dust energy balance study in NGC 4565 is consistent with that of
similar analyses of other edge-on spirals.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Welcome to the Twilight Zone: The Mid-Infrared Properties of Poststarburst Galaxies
We investigate the optical and Wide-field Survey Explorer (WISE) colors of
"E+A" identified post-starburst galaxies, including a deep analysis on 190
post-starbursts detected in the 2{\mu}m All Sky Survey Extended Source Catalog.
The post-starburst galaxies appear in both the optical green valley and the
WISE Infrared Transition Zone (IRTZ). Furthermore, we find that post-starbursts
occupy a distinct region [3.4]-[4.6] vs. [4.6]-[12] WISE colors, enabling the
identification of this class of transitioning galaxies through the use of
broad-band photometric criteria alone. We have investigated possible causes for
the WISE colors of post-starbursts by constructing a composite spectral energy
distribution (SED), finding that mid-infrared (4-12{\mu}m) properties of
post-starbursts are consistent with either 11.3{\mu}m polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbon emission, or Thermally Pulsating Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB)
and post-AGB stars. The composite SED of extended post- starburst galaxies with
22{\mu}m emission detected with signal to noise >3 requires a hot dust
component to produce their observed rising mid-infrared SED between 12 and
22{\mu}m. The composite SED of WISE 22{\mu}m non-detections (S/N<3), created by
stacking 22{\mu}m images, is also flat, requiring a hot dust component. The
most likely source of this mid-infrared emission of these E+A galaxies is a
buried active galactic nucleus. The inferred upper limit to the Eddington
ratios of post-starbursts are 1e-2 to 1e-4, with an average of 1e-3. This
suggests that AGNs are not radiatively dominant in these systems. This could
mean that including selections able to identify active galactic nuclei as part
of a search for transitioning and post-starburst galaxies would create a more
complete census of the transition pathways taken as a galaxy quenches its star
formation.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Linking dust emission to fundamental properties in galaxies: The low-metallicity picture
In this work, we aim at providing a consistent analysis of the dust
properties from metal-poor to metal-rich environments by linking them to
fundamental galactic parameters. We consider two samples of galaxies: the Dwarf
Galaxy Survey (DGS) and KINGFISH, totalling 109 galaxies, spanning almost 2 dex
in metallicity. We collect infrared (IR) to submillimetre (submm) data for both
samples and present the complete data set for the DGS sample. We model the
observed spectral energy distributions (SED) with a physically-motivated dust
model to access the dust properties. Using a different SED model (modified
blackbody), dust composition (amorphous carbon), or wavelength coverage at
submm wavelengths results in differences in the dust mass estimate of a factor
two to three, showing that this parameter is subject to non-negligible
systematic modelling uncertainties. For eight galaxies in our sample, we find a
rather small excess at 500 microns (< 1.5 sigma). We find that the dust SED of
low-metallicity galaxies is broader and peaks at shorter wavelengths compared
to more metal-rich systems, a sign of a clumpier medium in dwarf galaxies. The
PAH mass fraction and the dust temperature distribution are found to be driven
mostly by the specific star-formation rate, SSFR, with secondary effects from
metallicity. The correlations between metallicity and dust mass or total-IR
luminosity are direct consequences of the stellar mass-metallicity relation.
The dust-to-stellar mass ratios of metal-rich sources follow the well-studied
trend of decreasing ratio for decreasing SSFR. The relation is more complex for
highly star-forming low-metallicity galaxies and depends on the chemical
evolutionary stage of the source (i.e., gas-to-dust mass ratio). Dust growth
processes in the ISM play a key role in the dust mass build-up with respect to
the stellar content at high SSFR and low metallicity. (abridged)Comment: 44 pages (20 pages main body plus 5 Appendices), 11 figures, 9
tables, accepted for publication in A&
PACS photometry of the Herschel Reference Survey - Far-infrared/sub-millimeter colours as tracers of dust properties in nearby galaxies
We present Herschel/PACS 100 and 160 micron integrated photometry for the 323
galaxies in the Herschel Reference Survey (HRS), a K-band-, volume-limited
sample of galaxies in the local Universe. Once combined with the Herschel/SPIRE
observations already available, these data make the HRS the largest
representative sample of nearby galaxies with homogeneous coverage across the
100-500 micron wavelength range. In this paper, we take advantage of this
unique dataset to investigate the properties and shape of the
far-infrared/sub-millimeter spectral energy distribution in nearby galaxies. We
show that, in the stellar mass range covered by the HRS (8<log(M*/Msun)<12),
the far-infrared/sub-millimeter colours are inconsistent with a single modified
black-body having the same dust emissivity index beta for all galaxies. In
particular, either beta decreases, or multiple temperature components are
needed, when moving from metal-rich/gas-poor to metal-poor/gas-rich galaxies.
We thus investigate how the dust temperature and mass obtained from a single
modified black-body depend on the assumptions made on beta. We show that, while
the correlations between dust temperature, galaxy structure and star formation
rate are strongly model dependent, the dust mass scaling relations are much
more reliable, and variations of beta only change the strength of the observed
trends.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
The frequency of compound chondrules and implications for chondrule formation
Abstract-The properties of compound chondrules and the implications that they have for the conditions and environment in which chondrules formed are investigated. Formulae to calculate the probability of detecting compound chondrules in thin sections are derived and applied to previous studies. This reinterpretation suggests that at least 5% of chondrules are compounds, a value that agrees well with studies in which whole chondrules were removed from meteorites. The observation that adhering compounds tend to have small contact arcs is strengthened by application of these formulae. While it has been observed that the secondaries of compound chondrules are usually smaller than their primaries, these same formulae suggest that this could be an observation bias. It is more likely than not that thin section analyses will identify compounds with secondaries that are smaller than their primaries. A new model for chondrule collisional evolution is also developed. From this model, it is inferred that chondrules would have formed, on average, in areas of the solar nebula that had solids concentrated at least 45 times over the canonical solar value
Chondrule-Forming Shock Fronts in the Solar Nebula: A Possible Unified Scenario for Planet and Chondrite Formation
Chondrules are mm-sized spherules found throughout primitive, chondritic
meteorites. Flash heating by a shock front is the leading explanation of their
formation. However, identifying a mechanism for creating shock fronts inside
the solar nebula has been difficult. In a gaseous disk capable of forming
Jupiter, the disk must have been marginally gravitationally unstable at and
beyond Jupiter's orbit. We show that this instability can drive inward spiral
shock fronts with shock speeds of up to about 10 km/s at asteroidal orbits,
sufficient to account for chondrule formation. Mixing and transport of solids
in such a disk, combined with the planet-forming tendencies of gravitational
instabilities, results in a unified scenario linking chondrite production with
gas giant planet formation.Comment: 2 figures. ApJ Letters, in pres
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