Aims. We derived the dust properties for 753 local galaxies and examine how these relate to some of their physical properties. We present the derived dust emission properties, including model ...spectral energy distribution (SEDs), star formation rates (SFRs) and stellar masses, as well as their relations. Methods. We modelled the global dust-SEDs for 753 galaxies, treated statistically as an ensemble within a hierarchical Bayesian dust-SED modelling approach, so as to derive their infrared (IR) emission properties. To create the observed dust-SEDs, we used a multi-wavelength set of observations, ranging from near-IR to far-IR-to-submillimeter wavelengths. The model-derived properties are the dust masses (Mdust), the average interstellar radiation field intensities (Uav), the mass fraction of very small dust grains (“QPAH” fraction), as well as their standard deviations. In addition, we used mid-IR observations to derive SFR and stellar masses, quantities independent of the dust-SED modelling. Results. We derive distribution functions of the properties for the galaxy ensemble and as a function of galaxy type. The mean value of Mdust for the early-type galaxies (ETGs) is lower than that for the late-type and irregular galaxies (LTGs and Irs, respectively), despite ETGs and LTGs having stellar masses spanning across the whole range observed. The Uav and “QPAH” fraction show no difference among different galaxy types. When fixing Uav to the Galactic value, the derived “QPAH” fraction varies across the Galactic value (0.071). The specific SFR increases with galaxy type, while this is not the case for the dust-specific SFR (SFR/Mdust), showing an almost constant star formation efficiency per galaxy type. The galaxy sample is characterised by a tight relationship between the dust mass and the stellar mass for the LTGs and Irs, while ETGs scatter around this relation and tend towards smaller dust masses. While the relation indicates that Mdust may fundamentally be linked to M⋆, metallicity and Uav are the second parameter driving the scatter, which we investigate in a forthcoming work. We used the extended Kennicutt–Schmidt (KS) law to estimate the gas mass and the gas-to-dust mass ratio (GDR). The gas mass derived from the extended KS law is on average ∼20% higher than that derived from the KS law, and a large standard deviation indicates the importance of the average star formation present to regulate star formation and gas supply. The average GDR for the LTGs and Irs is 370, and including the ETGs gives an average of 550.
Aims. The DustPedia project is capitalising on the legacy of the Herschel Space Observatory, using cutting-edge modelling techniques to study dust in the 875 DustPedia galaxies – representing the ...vast majority of extended galaxies within 3000 km s-1 that were observed by Herschel. This work requires a database of multiwavelength imagery and photometry that greatly exceeds the scope (in terms of wavelength coverage and number of galaxies) of any previous local-Universe survey. Methods. We constructed a database containing our own custom Herschel reductions, along with standardised archival observations from GALEX, SDSS, DSS, 2MASS, WISE, Spitzer, and Planck. Using these data, we performed consistent aperture-matched photometry, which we combined with external supplementary photometry from IRAS and Planck. Results. We present our multiwavelength imagery and photometry across 42 UV-microwave bands for the 875 DustPedia galaxies. Our aperture-matched photometry, combined with the external supplementary photometry, represents a total of 21 857 photometric measurements. A typical DustPedia galaxy has multiwavelength photometry spanning 25 bands. We also present the Comprehensive & Adaptable Aperture Photometry Routine (CAAPR), the pipeline we developed to carry out our aperture-matched photometry. CAAPR is designed to produce consistent photometry for the enormous range of galaxy and observation types in our data. In particular, CAAPR is able to determine robust cross-compatible uncertainties, thanks to a novel method for reliably extrapolating the aperture noise for observations that cover a very limited amount of background. Our rich database of imagery and photometry is being made available to the community.
We use hierarchical Bayesian regression analysis to investigate star formation laws in the Andromeda galaxy (M31) in both local (30, 155 and 750 pc) and global cases. We study and compare the ...well-known Kennicutt-Schmidt law, the extended Schmidt law and the metallicity/star formation correlation. Using a combination of H... and 24 ...m emission, a combination of far-ultraviolet and 24 ...m, and the total infrared emission, we estimate the total star formation rate (SFR) in M31 to be between 0.35 plus or minus 0.04 and 0.4 plus or minus 0.04 M... yr super( -1). We produce a stellar mass surface density map using IRAC 3.6 ...m emission and measured the total stellar mass to be 6.9 x 10 super( 10) M... For the Kennicutt-Schmidt law in M31, we find the power-law index N to be between 0.49 and 1.18; for all the laws, the power-law index varies more with changing gas tracer than with SFR tracer. The power-law index also changes with distance from the centre of the galaxy. We also applied the commonly used ordinary least-squares fitting method and showed that using different fitting methods leads to different power-law indices. There is a correlation between the surface density of SFR and the stellar mass surface density, which confirms that the Kennicutt-Schmidt law needs to be extended to consider the other physical properties of galaxies. We found a weak correlation between metallicity, the SFR and the stellar mass surface density. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Observations of evolution in the dust-to-metal ratio allow us to constrain the dominant dust processing mechanisms. In this work, we present a study of the dust-to-metal and dust-to-gas ratios in a ...sub-sample of ~500 DustPedia galaxies. Using literature and MUSE emission line fluxes, we derived gas-phase metallicities (oxygen abundances) for over 10 000 individual regions and determine characteristic metallicities for each galaxy. We study how the relative dust, gas, and metal contents of galaxies evolve by using metallicity and gas fraction as proxies for evolutionary state. The global oxygen abundance and nitrogen-to-oxygen ratio are found to increase monotonically as galaxies evolve. Additionally, unevolved galaxies (gas fraction >60%, metallicity 12 + log(O∕H) < 8.2) have dust-to-metal ratios that are about a factor of 2.1 lower (a factor of six lower for galaxies with gas fraction >80%) than the typical dust-to-metal ratio (Md∕MZ ~ 0.214) for more evolved sources. However, for high gas fractions, the scatter is larger due to larger observational uncertainties as well as a potential dependence of the dust grain growth timescale and supernova dust yield on local conditions and star formation histories. We find chemical evolution models with a strong contribution from dust grain growth describe these observations reasonably well. The dust-to-metal ratio is also found to be lower for low stellar masses and high specific star formation rates (with the exception of some sources undergoing a starburst). Finally, the metallicity gradient correlates weakly with the HI-to-stellar mass ratio, the effective radius and the dust-to-stellar mass ratio, but not with stellar mass.
Context. Star formation activity is an important driver of galaxy evolution and is influenced by the physical properties of the interstellar medium. Dwarf galaxies allow us to understand how the ...propagation of radiation and the physical conditions of the different ISM phases are affected by the low-metallicity environment. Aims. Our objective is to investigate the physical properties of the ionized gas of the low-metallicity dwarf galaxy, IC 10, at various spatial scales: from individual H II regions to the entire galaxy scale and examine whether diagnostics for integrated measurements introduce bias in the results. Methods. We modeled the ionized gas combining the mid- and far-infrared fine-structure cooling lines observed with Spitzer/IRS and Herschel/PACS, with the photoionization code CLOUDY. The free parameters of the models are the age of the stellar cluster, the density, and the ionization parameter of the ionized gas as well as the depth of the cloud. The latter is used to investigate the leakage of the ionizing photons from the analyzed regions of IC 10. We investigated H II regions in the main star-forming body, on scales of ~25 pc, three in the main star-forming region in the center of the galaxy and two on the first arc. We then considered larger sizes on the scale of ~200 pc. Results. Most clumps have almost-identical properties, density ~102–102.6 cm−3, ionization parameter between 10−2.2 and 10−1.6, and age of the stellar cluster ~5.5 Myr. All of them are matter-bounded regions, allowing ionizing photons to leak. The relatively uniform physical properties of the clumps suggest a common origin for their star formation activity, which could be related to the feedback from stellar winds or supernovae of a previous generation of stars. The properties derived for ~200 pc size “zones” have similar properties as the H II regions they encompass, but with the larger regions tending to be more radiation bounded. Finally, we investigated the fraction of CII 157.7 μm, SiII 34.8 μm and FeII 25.9 μm emission arising from the ionized gas phase and we find that most of the emission originates from the neutral gas, not from the ionized gas.
ABSTRACT
The dust mass absorption coefficient, κd is the conversion function used to infer physical dust masses from observations of dust emission. However, it is notoriously poorly constrained, and ...it is highly uncertain how it varies, either between or within galaxies. Here we present the results of a proof-of-concept study, using the DustPedia data for two nearby face-on spiral galaxies M 74 (NGC 628) and M 83 (NGC 5236), to create the first ever maps of κd in galaxies. We determine κd using an empirical method that exploits the fact that the dust-to-metals ratio of the interstellar medium is constrained by direct measurements of the depletion of gas-phase metals. We apply this method pixel-by-pixel within M 74 and M 83, to create maps of κd. We also demonstrate a novel method of producing metallicity maps for galaxies with irregularly sampled measurements, using the machine learning technique of Gaussian process regression. We find strong evidence for significant variation in κd. We find values of κd at 500 $\mu$m spanning the range 0.11–0.25 ${\rm m^{2}\, kg^{-1}}$ in M 74, and 0.15–0.80 ${\rm m^{2}\, kg^{-1}}$ in M 83. Surprisingly, we find that κd shows a distinct inverse correlation with the local density of the interstellar medium. This inverse correlation is the opposite of what is predicted by standard dust models. However, we find this relationship to be robust against a large range of changes to our method – only the adoption of unphysical or highly unusual assumptions would be able to suppress it.
Aims. We aim to study the fraction of stellar radiation absorbed by dust, fabs, in 814 galaxies of different morphological types. The targets constitute the vast majority (93%) of the DustPedia ...sample, including almost all large (optical diameter larger than 1′), nearby (v ≤ 3000 km s−1) galaxies observed with the Herschel Space Observatory. Methods. For each object, we modelled the spectral energy distribution from the ultraviolet to the sub-millimetre using the dedicated, aperture-matched DustPedia photometry and the Code Investigating GALaxy Evolution (CIGALE). The value of fabs was obtained from the total luminosity emitted by dust and from the bolometric luminosity, which are estimated by the fit. Results. On average, 19% of the stellar radiation is absorbed by dust in DustPedia galaxies. The fraction rises to 25% if only late-type galaxies are considered. The dependence of fabs on morphology, showing a peak for Sb-Sc galaxies, is weak; it reflects a stronger, yet broad, positive correlation with the bolometric luminosity, which is identified for late-type, disk-dominated, high-specific-star-formation rate, gas-rich objects. We find no variation of fabs with inclination, at odds with radiative transfer models of edge-on galaxies. These results call for a self-consistent modelling of the evolution of the dust mass and geometry along the build-up of the stellar content. We also provide template spectral energy distributions in bins of morphology and luminosity and study the variation of fabs with stellar mass and specific star-formation rate. We confirm that the local Universe is missing the high fabs, luminous and actively star-forming objects necessary to explain the energy budget in observations of the extragalactic background light.
Several dedicated surveys focusing on early-type galaxies (ETGs) reveal that significant fractions of them are detectable in all interstellar medium phases studied to date. We select ETGs from the ...Herschel Reference Survey that have both far-infrared Herschel and either H i or CO detection (or both). We derive their star formation rates (SFRs), stellar masses and dust masses via modelling their spectral energy distributions. We combine these with literature information on their atomic and molecular gas properties, in order to relate their star formation, total gas mass and dust mass on global scales. The ETGs deviate from the dust mass–SFR relation and the Schmidt–Kennicutt relation that SDSS star-forming galaxies define: compared to SDSS galaxies, ETGs have more dust at the same SFR, or less SFR at the same dust mass. When placing them in the M
⋆–SFR plane, ETGs show a much lower specific SFR as compared to normal star-forming galaxies. ETGs show a large scatter compared to the Schmidt–Kennicutt relation found locally within our Galaxy, extending to lower SFRs and gas mass surface densities. Using an ETG's SFR and the Schmidt–Kennicutt law to predict its gas mass leads to an underestimate. ETGs have similar observed-gas-to-modelled-dust mass ratios to star-forming galaxies of the same stellar mass, as well as they exhibit a similar scatter.
ABSTRACT
We present the results of the photometric analysis of a large part of the main body of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Using the 6.5m Magellan Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, ...we have acquired deep B and I images in four fields (0.44 deg each in diameter), yielding accurate photometry for 1068 893 stars down to 24th magnitude, with a spatial resolution of 0.20 arcsec per pixel. Colour–magnitude diagrams and (completeness-corrected) luminosity functions have been constructed, yielding significant new results that indicate at least two discrete star formation events over a period from 2.7 to 4 Gyr ago. Also, we have derived star formation rates as a function of look-back time and have found enhancements of SF between 4 and 6 Gyr and at younger ages.
Aims. We study the resolved stellar populations and derive the star formation history of the Sculptor dwarf irregular galaxy (SDIG), a gas-rich dwarf galaxy member of the NGC 7793 subgroup in the ...Sculptor group of galaxies. Methods. We constructed a colour − magnitude diagram (CMD) using archival observations from the Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys in order to examine the stellar content of SDIG, as well as the spatial distribution of stars selected within different stellar evolutionary phases. We derived the star formation history of SDIG using a maximum-likelihood fit to the CMD. Results. The CMD shows that SDIG contains stars from 10 Myr to several Gyr old, as revealed from the main sequence, blue loop, luminous asymptotic giant branch, and red giant branch stars. The young stars with ages less than ~250 Myr show a stellar spatial distribution confined to the central regions of SDIG, and additionally the young main sequence stars exhibit an off-centre density peak. The intermediate-age and older stars as traced by the red giant branch stars are more spatially extended. SDIG is dominated by intermediate-age stars with an average age of 6.4\hbox{$^{+1.6}_{-1.4}$}+1.6-1.4 Gyr. The average metallicity inferred from the CMD modelling is M/H ≈ − 1.5 dex. SDIG has a star formation history consistent with a constant star formation rate, except for ages younger than ≈ 200 Myr. The lifetime average star formation rate is 1.3\hbox{$^{+0.4}_{-0.3} \times 10 ^{-3}~M_{\sun}$}+0.4-0.3×10-3 M⊙ yr-1. More recently than 100 Myr, there has been a burst of star formation at a rate ~2–3 times higher than the average star formation rate. The inferred recent star formation rate from CMD modelling, 2.7( ± 0.5) × 10-3 M⊙ yr-1, is higher than inferred from the Hα flux of the galaxy; we interpret this to mean that the upper end of the initial mass function is not being fully sampled due to the low star formation rate. Additionally, an observed lack of bright blue stars in the CMD could indicate a downturn in star formation rate on 107-yr timescales. A previous star formation enhancement appears to have occurred between 600 − 1100 Myr ago, with amplitude similar to the most recent 100 Myr. Older bursts of similar peak star formation rate and duration would not be resolvable with these data. The observed enhancements in star formation suggest that SDIG is able to sustain a complex star formation history without the effect of gravitational interactions with its nearest massive galaxy. Integrating the star formation rate over the entire history of SDIG yields a total stellar mass equal to 1.77\hbox{$^{+0.71}_{-0.72} \times 10 ^{7} ~ M_{\sun}$}+0.71-0.72×107 M⊙, and a current V-band stellar mass-to-light ratio equal to 3.2 M⊙/L⊙.
PDF
