No Arabic abstract
Power spectra of Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) emission at 24, 70 and 160 microns observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope have a two-component power-law structure with a shallow slope of -1.6 at low wavenumber, k, and a steep slope of -2.9 at high k. The break occurs at 1/k ~ 100-200 pc, which is interpreted as the line-of-sight thickness of the LMC disk. The slopes are slightly steeper for longer wavelengths, suggesting the cooler dust emission is smoother than the hot emission. The power spectrum covers ~ 3.5 orders of magnitude and the break in the slope is in the middle of this range on a logarithmic scale. Large-scale driving from galactic and extragalactic processes, including disk self-gravity, spiral waves and bars, presumably cause the low-k structure in what is effectively a two-dimensional geometry. Small-scale driving from stellar processes and shocks cause the high-k structure in a 3D geometry. This transition in dimensionality corresponds to the observed change in power spectrum slope. A companion paper models the observed power-law with a self-gravitating hydrodynamics simulation of a galaxy like the LMC.
We present a power spectral analysis of Spitzer images of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The power spectra of the FIR emission show two different power laws. At larger scales (kpc) the slope is ~ -1.6, while at smaller ones (tens to few hundreds of parsecs) the slope is steeper, with a value ~ -2.9. The break occurs at a scale around 100-200 pc. We interpret this break as the scale height of the dust disk of the LMC. We perform high resolution simulations with and without stellar feedback. Our AMR hydrodynamic simulations of model galaxies using the LMC mass and rotation curve, confirm that they have similar two-component power-laws for projected density and that the break does indeed occur at the disk thickness. Power spectral analysis of velocities betrays a single power law for in-plane components. The vertical component of the velocity shows a flat behavior for large structures and a power law similar to the in-plane velocities at small scales. The motions are highly anisotropic at large scales, with in-plane velocities being much more important than vertical ones. In contrast, at small scales, the motions become more isotropic.
[abridged] We present 52-93 micron spectra obtained with Spitzer in the MIPS-SED mode, of a representative sample of luminous compact far-IR sources in the LMC. These include carbon stars, OH/IR AGB stars, post-AGB objects and PNe, RCrB-type star HV2671, OH/IR red supergiants WOHG064 and IRAS05280-6910, B[e] stars IRAS04530-6916, R66 and R126, Wolf-Rayet star Brey3a, Luminous Blue Variable R71, supernova remnant N49, a large number of young stellar objects, compact HII regions and molecular cores, and a background galaxy (z~0.175). We use the spectra to constrain the presence and temperature of cold dust and the excitation conditions and shocks within the neutral and ionized gas, in the circumstellar environments and interfaces with the surrounding ISM. Evolved stars, including LBV R71, lack cold dust except in some cases where we argue that this is swept-up ISM. This leads to an estimate of the duration of the prolific dust-producing phase (superwind) of several thousand years for both RSGs and massive AGB stars, with a similar fractional mass loss experienced despite the different masses. We tentatively detect line emission from neutral oxygen in the extreme RSG WOHG064, with implications for the wind driving. In N49, the shock between the supernova ejecta and ISM is revealed by its strong [OI] 63-micron emission and possibly water vapour; we estimate that 0.2 Msun of ISM dust was swept up. Some of the compact HII regions display pronounced [OIII] 88-micron emission. The efficiency of photo-electric heating in the interfaces of ionized gas and molecular clouds is estimated at 0.1-0.3%. We confirm earlier indications of a low nitrogen content in the LMC. Evidence for solid state emission features is found in both young and evolved object; some of the YSOs are found to contain crystalline water ice.
Based on the photometric data from the Spitzer/SAGE survey and with red giants as the extinction tracers, the mid-infrared (MIR) extinction laws in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are derived for the first time in the form of A_lambda/A_Ks, the extinction in the four IRAC bands (i.e., [3.6], [4.5], [5.8] and [8.0]um) relative to the 2MASS Ks band at 2.16um. We obtain the near-infrared (NIR) extinction coefficient to be E(J-H)/E(H-Ks)=1.29pm0.04 and E(J-Ks)/E(H-Ks)=1.94pm0.04. The wavelength dependence of the MIR extinction A_lambda/A_Ks in the LMC varies from one sightline to another. The overall mean MIR extinction is A_[3.6]/A_Ks=0.72pm0.03, A_[4.5]/A_Ks=0.94pm0.03, A_[5.8]/A_Ks=0.58pm0.04, and A_[8.0]/A_Ks=0.62pm0.05. Except for the extinction in the IRAC [4.5] band which may be contaminated by the 4.6um CO gas absorption of red giants (which are used to trace the LMC extinction), the extinction in the other three IRAC bands show a flat curve, close to the Milky Way Rv = 5.5 model extinction curve (where Rv is the optical total-to-selective extinction ratio). The possible systematic bias caused by the correlated uncertainties of Ks-lambda and J-Ks is explored in terms of Monte-Carlo simulations. It is found that this could lead to an overestimation of A_lambda/A_Ks in the MIR.
The cosmic far-infrared background (CFIRB) is expected to be generated by faint, dusty star-forming galaxies during the peak epoch of galaxy formation. The anisotropy power spectrum of the CFIRB captures the spatial distribution of these galaxies in dark matter halos and the spatial distribution of dark matter halos in the large-scale structure. Existing halo models of CFIRB anisotropy power spectrum are either incomplete or lead to halo model parameters that are inconsistent with the galaxy distribution selected at other wavelengths. Here we present a conditional luminosity function approach to describe the far-IR bright galaxies. We model the 250 um luminosity function and its evolution with redshift and model-fit the CFIRB power spectrum at 250 um measured by the Herschel Space Observatory. We introduce a redshift dependent duty-cycle parameter so that we are able to estimate the typical duration of the dusty star formation process in the dark matter halos as a function of redshifts. We find the duty cycle of galaxies contributing to the far-IR background is 0.3 to 0.5 with a dusty star-formation phase lasting for sim0.3-1.6 Gyrs. This result confirms the general expectation that the far-IR background is dominated by star-forming galaxies in an extended phases, not bright starbursts that are driven by galaxy mergers and last sim10-100 Myrs. The halo occupation number for satellite galaxies has a power-law slope that is close to unity over 0<z<4. We find that the minimum halo mass for dusty, star-forming galaxies with L_250>10^{10} L_Sun is 2times10^{11}M_Sun and 3times 10^{10}M_Sun at z=1 and 2, respectively. Integrating over the galaxy population with L_250>10^{9} L_Sun, we find that the cosmic density of dust residing in the dusty, star-forming galaxies responsible for the background anisotropies Omega_{dust}sim3times10^{-6} to 2times10^{-5}.
Color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) are presented for the Spitzer SAGE (Surveying the Agents of a Galaxys Evolution) survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). IRAC and MIPS 24 um epoch one data are presented. These data represent the deepest, widest mid-infrared CMDs of their kind ever produced in the LMC. Combined with the 2MASS survey, the diagrams are used to delineate the evolved stellar populations in the Large Magellanic Cloud as well as Galactic foreground and extragalactic background populations. Some 32000 evolved stars brighter than the tip of the red giant branch are identified. Of these, approximately 17500 are classified as oxygen-rich, 7000 carbon-rich, and another 1200 as ``extreme asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Brighter members of the latter group have been called ``obscured AGB stars in the literature owing to their dusty circumstellar envelopes. A large number (1200) of luminous oxygen--rich AGB stars/M supergiants are also identified. Finally, there is strong evidence from the 24 um MIPS channel that previously unexplored, lower luminosity oxygen-rich AGB stars contribute significantly to the mass loss budget of the LMC (1200 such sources are identified).