No Arabic abstract
We compile a sample of about 157,000 spaxels from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at the Apache Point Observatory survey to derive the average dust attenuation curve for subgalactic star-forming regions of local star-forming galaxies (SFGs) in the optical wavelength, following the method of cite{Calzetti1994}. We obtain a $D_n(4000)$-independent average attenuation curve for spaxels with $1.1leq D_n(4000)<1.3$, which is similar to the one derived from either local starbursts or normal SFGs. We examine whether and how the shape of the average attenuation curve changes with several local and global physical properties. For spaxels with $1.2leq D_n(4000)<1.3$, we find no dependence on either local or global physical properties for the shape of the average attenuation curve. However, for spaxels with younger stellar population ($1.1leq D_n(4000)<1.2$), shallower average attenuation curves are found for star-forming regions with smaller stellar mass surface density, smaller star formation rate surface density, or those residing in the outer region of galaxies. These results emphasize the risk of using one single attenuation curve to correct the dust reddening for all types of star-forming regions, especially for those with fairly young stellar population.
The attenuation of light in star forming galaxies is correlated with a multitude of physical parameters including star formation rate, metallicity and total dust content. This variation in attenuation is even more prevalent on the kiloparsec scale, which is relevant to many current spectroscopic integral field unit surveys. To understand the cause of this variation, we present and analyse textit{Swift}/UVOT near-UV (NUV) images and SDSS/MaNGA emission-line maps of 29 nearby ($z<0.084$) star forming galaxies. We resolve kiloparsec-sized star forming regions within the galaxies and compare their optical nebular attenuation (i.e., the Balmer emission line optical depth, $tau^l_Bequivtau_{textrm{H}beta}-tau_{textrm{H}alpha}$) and NUV stellar continuum attenuation (via the NUV power-law index, $beta$) to the attenuation law described by Battisti et al. The data agree with that model, albeit with significant scatter. We explore the dependence of the scatter of the $beta$-$tau^l_B$ measurements from the star forming regions on different physical parameters, including distance from the nucleus, star formation rate and total dust content. Finally, we compare the measured $tau^l_B$ and $beta$ between the individual star forming regions and the integrated galaxy light. We find a strong variation in $beta$ between the kiloparsec scale and the larger galaxy scale not seen in $tau^l_B$. We conclude that the sight-line dependence of UV attenuation and the reddening of $beta$ due to the light from older stellar populations could contribute to the $beta$-$tau^l_B$ discrepancy.
We investigate the dust attenuation in both stellar populations and ionized gas in kpc-scale regions in nearby galaxies, using integral field spectroscopy data from MaNGA MPL-9. We identify star-forming (HII) and diffuse ionized gas (DIG) regions from MaNGA datacubes. From the stacked spectrum of each region, we measure the stellar attenuation, $E(B-V)_{rm star}$, using the technique developed by Li et al.(2020), as well as the gas attenuation, $E(B-V)_{rm gas}$, from the Balmer decrement. We then examine the correlation of $E(B-V)_{rm star}$, $E(B-V)_{rm gas}$, $E(B-V)_{rm gas}-E(B-V)_{rm star}$ and $E(B-V)_{rm star}/E(B-V)_{rm gas}$ with 16 regional/global properties, and for regions with different $rm H{alpha}$ surface brightnesses ($Sigma_{rm Halpha}$). We find a stronger correlation between $E(B-V)_{rm star}$ and $E(B-V)_{rm gas}$ in regions of higher $Sigma_{rm Halpha}$. Luminosity-weighted age ($t_L$) is found to be the property that is the most strongly correlated with $E(B-V)_{rm star}$, and consequently with $E(B-V)_{rm gas}-E(B-V)_{rm star}$ and $E(B-V)_{rm star}/E(B-V)_{rm gas}$. At fixed $Sigma_{rm Halpha}$, $log_{10}t_L$ is linearly and negatively correlated with $E(B-V)_{rm star}/E(B-V)_{rm gas}$ at all ages. Gas-phase metallicity and ionization level are important for the attenuation in the gas. Our results indicate that the ionizing source for DIG regions is likely distributed in the outer-skirt of galaxies, while for HII regions our results can be well explained by the two-component dust model of Charlot & Fall (2000).
Dust attenuation in galaxies has been extensively studied nearby, however, there are still many unknowns regarding attenuation in distant galaxies. We contribute to this effort using observations of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range z = 0.05-0.15 from the DYNAMO survey. Highly star-forming DYNAMO galaxies share many similar attributes to clumpy, star-forming galaxies at high redshift. Considering integrated Sloan Digital Sky Survey observations, trends between attenuation and other galaxy properties for DYNAMO galaxies are well matched to star-forming galaxies at high redshift. Integrated gas attenuations of DYNAMO galaxies are 0.2-2.0 mags in the V-band, and the ratio of stellar E(B-V) and gas E(B-V) is 0.78-0.08 (compared to 0.44 at low redshift). Four highly star-forming DYNAMO galaxies were observed at H-alpha using the Hubble Space Telescope and at Pa-alpha using integral field spectroscopy at Keck. The latter achieve similar resolution (~0.8-1 kpc) to our HST imaging using adaptive optics, providing resolved observations of gas attenuations of these galaxies on sub-kpc scales. We find < 1.0 mag of variation in attenuation (at H-alpha) from clump to clump, with no evidence of highly attenuated star formation. Attenuations are in the range 0.3-2.2 mags in the V band, consistent with attenuations of low redshift star-forming galaxies. The small spatial variation on attenuation suggests that a majority of the star-formation activity in these four galaxies occurs in relatively unobscured regions and, thus, star-formation is well characterised by our H-alpha observations.
Dust attenuation shapes the spectral energy distributions of galaxies and any modelling and fitting procedure of their spectral energy distributions must account for this process. We present results of two recent works dedicated at measuring the dust attenuation curves in star forming galaxies at redshift from 0.5 to 3, by fitting continuum (photometric) and line (spectroscopic) measurements simultaneously with CIGALE using variable attenuation laws based on flexible recipes. Both studies conclude to a large variety of effective attenuation laws with an attenuation law flattening when the obscuration increases. An extra attenuation is found for nebular lines. The comparison with radiative transfer models implies a flattening of the attenuation law up to near infrared wavelengths, which is well reproduced with a power-laws recipe inspired by the Charlot and Fall recipe. Here we propose a global modification of the Calzetti attenuation law to better reproduce the results of radiative transfer models.
We make use of SHARDS, an ultra-deep (<26.5AB) galaxy survey that provides optical photo-spectra at resolution R~50, via medium band filters (FWHM~150A). This dataset is combined with ancillary optical and NIR fluxes to constrain the dust attenuation law in the rest-frame NUV region of star-forming galaxies within the redshift window 1.5<z<3. We focus on the NUV bump strength (B) and the total-to-selective extinction ratio (Rv), targeting a sample of 1,753 galaxies. By comparing the data with a set of population synthesis models coupled to a parametric dust attenuation law, we constrain Rv and B, as well as the colour excess, E(B-V). We find a correlation between Rv and B, that can be interpreted either as a result of the grain size distribution, or a variation of the dust geometry among galaxies. According to the former, small dust grains are associated with a stronger NUV bump. The latter would lead to a range of clumpiness in the distribution of dust within the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies. The observed wide range of NUV bump strengths can lead to a systematic in the interpretation of the UV slope ($beta$) typically used to characterize the dust content. In this study we quantify these variations, concluding that the effects are $Deltabeta$~0.4.