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Register a new userSpatial distribution of Far infrared emission in spiral galaxies II. Heating sources and gas-to-dust ratio
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We study the radial distribution of the temperature of the warm dust and gas-to-dust mass ratios in a sample of 22 spiral galaxies. The heating capabilities of the diffuse interstellar radiation field (ISRF), based on Desert et al. model, are investigated in 13 of the sample galaxies. In general, the temperature of the warm dust decreases away from the center, reaches a minimum value at the mid-disk and increases again in the outer parts of galaxies. Heating a mixture of small and big grains by the ISRF is able to explain the observed behavior qualitatively. However, ultraviolet photons from recent star formation events are necessary for a detailed matching of the warm dust temperature profiles. Very small grains contribute typically more than 50% to the observed flux at 60 micron beyond half the disk radius in galaxies. Optical depth profiles, derived from the observed 60 micron and warm dust temperature profiles, peak at or close to the galactic center. In 13 of the galaxies, where dust temperature profiles are modeled, we obtain gas-to-dust mass ratio profiles, after correction for the contaminating effects of very small grains. The gas-to-dust mass ratio decreases by a factor of 8 from the center to the optical isophotal radius, where the value approaches the local galactic value. We demonstrate that the observed steep gradient is a result of the over-estimation of the molecular mass, and can be flattened out to within a factor of 2, if the molecular hydrogen mass (H2) is recomputed assuming a metallicity dependent conversion factor from CO intensity to H2 column density. The flattened radial profiles indicate a global gas-to-dust ratio of around 300, which is within a factor of two of the local galactic value.
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We use high resolution IRAS and 20 cm radio continuum (RC) images of a sample of 22 spiral galaxies to study the correlation between the far infra-red (FIR) and RC emissions within the galactic disks. A combination of exponential and gaussian profiles rather than a single exponential profile is found to be a better representation of the observed intensity profiles in the two bands. The gaussian component, which we show is not due to the effects of limited beam-resolution, contains more than 60% of the total flux in majority of the galaxies. The dominance of the gaussian component suggests that the nuclear star forming regions and the bulge stars are more important contributors to the emission in the two bands, rather than the outer exponential stellar disks. The RC profile is flatter compared to the FIR profile, resulting in a decrease of their ratio, Q60, away from the center. However, the Q60 increases in the extreme outer parts, where the dispersion in the FIR and RC correlation is also higher than in the central regions. The global Q60 and its dispersion match those in the inner parts of the galaxies. These results imply that the observed tight correlation in the global quantities reflects processes in the inner regions only where OB stars and the associated Type II supernovae control the FIR and RC emission. In the outer parts heating of very small dust grains by the old disk stars provides a secondary component in the FIR emission, without associated RC emission. The edge-on galaxy NGC3079 shows extended FIR and RC emissions along its minor axis, probably associated with the nuclear starburst activity.
We present maps of dust emission at 7 microns and 15 microns/7 microns intensity ratios of selected regions in 43 spiral galaxies observed with ISOCAM. This atlas is a complement to studies based on these observations, dealing with star formation in centers of barred galaxies and in spiral disks. It is accompanied by a detailed description of data reduction and an inventory of generic morphological properties in groups defined according to bar strength and HI gas content.
By combining Herschel-SPIRE data with archival Spitzer, HI, and CO maps, we investigate the spatial distribution of gas and dust in the two famous grand-design spirals M99 and M100 in the Virgo cluster. Thanks to the unique resolution and sensitivity of the Herschel-SPIRE photometer, we are for the first time able to measure the distribution and extent of cool, submillimetre (submm)-emitting dust inside and beyond the optical radius. We compare this with the radial variation in both the gas mass and the metallicity. Although we adopt a model-independent, phenomenological approach, our analysis provides important insights. We find the dust extending to at least the optical radius of the galaxy and showing breaks in its radial profiles at similar positions as the stellar distribution. The colour indices f350/f500 and f250/f350 decrease radially consistent with the temperature decreasing with radius. We also find evidence of an increasing gas to dust ratio with radius in the outer regions of both galaxies.
We present a detailed analysis of the radial distribution of dust properties in the SINGS sample, performed on a set of UV, IR and HI surface brightness profiles, combined with published molecular gas profiles and metallicity gradients. The internal extinction, derived from the TIR-to-FUV luminosity ratio, decreases with radius, and is larger in Sb-Sbc galaxies. The TIR-to-FUV ratio correlates with the UV spectral slope beta, following a sequence shifted to redder UV colors with respect to that of starbursts. The star formation history (SFH) is identified as the main driver of this departure. We have also derived radial profiles of the total dust mass surface density, the fraction of the dust mass contributed by PAHs, the fraction of the dust mass heated by very intense starlight and the intensity of the radiation field heating the grains. The dust profiles are exponential, their radial scale-length being constant from Sb to Sd galaxies (only ~10% larger than the stellar scale-length). Many S0/a-Sab galaxies have central depressions in their dust radial distributions. The PAH abundance increases with metallicity for 12+log(O/H)<9, and at larger metallicities the trend flattens and even reverses, with the SFH being a plausible underlying driver for this behavior. The dust-to-gas ratio is also well correlated with metallicity and therefore decreases with galactocentric radius.
The description of the statistical properties of dust emission gives important constraints on the physics of the interstellar medium but it is also a useful way to estimate the contamination of diffuse interstellar emission in the cases where it is considered a nuisance. The main goals of this analysis of the power spectrum and non-Gaussian properties of 100 micron dust emission are 1) to estimate the power spectrum of interstellar matter density in three dimensions, 2) to review and extend previous estimates of the cirrus noise due to dust emission and 3) to produce simulated dust emission maps that reproduce the observed statistical properties. The main results are the following. 1) The cirrus noise level as a function of brightness has been previously overestimated. It is found to be proportional to <I> instead of <I>^1.5, where <I> is the local average brightness at 100 micron. This scaling is in accordance with the fact that the brightness fluctuation level observed at a given angular scale on the sky is the sum of fluctuations of increasing amplitude with distance on the line of sight. 2) The spectral index of dust emission at scales between 5 arcmin and 12.5 degrees is <gamma>=-2.9 on average but shows significant variations over the sky. Bright regions have systematically steeper power spectra than diffuse regions. 3) The skewness and kurtosis of brightness fluctuations is high, indicative of strong non-Gaussianity. 4) Based on our characterization of the 100 micron power spectrum we provide a prescription of the cirrus confusion noise as a function of wavelength and scale. 5) Finally we present a method based on a modification of Gaussian random fields to produce simulations of dust maps which reproduce the power spectrum and non-Gaussian properties of interstellar dust emission.
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