Quantifying the Heating Sources for Mid-infrared Dust Emissions in Galaxies: The Case of M 81
Creators
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1.
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
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2.
University of Manchester
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Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
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Ghent University
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National Astronomical Observatories
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University of Paris
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Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
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8.
University of Cambridge
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9.
McMaster University
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10.
European Southern Observatory
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11.
University of California, Irvine
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Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology
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Purple Mountain Observatory
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14.
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Abstract
With the newly available photometric images at 250 and 500 μm from the Herschel Space Observatory, we study quantitative correlations over a sub-kiloparsec scale among three distinct emission components in the interstellar medium of the nearby spiral galaxy M 81 (NGC 3031): (1) I8 or I24, the surface brightness of the mid-infrared emission observed in the Spitzer Space Telescope 8 or 24 μm band, with I8 and I24 being dominated by the emissions from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and very small grains (VSGs) of dust, respectively; (2) I500, that of the cold dust continuum emission in the Herschel Space Observatory 500 μm band, dominated by the emission from large dust grains heated by evolved stars; and (3) IHα, a nominal surface brightness of the Hα line emission, from gas ionized by newly formed massive stars. The results from our correlation study, free from any assumption on or modeling of dust emissivity law or dust temperatures, present solid evidence for significant heating of PAHs and VSGs by evolved stars. In the case of M 81, about 67% (48%) of the 8 μm (24 μm ) emission derives its heating from evolved stars, with the remainder attributed to radiation heating associated with ionizing stars.
Additional Information
We thank the anonymous referee for a number of useful comments that improved the presentation and clarity of this paper. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. SPIRE has been developed by a consortium of institutes led by Cardiff University (UK) and including Univ. Lethbridge (Canada); NAOC (China); CEA, OAMP (France); IFSI, Univ. Padua (Italy); IAC (Spain); Stockholm Observatory (Sweden); Imperial College London, RAL, UCL-MSSL, UKATC, Univ. Sussex (UK); and Caltech/JPL, IPAC, Univ. Colorado (USA). This development has been supported by national funding agencies: CSA (Canada); NAOC (China); CEA, CNES, CNRS (France); ASI (Italy); MCINN (Spain); Stockholm Observatory (Sweden); STFC (UK); and NASA (USA). Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.Attached Files
Published - 0004-637X_797_2_129.pdf
Submitted - 1410.3874v1.pdf
Files
0004-637X_797_2_129.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 51167
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141103-100247552
Related works
- Describes
- http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.3874 (URL)
Funding
- Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC)
- Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA)
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCINN)
- Stockholm Observatory
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- NASA
- Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Dates
- Created
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2014-11-03Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field