Herschel-ATLAS: The dust energy balance in the edge-on spiral galaxy UGC 4754

Baes, M.; Fritz, J.; Gadotti, D. A.; Smith, D. J. B.; Dunne, L.; da Cunha, E.; Amblard, A.; Auld, R.; Bendo, G. J.; Bonfield, D.; Burgarella, D.; Buttiglione, S.; Cava, A.; Clements, D.; Cooray, A.; Dariush, A.; de Zotti, G.; Dye, S.; Eales, S.; Frayer, D.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Herranz, D.; Ibar, E.; Ivison, R.; Lagache, G.; Leeuw, L.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Jarvis, M.; Maddox, S.; Negrello, M.; Michałowski, M.; Pascale, E.; Pohlen, M.; Rigby, E.; Rodighiero, G.; Samui, S.; Serjeant, S.; Temi, P.; Thompson, M.; van der Werf, P.; Verma, A.; Vlahakis, C.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 518, id.L39

Advertised on:
7
2010
Number of authors
42
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
85
Refereed citations
78
Description
We use Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations of the edge-on spiral galaxy UGC 4754, taken as part of the H-ATLAS SDP observations, to investigate the dust energy balance in this galaxy. We build detailed SKIRT radiative models based on SDSS and UKIDSS maps and use these models to predict the far-infrared emission. We find that our radiative transfer model underestimates the observed FIR emission by a factor of two to three. Similar discrepancies have been found for other edge-on spiral galaxies based on IRAS, ISO, and SCUBA data. Thanks to the good sampling of the SED at FIR wavelengths, we can rule out an underestimation of the FIR emissivity as the cause for this discrepancy. Instead we support highly obscured star formation that contributes little to the optical extinction as a more probable explanation. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led principal- investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.
Related projects
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Formation and Evolution of Galaxies: Observations in Infrared and other Wavelengths
This IAC research group carries out several extragalactic projects in different spectral ranges, using space as well as ground-based telescopes, to study the cosmological evolution of galaxies and the origin of nuclear activity in active galaxies. The group is a member of the international consortium which built the SPIRE instrument for the
Ismael
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