Bibcode
Relaño, M.; De Looze, I.; Kennicutt, R. C.; Lisenfeld, U.; Dariush, A.; Verley, S.; Braine, J.; Tabatabaei, F.; Kramer, C.; Boquien, M.; Xilouris, M.; Gratier, P.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 613, id.A43, 19 pp.
Advertised on:
5
2018
Journal
Citations
30
Refereed citations
27
Description
Context. The relative abundance of the dust grain types in the
interstellar medium is directly linked to physical quantities that trace
the evolution of galaxies. Because of the poor spatial resolution of the
infrared and submillimetre data, we are able to study the dependence of
the resolved infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) across regions
of the interstellar medium (ISM) with different physical properties in
just a few objects. Aims: We aim to study the dust properties of
the whole disc of M 33 at spatial scales of 170 pc. This analysis
allows us to infer how the relative dust grain abundance changes with
the conditions of the ISM, study the existence of a submillimetre excess
and look for trends of the gas-to-dust mass ratio (GDR) with other
physical properties of the galaxy. Methods: For each pixel in the
disc of M 33 we have fitted the infrared SED using a physically
motivated dust model that assumes an emissivity index β close to
two. We applied a Bayesian statistical method to fit the individual SEDs
and derived the best output values from the study of the probability
density function of each parameter. We derived the relative amount of
the different dust grains in the model, the total dust mass, and the
strength of the interstellar radiation field (ISRF) heating the dust at
each spatial location. Results: The relative abundance of very
small grains tends to increase, and for big grains to decrease, at high
values of Hα luminosity. This shows that the dust grains are
modified inside the star-forming regions, in agreement with a
theoretical framework of dust evolution under different physical
conditions. The radial dependence of the GDR is consistent with the
shallow metallicity gradient observed in this galaxy. The strength of
the ISRF derived in our model correlates with the star formation rate in
the galaxy in a pixel by pixel basis. Although this is expected, it is
the first time that a correlation between the two quantities has been
reported. We have produced a map of submillimetre excess in the 500
μm SPIRE band for the disc of M 33. The excess can be as high as 50%
and increases at large galactocentric distances. We further studied the
relation of the excess with other physical properties of the galaxy and
find that the excess is prominent in zones of diffuse ISM outside the
main star-forming regions, where the molecular gas and dust surface
density are low.
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