scholarly journals Systematic errors in dust mass determinations: insights from laboratory opacity measurements

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (4) ◽  
pp. 4666-4686
Author(s):  
Lapo Fanciullo ◽  
Francisca Kemper ◽  
Peter Scicluna ◽  
Thavisha E Dharmawardena ◽  
Sundar Srinivasan
Keyword(s):  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Thermal Emission ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Experimental Measurements ◽  
Dust Mass ◽  
Dusty Galaxies ◽  
Different Temperatures

ABSTRACT The thermal emission of dust is one of the most important tracers of the interstellar medium: multiwavelength photometry in the far-infrared (FIR) and submillimetre (submm) can be fitted with a model, providing estimates of the dust mass. The fit results depend on the assumed value for FIR/submm opacity, which in most models – due to the scarcity, until recently, of experimental measurements – is extrapolated from shorter wavelengths. Lab measurements of dust analogues, however, show that FIR opacities are usually higher than the values used in models and depend on temperature, which suggests that dust mass estimates may be biased. To test the extent of this bias, we create multiwavelength synthetic photometry for dusty galaxies at different temperatures and redshifts, using experimental results for FIR/submm dust opacity and then we fit the synthetic data using standard dust models. We find that the dust masses recovered by typical models are overestimated by a factor of 2–20, depending on how the experimental opacities are treated. If the experimental dust samples are accurate analogues of interstellar dust, therefore, current dust masses are overestimated by up to a factor of 20. The implications for our understanding of dust, both Galactic and at high redshift, are discussed.

Systematic errors in dust mass fits: The role of dust opacity

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S341) ◽  
pp. 196-200
Author(s):  
Lapo Fanciullo ◽  
Francisca Kemper ◽  
Sundar Srinivasan ◽  
Peter Scicluna ◽  
James M. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Early Universe ◽  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Dust Emission ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Submillimeter Wavelengths ◽  
Dust Mass ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Astronomical Dust

AbstractThe estimation of interstellar dust masses is an important pursuit in our understanding of both local and early Universe – see e.g. the “dust budget crisis”. One of the most used methods of estimating dust masses – dust emission fitting – requires an estimate of the dust opacity at far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths, but in most models this quantity is based on extrapolation rather than on actual measurements. It is becoming more and more evident that the opacity in typical dust models differs from that of dust analogs measured in the lab, meaning that astronomical dust mass estimations may need to be revised. To estimate the systematic errors introduced by this mismatch, we calculated dust emission for a model where dust far-infrared opacity is the same as that measured in lab samples, then we fit the synthetic emission with a typical (modified blackbody) dust model. Our results show that, if interstellar dust is indeed similar to the lab dust analogs, most fits may overestimate dust masses by as much as an order of magnitude.

scholarly journals Molecular gas in the Herschel-selected strongly lensed submillimeter galaxies at z ~ 2–4 as probed by multi-J CO lines

2017 ◽  
Vol 608 ◽  
pp. A144 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Yang ◽  
A. Omont ◽  
A. Beelen ◽  
Y. Gao ◽  
P. van der Werf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
Kinetic Temperature ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Line Energy ◽  
Submillimeter Galaxies ◽  
Dust Mass

We present the IRAM-30 m observations of multiple-J CO (Jup mostly from 3 up to 8) and [C I](3P2 → 3P1) ([C I](2–1) hereafter) line emission in a sample of redshift ~2–4 submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). These SMGs are selected among the brightest-lensed galaxies discovered in the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). Forty-seven CO lines and 7 [C I](2–1) lines have been detected in 15 lensed SMGs. A non-negligible effect of differential lensing is found for the CO emission lines, which could have caused significant underestimations of the linewidths, and hence of the dynamical masses. The CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs), peaking around Jup ~ 5–7, are found to be similar to those of the local starburst-dominated ultra-luminous infrared galaxies and of the previously studied SMGs. After correcting for lensing amplification, we derived the global properties of the bulk of molecular gas in the SMGs using non-LTE radiative transfer modelling, such as the molecular gas density nH2 ~ 102.5–104.1 cm-3 and the kinetic temperature Tk  ~ 20–750 K. The gas thermal pressure Pth ranging from~105 K cm-3 to 106 K cm-3 is found to be correlated with star formation efficiency. Further decomposing the CO SLEDs into two excitation components, we find a low-excitation component with nH2 ~ 102.8–104.6 cm-3 and Tk  ~ 20–30 K, which is less correlated with star formation, and a high-excitation one (nH2 ~ 102.7–104.2 cm-3, Tk  ~ 60–400 K) which is tightly related to the on-going star-forming activity. Additionally, tight linear correlations between the far-infrared and CO line luminosities have been confirmed for the Jup ≥ 5 CO lines of these SMGs, implying that these CO lines are good tracers of star formation. The [C I](2–1) lines follow the tight linear correlation between the luminosities of the [C I](2–1) and the CO(1–0) line found in local starbursts, indicating that [C I] lines could serve as good total molecular gas mass tracers for high-redshift SMGs as well. The total mass of the molecular gas reservoir, (1–30) × 1010M⊙, derived based on the CO(3–2) fluxes and αCO(1–0) = 0.8 M⊙ ( K km s-1 pc2)-1, suggests a typical molecular gas depletion time tdep ~ 20–100 Myr and a gas to dust mass ratio δGDR ~ 30–100 with ~20%–60% uncertainty for the SMGs. The ratio between CO line luminosity and the dust mass L′CO/Mdust appears to be slowly increasing with redshift for high-redshift SMGs, which need to be further confirmed by a more complete SMG sample at various redshifts. Finally, through comparing the linewidth of CO and H2O lines, we find that they agree well in almost all our SMGs, confirming that the emitting regions of the CO and H2O lines are co-spatially located.

scholarly journals Thermal emission from the amorphous dust: An alternative possibility of the origin of the anomalous microwave emission

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masashi Nashimoto ◽  
Makoto Hattori ◽  
Ricardo Génova-Santos ◽  
Frédérick Poidevin
Keyword(s):  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Amorphous Materials ◽  
Thermal Emission ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
Microwave Emission ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Radiative Processes ◽  
Resonance Emission ◽  
Amorphous Silicate

Abstract Complete studies of the radiative processes of thermal emission from the amorphous dust from microwave through far-infrared wavebands are presented by taking into account, self-consistently for the first time, the standard two-level systems (TLS) model of amorphous materials. The observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for the Perseus molecular cloud (MC) and W 43 from microwave through far-infrared are fitted with the SEDs calculated with the TLS model of amorphous silicate. We have found that the model SEDs reproduce the observed properties of the anomalous microwave emission (AME) well. The present result suggests an alternative interpretation for the AME being carried by the resonance emission of the TLS of amorphous materials without introducing new species. Simultaneous fitting of the intensity and polarization SEDs for the Perseus MC and W 43 are also performed. The amorphous model reproduces the overall observed feature of the intensity and polarization SEDs of the Perseus MC and W 43. However, the model’s predicted polarization fraction of the AME is slightly higher than the QUIJOTE upper limits in several frequency bands. A possible improvement of our model to resolve this problem is proposed. Our model predicts that interstellar dust is amorphous materials with very different physical characteristics compared with terrestrial amorphous materials.

scholarly journals Cosmic rays and non-thermal emission in simulated galaxies: III. probing cosmic ray calorimetry with radio spectra and the FIR-radio correlation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Werhahn ◽  
Christoph Pfrommer ◽  
Philipp Girichidis
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Star Formation ◽  
Thermal Emission ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Secondary Emission ◽  
Synchrotron Emission ◽  
Halo Masses

Abstract An extinction-free estimator of the star-formation rate (SFR) of galaxies is critical for understanding the high-redshift universe. To this end, the nearly linear, tight correlation of far-infrared (FIR) and radio luminosity of star-forming galaxies is widely used. While the FIR is linked to massive star formation, which also generates shock-accelerated cosmic ray (CR) electrons and radio synchrotron emission, a detailed understanding of the underlying physics is still lacking. Hence, we perform three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of isolated galaxies over a broad range of halo masses and SFRs using the moving-mesh code Arepo, and evolve the CR proton energy density self-consistently. In post-processing, we calculate the steady-state spectra of primary, shock-accelerated and secondary CR electrons, which result from hadronic CR proton interactions with the interstellar medium. The resulting total radio luminosities correlate with the FIR luminosities as observed and are dominated by primary CR electrons if we account for anisotropic CR diffusion. The increasing contribution of secondary emission up to 30 per cent in starbursts is compensated by the larger bremsstrahlung and Coulomb losses. CR electrons are in the calorimetric limit and lose most of their energy through inverse Compton interactions with star-light and cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons while less energy is converted to synchrotron emission. This implies steep steady-state synchrotron spectra in starbursts. Interestingly, we find that thermal free–free emission flattens the total radio spectra at high radio frequencies and reconciles calorimetric theory with observations while free–free absorption explains the observed low-frequency flattening towards the central regions of starbursts.

scholarly journals The dust mass in Cassiopeia A from infrared and optical line flux differences

2021 ◽  
Vol 504 (2) ◽  
pp. 2133-2145
Author(s):  
Maria Niculescu-Duvaz ◽  
M J Barlow ◽  
A Bevan ◽  
D Milisavljevic ◽  
I De Looze
Keyword(s):  
High Redshift ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Blue Emission ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Cassiopeia A ◽  
Dust Mass ◽  
Infrared Spectral ◽  
Optical Line ◽  
Cas A

ABSTRACT The large quantities of dust that have been found in a number of high-redshift galaxies have led to suggestions that core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are the main sources of their dust and have motivated the measurement of the dust masses formed by local CCSNe. For Cassiopeia A (Cas A), an oxygen-rich remnant of a Type IIb CCSN, a dust mass of 0.6–1.1 M⊙ has already been determined by two different methods, namely (a) from its far-infrared spectral energy distribution and (b) from analysis of the red–blue emission line asymmetries in its integrated optical spectrum. We present a third, independent, method for determining the mass of dust contained within Cas A. This compares the relative fluxes measured in similar apertures from [O iii] far-infrared and visual-region emission lines, taking into account foreground dust extinction, in order to determine internal dust optical depths, from which corresponding dust masses can be obtained. Using this method, we determine a dust mass within Cas A of at least 0.99$^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ M⊙.

scholarly journals Prospects for Future Far-Infrared/Submillimeter Studies of the High-Redshift Universe

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 493-496
Author(s):  
Andrew W. Blain
Keyword(s):  
Background Radiation ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Wide Band ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Background Intensity ◽  
Spectral Structure ◽  
Dusty Galaxies ◽  
Infrared Background ◽  
Balloon Experiments

AbstractObservations made usingCOBE, SCUBA,ISOand MAMBO have provided a reasonable working knowledge of both the intensity of the submm and far-infrared background radiation and the source counts of luminous high-redshift dusty galaxies. However, because there are uncertainties in the background intensity determinations, the samples of detected galaxies are small, and most importantly, their redshift distributions are very incomplete, details of the evolution of dusty galaxies remain unresolved. The next steps forward in the field will be the launches ofSIRTFandASTRO-F, the commissioning of SOFIA and new, more capable ground-based mm/submm-wave cameras - BOLOCAM, SHARC-II and SCUBA-II - the use of ultra-long duration balloon experiments, such as BLAST, the construction of ALMA and the arrival ofFIRST, and ultimately the advent of space-borne far-infrared interferometers, such asSPECS. There are also exciting prospects for direct mm/submm-wave CO-line redshift surveys using wide-band spectrographs. Using these new facilities, the number of high-redshift dusty galaxies known will be increased dramatically. Spectroscopy usingSIRTF, SOFIA andFIRSTwill probe the astrophysical processes within these sources in detail, hopefully addressing the open question of the fraction of the counts and background radiation that is generated by the formation of high-mass stars and by active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The spatial and spectral structure of distant dusty galaxies will finally be resolved in detail using ALMA andSPECS.

scholarly journals Resolving distant, dusty galaxies using observations and simulations

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S352) ◽  
pp. 282-286
Author(s):  
R. K. Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Rest Frame ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Dusty Galaxies ◽  
Wavelength Emission ◽  
Hydrodynamical Simulations ◽  
Far Ultraviolet

AbstractSpatially resolved studies of galaxies in the high-redshift Universe have traditionally been reliant on data at rest-frame optical and UV wavelengths, which can be biased towards the least dust-obscured galaxies. For several years now, we have been able to resolve and probe the morphology of longer-wavelength emission from distant galaxies with ALMA, and a number of recent ALMA studies were presented at the IAU Symposium No. 352. These included our study of the resolved multi-wavelength emission of galaxies at z ∼ 2. As part of the SHiZELS collaboration, we are mapping the Hα emission line (from SINFONI/VLT), UV continuum (from HST), and the far-infrared (from ALMA) emission from a small sample of Hα-selected galaxies. In this proceedings paper, we showcase the high quality of our data, and the spectacular structures displayed by one of our most dusty sources. We also provide an overview of some highly complementary simulation-based work, using galaxies drawn from the FIRE-2 zoom-in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. Using sophisticated radiative transfer techniques, we have derived predictions for the spatially-resolved emission of a sample of star-forming galaxies, from rest-frame far-ultraviolet to the far-infrared. For both observed and simulated galaxies, emission maps show striking differences with wavelength, with the same galaxy appearing clumpy and extended in the far-ultraviolet yet compact at far-infrared wavelengths.

Tracing young SMBHs in the dusty distant universe – a Chandra view of DOGs

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (S359) ◽  
pp. 17-21
Author(s):  
Karín Menéndez-Delmestre ◽  
Laurie Riguccini ◽  
Ezequiel Treister
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Host Galaxy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Near Ir ◽  
X Ray Imaging ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Dusty Galaxies

AbstractThe coexistence of star formation and AGN activity has geared much attention to dusty galaxies at high redshifts, in the interest of understanding the origin of the Magorrian relation observed locally, where the mass of the stellar bulk in a galaxy appears to be tied to the mass of the underlying supermassive black hole. We exploit the combined use of far-infrared (IR) Herschel data and deep Chandra ˜160 ksec depth X-ray imaging of the COSMOS field to probe for AGN signatures in a large sample of >100 Dust-Obscured Galaxies (DOGs). Only a handful (˜20%) present individual X-ray detections pointing to the presence of significant AGN activity, while X-ray stacking analysis on the X-ray undetected DOGs points to a mix between AGN activity and star formation. Together, they are typically found on the main sequence of star-forming galaxies or below it, suggesting that they are either still undergoing significant build up of the stellar bulk or have started quenching. We find only ˜30% (6) Compton-thick AGN candidates (NH > 1024 cm–2), which is the same frequency found within other soft- and hard-X-ray selected AGN populations. This suggests that the large column densities responsible for the obscuration in Compton-thick AGNs must be nuclear and have little to do with the dust obscuration of the host galaxy. We find that DOGs identified to have an AGN share similar near-IR and mid-to-far-IR colors, independently of whether they are individually detected or not in the X-ray. The main difference between the X-ray detected and the X-ray undetected populations appears to be in their redshift distributions, with the X-ray undetected ones being typically found at larger distances. This strongly underlines the critical need for multiwavelength studies in order to obtain a more complete census of the obscured AGN population out to higher redshifts. For more details, we refer the reader to Riguccini et al. (2019).

scholarly journals Mapping large-scale-structure evolution over cosmic times

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta B. Silva ◽  
Ely D. Kovetz ◽  
Garrett K. Keating ◽  
Azadeh Moradinezhad Dizgah ◽  
Matthieu Bethermin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Large Scale Structure ◽  
Scale Structure ◽  
Structure Evolution ◽  
Intensity Mapping ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractThis paper outlines the science case for line-intensity mapping with a space-borne instrument targeting the sub-millimeter (microwaves) to the far-infrared (FIR) wavelength range. Our goal is to observe and characterize the large-scale structure in the Universe from present times to the high redshift Epoch of Reionization. This is essential to constrain the cosmology of our Universe and form a better understanding of various mechanisms that drive galaxy formation and evolution. The proposed frequency range would make it possible to probe important metal cooling lines such as [CII] up to very high redshift as well as a large number of rotational lines of the CO molecule. These can be used to trace molecular gas and dust evolution and constrain the buildup in both the cosmic star formation rate density and the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Moreover, surveys at the highest frequencies will detect FIR lines which are used as diagnostics of galaxies and AGN. Tomography of these lines over a wide redshift range will enable invaluable measurements of the cosmic expansion history at epochs inaccessible to other methods, competitive constraints on the parameters of the standard model of cosmology, and numerous tests of dark matter, dark energy, modified gravity and inflation. To reach these goals, large-scale structure must be mapped over a wide range in frequency to trace its time evolution and the surveyed area needs to be very large to beat cosmic variance. Only a space-borne mission can properly meet these requirements.

scholarly journals Towards a census of high-redshift dusty galaxies with Herschel

2018 ◽  
Vol 614 ◽  
pp. A33 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Donevski ◽  
V. Buat ◽  
F. Boone ◽  
C. Pappalardo ◽  
M. Bethermin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Virgo Cluster ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Distribution Fitting ◽  
Redshift Distribution ◽  
Star Forming

Context. Over the last decade a large number of dusty star-forming galaxies has been discovered up to redshift z = 2 − 3 and recent studies have attempted to push the highly confused Herschel SPIRE surveys beyond that distance. To search for z ≥ 4 galaxies they often consider the sources with fluxes rising from 250 μm to 500 μm (so-called “500 μm-risers”). Herschel surveys offer a unique opportunity to efficiently select a large number of these rare objects, and thus gain insight into the prodigious star-forming activity that takes place in the very distant Universe. Aims. We aim to implement a novel method to obtain a statistical sample of 500 μm-risers and fully evaluate our selection inspecting different models of galaxy evolution. Methods. We consider one of the largest and deepest Herschel surveys, the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. We develop a novel selection algorithm which links the source extraction and spectral energy distribution fitting. To fully quantify selection biases we make end-to-end simulations including clustering and lensing. Results. We select 133 500 μm-risers over 55 deg2, imposing the criteria: S500 > S350 > S250, S250 > 13.2 mJy and S500 > 30 mJy. Differential number counts are in fairly good agreement with models, displaying a better match than other existing samples. The estimated fraction of strongly lensed sources is 24+6-5% based on models. Conclusions. We present the faintest sample of 500 μm-risers down to S250 = 13.2 mJy. We show that noise and strong lensing have an important impact on measured counts and redshift distribution of selected sources. We estimate the flux-corrected star formation rate density at 4 < z < 5 with the 500 μm-risers and find it to be close to the total value measured in far-infrared. This indicates that colour selection is not a limiting effect to search for the most massive, dusty z > 4 sources.

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