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arXiv · 1210.7812

The Spatial Distribution of Dust and Stellar Emission of the Magellanic Clouds

Ramin A. Skibba·Charles W. Engelbracht·Gonzalo Aniano·Brian Babler·Jean-Philippe Bernard·Caroline Bot·Lynn Redding Carlson·Maud Galametz·Frederic Galliano·Karl Gordon·Sacha Hony·Frank Israel·Vianney Lebouteiller·Aigen Li·Suzanne Madden·Margaret Meixner·Karl Misselt·Edward Montiel·Koryo Okumura·Pasquale Panuzzo·Deborah Paradis·Julia Roman-Duval·Monica Rubio·Marc Sauvage·Jonathan Seale·Sundar Srinivasan·Jacco Th. van Loon
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Abstract

We study the emission by dust and stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, a pair of low-metallicity nearby galaxies, as traced by their spatially resolved spectral energy distributions (SEDs). This project combines Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE far-infrared photometry with other data at infrared and optical wavelengths. We build maps of dust and stellar luminosity and mass of both Magellanic Clouds, and analyze the spatial distribution of dust/stellar luminosity and mass ratios. These ratios vary considerably throughout the galaxies, generally between the range $0.01\leq L_{\rm dust}/L_\ast\leq 0.6$ and $10^{-4}\leq M_{\rm dust}/M_\ast\leq 4\times10^{-3}$. We observe that the dust/stellar ratios depend on the interstellar medium (ISM) environment, such as the distance from currently or previously star-forming regions, and on the intensity of the interstellar radiation field (ISRF). In addition, we construct star formation rate (SFR) maps, and find that the SFR is correlated with the dust/stellar luminosity and dust temperature in both galaxies, demonstrating the relation between star formation, dust emission and heating, though these correlations exhibit substantial scatter.

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Ramin A. Skibba, Charles W. Engelbracht, Gonzalo Aniano, Brian Babler, Jean-Philippe Bernard, Caroline Bot, Lynn Redding Carlson, Maud Galametz, Frederic Galliano, Karl Gordon, Sacha Hony, Frank Israel, Vianney Lebouteiller, Aigen Li, Suzanne Madden, Margaret Meixner, Karl Misselt, Edward Montiel, Koryo Okumura, Pasquale Panuzzo, Deborah Paradis, Julia Roman-Duval, Monica Rubio, Marc Sauvage, Jonathan Seale, Sundar Srinivasan, Jacco Th. van Loon. 2012-10-29. The Spatial Distribution of Dust and Stellar Emission of the Magellanic Clouds. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/761/1/42

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