arXiv subjects

Cristina Furlanetto

Publications and source records attributed to Cristina Furlanetto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Tracing the relic nature of compact galaxies through their globular cluster systems

We investigate the synthetic model of globular cluster (GC) systems of 17 compact massive galaxies (CMGs) from the Illustris TNG100 simulation to explore their connection with massive relic galaxies, systems that have undergone little structural evolution across cosmic time. The co-evolution of the GC systems and their host galaxies is based on a GC formation and evolution model that assigns clusters to stellar particles according to age and local conditions, providing positional, kinematic, and chemical information for individual GCs. By combining stellar assembly histories, effective radius evolution, and GC properties such as in-situ vs. ex-situ origin, metallicity, and spatial distribution, we identify consistent signatures of early formation and late-time accretion. We find that the GC mass fraction traces the host assembly history more robustly than the GC number fraction, as massive clusters better preserve the imprint of the early accretion history. Three CMGs from TNG100 emerge as strong massive relic analogs, exhibiting high in-situ GC fractions, narrow metallicity distributions, and compact spatial distributions. A tight correlation between the host stripped fraction and the extent of the ex-situ GC population further reveals the possibility to consider GC spatial profiles as a signature to identify tidal stripping processes. These results indicate that the combined analysis of GC populations and host stellar assembly offers a robust diagnostic for identifying massive relic galaxies and constraining their evolutionary histories.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

ILLUSTRating red nugget assembly through observations and simulations

The properties of massive and compact early-type galaxies provide important constraints on early galaxy formation. Among these, massive relic galaxies, characterized by old stellar populations and minimal late-time accretion, are considered preserved compact galaxies from the high-$z$ Universe. We investigate compact and massive galaxies (CMGs) using the TNG50 cosmological simulation, applying uniform selection criteria matching observational surveys at $z=0$, $z=0.3$, and $z=0.7$, enabling direct comparisons with observed compact galaxies. CMGs are classified according to their stellar mass assembly histories to examine how compactness relates to dynamical properties and chemical enrichment across cosmic time. Our results show that simulated CMGs follow the observed mass-size relation, with the number of objects increasing at higher redshifts, in line with observational trends. Dynamically, while observations suggest relic galaxies are outliers in the stellar mass-velocity dispersion plane, simulated compacts show relatively uniform velocity dispersions across different accretion histories. Observed relics are more metal-rich than other compact galaxies with extended star formation, deviating from the local mass-metallicity relation. In contrast, simulated CMGs are overall more metal-rich than the quiescent population, regardless of accretion history. The deviation from the mass-metallicity relation decreases with redshift. These results suggest that the extreme characteristics of CMGs in TNG50, particularly in metallicity and dynamics, are less pronounced than in observed relics. Nonetheless, these results offer a theoretical framework to assess the properties of such extreme objects from different epochs, highlighting both alignment with and deviations between the models.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Blowing Star Formation Away in AGN Hosts (BAH) -- III. Serendipitous discovery of a $z\sim2.9$ star-forming galaxy lensed by the galactic bulge of CGCG 012-070 using JWST NIRSpec

We report the detection of a gravitationally lensed galaxy by the nearby spiral galaxy CGCG 012-070 ($z = 0.048$) using Integral Field Unit (IFU) observations with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The lensed galaxy is identified through the flux distributions of emission lines in the rest-frame optical, consistent with a source located at a redshift of $z\sim2.89$. The system is detected in [O III]$λ\lambda4959,5007$, H$β$, and H$α$ emission lines, exhibiting line ratios typical of a star-forming galaxy. The emission-line flux distributions reveal three distinct components, which are modeled using an elliptical power-law (EPL) mass profile for the lens galaxy. This model provides a good characterization of the source and reveals a disturbed star-forming morphology consistent with those of galaxies at cosmic noon. This serendipitous discovery of a rare low-redshift strong lens highlights the critical role of IFU observations in expanding the lens census and advancing our understanding of galaxy mass profiles and evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Unveiling a 36 Billion Solar Mass Black Hole at the Centre of the Cosmic Horseshoe Gravitational Lens

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are found at the centre of every massive galaxy, with their masses tightly connected to their host galaxies through a co-evolution over cosmic time. For massive ellipticals, the SMBH mass ($M_\text{BH}$) strongly correlates with the central stellar velocity dispersion ($σ_e$), via the $M_\text{BH}-σ_e$ relation. However, SMBH mass measurements have traditionally relied on central stellar dynamics in nearby galaxies ($z < 0.1$), limiting our ability to explore the SMBHs across cosmic time. In this work, we present a self-consistent analysis combining 2D stellar dynamics and lens modelling of the Cosmic Horseshoe gravitational lens system ($z = 0.44$), one of the most massive galaxies ever observed. Using integral-field spectroscopic data from MUSE and high-resolution imaging from HST, we model the radial arc and stellar kinematics, constraining the galaxy's central mass distribution and SMBH mass. Bayesian model comparison yields a $5σ$ detection of an ultramassive black hole (UMBH) with $\log_{10}(M_\text{BH}/M_{\odot}) = 10.56^{+0.07}_{-0.08} \pm (0.12)^\text{sys}$, consistent across various systematic tests. Our findings place the Cosmic Horseshoe $\sim$$1.5σ$ above the $M_\text{BH}-σ_e$ relation, supporting an emerging trend observed in BGCs and other massive galaxies. This suggests a steeper $M_\text{BH}-σ_e$ relationship at the highest masses, potentially driven by a different co-evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies. Future surveys will uncover more radial arcs, enabling the detection of SMBHs over a broader redshift and mass range. These discoveries will further refine our understanding of the $M_\text{BH}-σ_e$ relation and its evolution across cosmic time.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Systematics in ETG Mass Profile Modelling: Strong Lensing & Stellar Dynamics

Strong gravitational lensing and stellar dynamics are independent and powerful methods to probe the total gravitational potential of galaxies, and thus, their total mass profile. However, inherent degeneracies in the individual models makes it difficult to obtain a full understanding of the distribution of baryons and dark matter (DM), although such degeneracies might be broken by the combination of these two tracers, leading to more reliable measurements of the mass distribution of the lens galaxy. We use mock data from IllustrisTNG50 to compare how dynamical-only, lens-only, and joint modelling can constrain the mass distribution of early-type galaxies (ETGs). The joint model consistently outperforms the other models, achivieng a $2\%$ accuracy in recovering the total mass within $2.5R_\text{eff}$. The Einstein radius is robustly recovered for both lens-only and joint models, with the first showing a median fractional error of $-5\%$ and the latter a fractional error consistent with zero. The stellar mass-to-light ratio and total mass density slope are well recovered by all models. In particular, the dynamical-only model achieves an accuracy of $1\%$ for the stellar mass-to-light ratio, while the accuracy of the mass density slope is typically of the order of $5\%$ for all models. However, all models struggle to constrain integrated quantities involving DM and the halo parameters. Nevertheless, imposing more restrictive assumptions on the DM halo, such as fixing the scale radius, could alleviate some of the issues. Finally, we verify that the number of kinematical constraints ($15, 35, 55$ bins) on the kinematical map does not impact the models outcomes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Low surface brightness dwarf galaxies and their globular cluster populations around the low-density environment of our closest S0 NGC3115

Understanding faint dwarf galaxies is fundamental to the development of a robust theory of galaxy formation on small scales. Since the discovery of a population of ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) rich in globular clusters (GCs) in Coma, an increasing number of studies on low surface brightness dwarf galaxies (LSBds) have been published in recent years. The most massive LSBds have been observed predominantly in groups and clusters, with properties displaying dependence on the environment. In this work, we use deep DECam imaging to systematically identify LSBds and their GC populations around the low-density environment of NGC 3115. We carefully analyse the structure and morphology of 24 candidates, 18 of which are reported for the first time. Most candidates exhibit red colours suggesting a connection between their colour and distance to NGC 3115. We followed up with Gemini GMOS imaging 9 LSBds to properly identify their GC populations. We derive lower limits for the number of GCs associated with each galaxy. Our analysis reveals that they occur around of the same loci of Fornax LSB dwarf GC systems. The relationship between the number of GCs and total mass provides a tool in which, by counting the GCs in these galaxies, we estimate an upper limit for the total mass of these LSB dwarfs, obtaining the mean value of $\sim 3.3\times10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$. Our results align with expectations for dwarf-sized galaxies, particularly regarding the distribution and specific frequency of their GC systems.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The internal dynamics and environments of Relics and compact massive ETGs with TNG50

Relic galaxies are massive, compact, quiescent objects observed in the local Universe that have not experienced any significant interaction episodes or merger events since about $z = 2$, remaining relatively unaltered since their formation. On the other hand, massive and compact Early Type Galaxies (cETGs) in the local Universe appear to show similar properties to Relic galaxies, despite having substantial accretion history. Relic galaxies, with frozen history, can provide important clues about the intrinsic processes related to the evolutionary pathways of ETGs and the role that mergers play in their evolution. Using the high-resolution cosmological simulation TNG50-1 from the Illustris Project, we investigate the assembly history of a sample of massive, compact, old, and quiescent subhalos split by satellite accretion fraction. We compare the evolutionary pathways at three cosmic epochs: $z = 2$, $z = 1.5$, and $z = 0$, using the orbital decomposition numerical method to investigate the stellar dynamics of each galactic kinematical component and their environmental correlations. Our results point to a steady pathway across time that is not strongly dependent on the environment. Relics and cETGs do not show a clear preference for high or low-density environments within the volume explored at TNG50. However, progenitors of Relic galaxies are shown to be located in high density since $z = 2$. The merger history can be recovered from the hot inner stellar halo imprints in the local Universe. In the current scenario, the mergers that drive the growth of cETGs do not give rise to a new and distinct evolutionary pathway when compared to Relics. This is despite the reported effects on the age and metallicity of the kinematic components.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Probing General Relativity in galactic scales at z $\sim0.3$

General Relativity (GR) has been successfully tested mainly at Solar system scales; however, galaxy-scale tests have become popular in the last few decades. In this work, we investigate the $η_\text{PPN}$ parameter, which is commonly defined by the ratio of two scalar potentials that appears in the cosmological linearly perturbed metric. Under the assumption of GR and a vanish anisotropic stress tensor, $η_\text{PPN}= 1$. Using ALMA, HST, and VLT/MUSE data, we combine mass measurements, using gravitational lensing and galactic dynamics, for the SDP.81 lens galaxy ($z = 0.299$) to constrain $η_\text{PPN}$. By using a flexible and self-consistent mass profile, our fiducial model takes into account the contribution of the stellar mass and a dark matter halo to reconstruct the lensed galaxy and the spatially-resolved stellar kinematics. We infer, after accounting for systematic uncertainties related to the mass model, cosmology and kinematics, $η_{\text{PPN}} = 1.13^{+0.03}_{-0.03}\pm0.20\,(\text{sys})$, which is in accordance with GR predictions. Better spectroscopy data are needed to push the systematics down and bring the uncertainty to the percentage level since our analysis shows that the main source of the systematics is related to kinematics, which heavily depends on the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectra.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

Relic galaxy analogues in Illustris TNG50: the formation pathways of surviving red nuggets in a cosmological simulation

Relic galaxies are massive compact quiescent galaxies that formed at high-redshift and remained almost unchanged since then. In this work, we search for analogues to relic galaxies in the TNG50 cosmological simulations to understand relic formation and test the ability of TNG50 to reproduce such rare objects. Using stellar mass, age, radius, quiescence and stellar assembly criteria, we find 5 subhalos in TNG50 that could be potential relic analogues. We compare their properties with other constraints imposed by a sample of 13 observed relic galaxies. We find one analogue in TNG50 that simultaneously satisfies most of the available observational constraints, such as metallicity and morphology. It also shows similarities to the confirmed relic NGC 1277, regarding environment and dark matter fraction. By taking into account a degree of relicness, a second relic analogue may also be considered. However, the central parts of the brightness and density profiles of the analogues are less steep than that of real relic galaxies, possibly due to limited numerical resolution. We identify two formation pathways of relic analogues in TNG50 depending on their environment: they either have their remaining gas stripped during the infall into a cluster at $z \lesssim 1.2$ or consume it before $z > 1.5$. They are then deprived of significant star formation, leaving their stellar populations almost unaltered during the last 9 Gyr. We also find that the analogue progenitors at $z \sim 4$ inhabit more massive halos than progenitors of quiescent galaxies with similar stellar mass at $z \sim 0$.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Modelling high-resolution ALMA observations of strongly lensed dustystar forming galaxies detected by Herschel

We present modelling of ~0.1arcsec resolution Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimeter Array imaging of seven strong gravitationally lensed galaxies detected by the Herschel Space Observatory. Four of these systems are galaxy-galaxy scale strong lenses, with the remaining three being group-scale lenses. Through careful modelling of visibilities, we infer the mass profiles of the lensing galaxies and by determining the magnification factors, we investigate the intrinsic properties and morphologies of the lensed sub-millimetre sources. We find that these sub-millimetre sources all have ratios of star formation rate to dust mass that is consistent with or in excess of the mean ratio for high-redshift sub-millimetre galaxies and low redshift ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. The contribution to the infrared luminosity from possible AGN is not quantified and so could be biasing our star formation rates to higher values. The majority of our lens models have mass density slopes close to isothermal, but some systems show significant differences.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Globular Cluster Systems of Relic Galaxies

We analyse the globular cluster (GC) systems of a sample of 15 massive, compact early-type galaxies (ETGs), 13 of which have already been identified as good relic galaxy candidates on the basis of their compact morphologies, old stellar populations and stellar kinematics. These relic galaxy candidates are likely the nearby counterparts of high redshift red nugget galaxies. Using F814W (~I) and F160W (~H) data from the WFC3 camara onboard the Hubble Space Telescope we determine the total number, luminosity function, specific frequency, colour and spatial distribution of the GC systems. We find lower specific frequencies (SN<2.5 with a median of SN=1) than ETGs of comparable mass. This is consistent with a scenario of rapid, early dissipative formation, with relatively low levels of accretion of low-mass, high-SN satellites. The GC half-number radii are compact, but follow the relations found in normal ETGs. We identify an anticorrelation between the specific angular momentum (lambda_R) of the host galaxy and the (I-H) colour distribution width of their GC systems. Assuming that lambda_R provides a measure of the degree of dissipation in massive ETGs, we suggest that the (I-H) colour distribution width can be used as a proxy for the degree of complexity of the accretion histories in these systems.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

The Causes of the Red Sequence, the Blue Cloud, the Green Valley and the Green Mountain

The galaxies found in optical surveys fall in two distinct regions of a diagram of optical colour versus absolute magnitude: the red sequence and the blue cloud with the green valley in between. We show that the galaxies found in a submillimetre survey have almost the opposite distribution in this diagram, forming a `green mountain'. We show that these distinctive distributions follow naturally from a single, continuous, curved Galaxy Sequence in a diagram of specific star-formation rate versus stellar mass without there being the need for a separate star-forming galaxy Main Sequence and region of passive galaxies. The cause of the red sequence and the blue cloud is the geometric mapping between stellar mass/specific star-formation rate and absolute magnitude/colour, which distorts a continuous Galaxy Sequence in the diagram of intrinsic properties into a bimodal distribution in the diagram of observed properties. The cause of the green mountain is Malmquist bias in the submillimetre waveband, with submillimetre surveys tending to select galaxies on the curve of the Galaxy Sequence, which have the highest ratios of submillimetre-to-optical luminosity. This effect, working in reverse, causes galaxies on the curve of the Galaxy Sequence to be underrepresented in optical samples, deepening the green valley. The green valley is therefore not evidence (1) for there being two distinct populations of galaxies, (2) for galaxies in this region evolving more quickly than galaxies in the blue cloud and the red sequence, (c) for rapid quenching processes in the galaxy population.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The second Herschel-ATLAS Data Release - III: optical and near-infrared counterparts in the North Galactic Plane field

This paper forms part of the second major public data release of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). In this work, we describe the identification of optical and near-infrared counterparts to the submillimetre detected sources in the $177$ deg$^2$ North Galactic Plane (NGP) field. We used the likelihood ratio method to identify counterparts in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and in the UKIRT Imaging Deep Sky Survey within a search radius of $10$ arcsec of the H-ATLAS sources with a $4σ$ detection at $250 \, μ$m. We obtained reliable ($R \ge 0.8 $) optical counterparts with $r< 22.4$ for 42429 H-ATLAS sources ($37.8$ per cent), with an estimated completeness of $71.7$ per cent and a false identification rate of $4.7$ per cent. We also identified counterparts in the near-infrared using deeper $K$-band data which covers a smaller $\sim25$ deg$^2$. We found reliable near-infrared counterparts to $61.8$ per cent of the $250$-$μ$m-selected sources within that area. We assessed the performance of the likelihood ratio method to identify optical and near-infrared counterparts taking into account the depth and area of both input catalogues. Using catalogues with the same surface density of objects in the overlapping $\sim25$ deg$^2$ area, we obtained that the reliable fraction in the near-infrared ($54.8$ per cent) is significantly higher than in the optical ($36.4$ per cent). Finally, using deep radio data which covers a small region of the NGP field, we found that $80 - 90$ per cent of our reliable identifications are correct.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The New Galaxy Evolution Paradigm Revealed by the Herschel Surveys

The Herschel Space Observatory has revealed a very different galaxyscape from that shown by optical surveys which presents a challenge for galaxy-evolution models. The Herschel surveys reveal (1) that there was rapid galaxy evolution in the very recent past and (2) that galaxies lie on a a single Galaxy Sequence (GS) rather than a star-forming `main sequence' and a separate region of `passive' or `red-and-dead' galaxies. The form of the GS is now clearer because far-infrared surveys such as the Herschel ATLAS pick up a population of optically-red star-forming galaxies that would have been classified as passive using most optical criteria. The space-density of this population is at least as high as the traditional star-forming population. By stacking spectra of H-ATLAS galaxies over the redshift range 0.001 < z < 0.4, we show that the galaxies responsible for the rapid low-redshift evolution have high stellar masses, high star-formation rates but, even several billion years in the past, old stellar populations - they are thus likely to be relatively recent ancestors of early-type galaxies in the Universe today. The form of the GS is inconsistent with rapid quenching models and neither the analytic bathtub model nor the hydrodynamical EAGLE simulation can reproduce the rapid cosmic evolution. We propose a new gentler model of galaxy evolution that can explain the new Herschel results and other key properties of the galaxy population.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The interstellar medium in high-redshift submillimeter galaxies as probed by infrared spectroscopy

Submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z\gtrsim1$ are luminous in the far-infrared and have star-formation rates, SFR, of hundreds to thousands of solar masses per year. However, it is unclear whether they are true analogs of local ULIRGs or whether the mode of their star formation is more similar to that in local disk galaxies. We target these questions by using Herschel-PACS to examine the conditions in the interstellar medium (ISM) in far-infrared luminous SMGs at z~1-4. We present 70-160 micron photometry and spectroscopy of the [OIV]26 micron, [FeII]26 micron, [SIII]33 micron, [SiII]34 micron, [OIII]52 micron, [NIII]57 micron, and [OI]63 micron fine-structure lines and the S(0) and S(1) hydrogen rotational lines in 13 lensed SMGs identified by their brightness in early Herschel data. Most of the 13 targets are not individually spectroscopically detected and we instead focus on stacking these spectra with observations of an additional 32 SMGs from the \herschel\ archive -- representing a complete compilation of PACS spectroscopy of SMGs. We detect [OI]63 micron, [SiII]34 micron, and [NIII]57 micron at >3sigma in the stacked spectra, determining that the average strengths of these lines relative to the far-IR continuum are $(0.36\pm0.12)\times10^{-3}$, $(0.84\pm0.17)\times10^{-3}$, and $(0.27\pm0.10)\times10^{-3}$, respectively. Using the [OIII]52/[NIII]57 emission line ratio we show that SMGs have average gas-phase metallicities $\gtrsim Z_{\rm sun}$. By using PDR modelling and combining the new spectral measurements with integrated far-infrared fluxes and existing [CII]158 micron data we show that SMGs have average gas densities, n, of $\sim10^{1-3}{\rm cm^{-3}}$ and FUV field strengths, $G_0\sim10^{2.2-4.5}$ (in Habing units: $1.6\times10^{-3}{\rm erg~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}}$), consistent with both local ULIRGs and lower luminosity star-forming galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Multi-wavelength lens reconstruction of a $\textit{Planck}$ $\&$ $\textit{Herschel}$-detected star-bursting galaxy

We present a source-plane reconstruction of a ${\it Herschel}$ and ${\it Planck}$-detected gravitationally-lensed dusty star-forming galaxy (DSFG) at $z=1.68$ using {\it Hubble}, Sub-millimeter Array (SMA), and Keck observations. The background sub-millimeter galaxy (SMG) is strongly lensed by a foreground galaxy cluster at $z=0.997$ and appears as an arc of length $\sim 15^{\prime \prime}$ in the optical images. The continuum dust emission, as seen by SMA, is limited to a single knot within this arc. We present a lens model with source plane reconstructions at several wavelengths to show the difference in magnification between the stars and dust, and highlight the importance of a multi-wavelength lens models for studies involving lensed DSFGs. We estimate the physical properties of the galaxy by fitting the flux densities to model SEDs leading to a magnification-corrected star formation rate of $390 \pm 60$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ and a stellar mass of $1.1 \pm 0.4\times 10^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$. These values are consistent with high-redshift massive galaxies that have formed most of their stars already. The estimated gas-to-baryon fraction, molecular gas surface density, and SFR surface density have values of $0.43 \pm 0.13$, $350 \pm 200$ M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$, and $\sim 12 \pm 7~$M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$, respectively. The ratio of star formation rate surface density to molecular gas surface density puts this among the most star-forming systems, similar to other measured SMGs and local ULIRGS.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Herschel-ATLAS: The Surprising Diversity of Dust-Selected Galaxies in the Local Submillimetre Universe

We present the properties of the first 250 $μ$m blind sample of nearby galaxies (15 < D < 46 Mpc) containing 42 objects from the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). Herschel's sensitivity probes the faint end of the dust luminosity function for the first time, spanning a range of stellar mass (7.4 < log$_{10}$ M$_{\star}$ < 11.3 M$_{\odot}$), star formation activity (-11.8 < log$_{10}$ SSFR < -8.9 yr$^{-1}$), gas fraction (3-96 per cent), and colour (0.6 < FUV-Ks < 7.0 mag). The median cold dust temperature is 14.6 K, colder than in the Herschel Reference Survey (18.5 K) and Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue 17.7 K. The mean dust-to-stellar mass ratio in our sample is higher than these surveys by factors of 3.7 and 1.8, with a dust mass volume density of (3.7 $\pm$ 0.7) x 10$^{5}$ M$_{\odot}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. Counter-intuitively, we find that the more dust rich a galaxy, the lower its UV attenuation. Over half of our dust-selected sample are very blue in FUV-Ks colour, with irregular and/or highly flocculent morphology, these galaxies account for only 6 per cent of the sample's stellar mass but contain over 35 per cent of the dust mass. They are the most actively star forming galaxies in the sample, with the highest gas fractions and lowest UV attenuation. They also appear to be in an early stage of converting their gas into stars, providing valuable insights into the chemical evolution of young galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Dust energy balance study of two edge-on spiral galaxies in the Herschel-ATLAS survey

Interstellar dust in galaxies can be traced either through its extinction effects on the star light, or through its thermal emission at infrared wavelengths. Recent radiative transfer studies of several nearby edge-on galaxies have found an apparent inconsistency in the dust energy balance: the radiative transfer models that successfully explain the optical extinction underestimate the observed fluxes by an average factor of three. We investigate the dust energy balance for IC4225 and NGC5166, two edge-on spiral galaxies observed by the Herschel Space Observatory in the frame of the H-ATLAS survey. We start from models which were constrained from optical data and extend them to construct the entire spectral energy distribution of our galaxies. These predicted values are subsequently compared to the observed far-infrared fluxes. We find that including a young stellar population in the modelling is necessary as it plays a non-negligible part in the heating of the dust grains. While the modelling approach for both galaxies is nearly identical, we find two very different results. As is often seen in other edge-on spiral galaxies, the far-infrared emission of our radiative transfer model of IC4225 underestimates the observed fluxes by a factor of about three. For NGC5166 on the other hand, we find that both the predicted spectral energy distribution as well as the simulated images match the observations particularly well. We explore possible reasons for this difference and conclude that it is unlikely that one single mechanism is the cause of the dust energy balance problem in spiral galaxies. We discuss the different approaches that can be considered in order to get a conclusive answer on the origin this discrepancy.

astro-ph.GA↗