arXiv subjects

Frédéric Galliano

Publications and source records attributed to Frédéric Galliano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

PAHSPECS: JWST/MIRI Spectroscopy of PAHs at Cosmic Noon

The physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM) are thought to differ greatly at high redshifts compared to local galaxies. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are key ISM constituents, mediating the heating and cooling of gas in photo-dissociation regions. However, PAHs are unexplored in main-sequence (MS) galaxies at z~1-2 (cosmic noon), limiting our view of the ISM's thermal and chemical balance. We present the PAH Spectroscopic Survey (PAHSPECS) JWST program, the first MIRI/MRS survey of the 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6 and 11.3$μ$m PAH features in MS galaxies at z~1. The five targets come from the deep ALMA CO and continuum flux-limited sample in the HUDF. We detect the 6.2, 7.7 and 11.3$μ$m PAHs in all galaxies, and the 3.3$μ$m feature in only two. Spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting to broad-band mid-IR photometry recovers the 6.2 and 7.7$μ$m PAH luminosities derived from spectral decomposition of the MRS spectra to within ~25% accuracy. However, the 3.3 and 11.3$μ$m features are overestimated by ~50% (up to 3-5x). Spatially resolved maps of ASPECS-6, the most extended source, show variations of the 7.7$μ$m PAH contribution to the MIRI F1500W flux, suggesting that while photometry can infer PAH luminosity accurately, IFU spectroscopy is necessary to study variations in PAH ratios and characterize galaxy dust properties. The PAH fraction of the total dust mass from photometric SED modeling roughly agrees with the $L_{\rm PAH}/L_{\rm IR}$ ratio measured from spectroscopy, but the correlation is not as tight as models predict. On average, PAHSPECS galaxies show an excess in 6.2$μ$m equivalent width relative to nearby dusty luminous systems, but lower 3.3$μ$m equivalent widths than local systems, similar to higher-mass starbursts at z~1-3. This points to differential changes in the size distributions of neutral and ionized PAHs in cosmic noon galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

PAHSPECS: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon properties at cosmic noon with JWST/MIRI MRS

Context. Cosmic noon (z ~ 1-3) marks the peak of the cosmic star-formation rate density, when dust-obscured star formation dominated galaxy growth. Mid-infrared spectroscopy probes the interstellar medium through PAH emission, whose band ratios trace PAH charge, size, and local radiation-field conditions. Aims. We characterize the PAH properties of five z ~ 1.1 star-forming galaxies from the PAHSPECS survey and investigate how their PAH luminosities and band ratios relate to global galaxy properties. We compare them with local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) to assess whether PAH emission at cosmic noon differs from that nearby. Methods. We analyze JWST/MIRI MRS observations of five ASPECS galaxies in the HUDF. Integrated spectra are extracted with wavelength-dependent apertures and modeled with CAFE, including ancillary photometry to constrain the dust emission. Stellar masses and SFRs are derived with Prospector. Results. Compared to local LIRGs, most PAHSPECS sources show higher 6.2/7.7 and lower 11.3/7.7 ratios, suggesting an ionized PAH component weighted toward smaller grains. The 3.3/11.3 ratio is less constrained, since the 3.3 micron feature is detected in only two sources. Within the sample, 11.3/7.7 increases with sSFR and star-formation surface density, while 6.2/7.7 decreases with sSFR, consistent with preferential processing of small ionized PAH carriers. ASPECS-15, the AGN-hosting source, has the lowest 6.2/7.7 ratio and highest sSFR, suggesting a reduced contribution from small PAHs, potentially due to AGN activity. The 7.7 micron luminosity follows the local L7.7-SFR relation, supporting its use as a star-formation tracer at z ~ 1. Conclusions. PAH emission at cosmic noon appears shaped by different ISM conditions than in nearby starburst galaxies, likely reflecting more intense radiation fields, while the 7.7 micron feature remains a robust SFR tracer.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Near- to Far-Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution Analysis of Interacting Galaxies in Hickson Compact Groups 56 and Stephan's Quintet (HCG 92)

We investigate star formation activity in galaxies belonging to two Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs), HCG 56 and HCG 92 (Stephan's Quintet), both of which show clear evidence of interactions, using spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis across the near- to far-infrared range. By combining data from the Infrared Satellite AKARI, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Herschel Space Observatory, we examine how galactic interactions influence the physical conditions and the evolution of group members. The observed SEDs of member galaxies are compared with model SEDs representing both star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN). Star formation rates (SFRs) are estimated using two independent methods: (i) the strength of mid-infrared polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bands and (ii) far-infrared luminosities attributed to star formation, as derived from the models. Although both methods yield generally consistent results, SFRs based on PAH features are systematically lower, possibly due to the PAH destruction in some interacting galaxies. When plotted against the stellar mass, all member galaxies are found below the main sequence of star-forming galaxies in the SDSS field, suggesting that interaction-induced starbursts are not seen in HCG 56 and HCG 92.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Survival of very small carbonaceous dust grains in the inner-CGM of NGC 891 from JWST/MIRI MRS

We present new spectroscopic observations of the inner circumgalactic medium (CGM) of NGC 891 taken with the Mid-Infrared Imager/Medium Resolution Spectroscopy instrument onboard JWST, in four positions: two near the bulge and two at galactocentric radii (r) of ~ 1.5, 4.7 kpc. Each pair of pointings has one position along the minor axis (h) at ~ 0.5 kpc and one at ~ 1 kpc away from the mid-plane. We analyse both 1D spectra and 3D cubes using the dust emission model PAHFIT to extract properties of typical mid-IR features. These spectra reveal that the earlier reported mid-IR emission out to 4 kpc is dominated by the emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and not hot dust continuum, providing direct evidence of the survival of PAHs in the inner CGM of NGC 891. Comparing PAH band ratios with other environments (Orion, M51), it is obvious that the 11.2 $μ$m PAH feature -- and not the usual 7.7 $μ$m -- dominates in NGC 891, which seems to imply the presence of more neutral, large PAHs in the CGM. Overall, PAH-to-continuum ratios show little variations with scale-height and radius in NGC 891, which suggests little PAH processing. However, we do see a decrease in the PAH feature strengths with the [Ne III]/[Ne II] ratio, pointing at elevated dust processing with increased radiation field hardness. We also confirm a tight correlation between H2 and PAH features, suggesting that both tracers must be co-spatial and, hence, implying that PAH emission predominantly arises from cool dense parts of cloudlets entrained in galactic outflows. Finally, we report the clear detection of a previously unidentified PAH feature at 16.72 $μ$m.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Summary of Discussion Sessions from "The Dusty Universe 2025: The Fifth Pandust Conference"

"The Dusty Universe: The Fifth Pandust Conference" took place in Tucson (AZ, USA) from November 10 until 14, 2025. The goal of this meeting was to get the dust community together to review where we are, hear exciting new results, and make plans for the future. The meeting encompassed all aspects of dust investigations including observations, theory, modeling, and laboratory studies. The conference consisted of invited review talks, contributed talks and posters. Science topics included interstellar dust (Milky Way & nearby galaxies), circumstellar dust (including Solar System & exoplanets), dust in Galaxies (including high-z), lifecycle of dust, and future needs (laboratory, theory, & observations), with a particular focus on results from JWST and ALMA, and on nanodust (including PAHs). On November 12th, we organized breakout discussion sessions covering a wide range of interesting dust-related topics. The purpose of this document is to capture the main topics/questions that were discussed, the key conclusions of these discussions, the challenges and possible solutions that were brought up, and the open questions that still remain to be answered. We hope that this document records our findings and challenges for the future generation.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

DustPedia and Local Volume Legacy samples as benchmarks for dust evolution in galaxies

DustPedia and LVL are two samples representative of the local galaxy population, including in total 1011 unique objects of all morphological types, with a wide range of stellar masses ($M_*$) and star-formation activity, and a spectral coverage from the FUV to the FIR. The purpose of this work is to show that these samples cover two complementary ranges in $M_*$ and morphology, making them an ideal set for constraining the dominant processes in the evolution of the galactic dust content. Using the multiwavelength data provided by the two surveys, we fitted the galaxies' spectral energy distribution and estimated their physical properties, in particular the $M_*$, $sM_\mathrm{dust}=M_\mathrm{dust}/M_*$, and sSFR = SFR$/M_*$. By combining DustPedia and LVL, we highlight that the $\log_{10}(sM_{\rm dust})$-$\log_{10}(M_*)$ trend is not monotonic. Thanks to a large number of objects across a wide range of $M_*$, we have been able to fit two smoothly-joined linear correlations: a positive for $\log_{10}(M_{*}/$M$_\odot)\lesssim9.5$ (mainly LVL late spirals and irregulars), and a negative one for larger-mass, mainly DustPedia spirals (early types are distinct and more dispersed in the same mass regime). For $\log_{10}(M_{*}/$M$_\odot)>9.5$, we confirm a strong sM_{\rm dust}-sSFR correlation; dwarf galaxies, instead, lie below this trend, with a large scatter of $sM_{\rm dust}$, for -10.5<$\log_{10}$(sSFR/yr$^{-1}$)<-9.0. By using chemical evolution models we find that the observed $\log_{10}(sM_{\rm dust})$-$\log_{10}(M_{*})$ and $\log_{10}(sM_{\rm dust})$-$\log_{10}$(sSFR) trends can be interpreted mainly by variations in the initial gas mass budget and the galaxy ages, respectively. Low-mass Sm-Irr galaxies with low $sM_{\rm dust}$ and high sSFR can only be reproduced by the models by assuming high photofragmentation rate of large grains, and/or low grain-growth in clouds.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

A wide-field, multi-line survey of CO in the Magellanic Clouds at parsec-scale resolution: characterising the molecular gas content with a 50-m single-dish submillimeter telescope

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC) are nearby dwarf galaxies whose proximity uniquely enables molecular cloud-scale resolution observations across the entire Magellanic system, a capability unmatched in any other external galaxy. Their low metallicities resemble conditions near the peak of cosmic star formation, allowing resolved studies of interstellar medium (ISM) phases, molecular cloud lifecycles, and feedback processes that regulate galaxy evolution. Comprehensive, wide-field spectroscopic mapping of CO and its isotopologues in different transitions, complemented by [CI] observations, and combined with already existing HI and HII surveys, will calibrate star-formation laws and gas-phase partition under low-metallicity conditions and furnish benchmarks for interpreting high-redshift galaxies and cosmological simulations. This science requires a large-aperture, wide-field submillimeter single dish with multi-pixel spectroscopic capabilities, operated from a high, dry site such as Chajnantor, to deliver fast, sensitive, high-resolution, degree-scale mapping with total-power fidelity. We present the case for a full molecular atlas of the Magellanic system, the enabling facility requirements, and the transformative impact on galaxy evolution studies

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

PRIMA survey of the Virgo cluster

Clusters of galaxies are unique laboratories for investigating the dependence of galaxy evolution on their environment. The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey (HeViCS) mapped the central 84 square degrees region of the Virgo Cluster in five bands between 100 and 500 micron, which resulted in the first detailed view of cold dust in cluster galaxies. Major limitations of the HeViCS survey were the lack of data, or its limited availability, in the 20 to 80 micron range, and the quite low sensitivity of the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer instrument, resulting in poor constraints on the warmer dust component. The PRIMAger instrument onboard PRIMA offers the capability to map a large portion of the Virgo Cluster -- including regions beyond its virial radius -- in hyperspectral and polarimetric bands from 25 to 265 micron, enabling a direct comparison with the area previously covered by HeViCS. By combining PRIMA and Herschel data with existing multi-wavelength photometry, it becomes possible to explore the connection between stellar and dust properties in a complete sample of cluster galaxies, to investigate environmental effects on the warm dust component within the Virgo Cluster, to map the magnetic field structure of the cold interstellar medium (ISM), to search for dust emission from the intra-cluster medium, and to study the ISM in background galaxies projected behind the cluster.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

The radial variation of the silicate-to-carbon ratio in M31 probed by PRIMA

The properties of interstellar dust grains are being scrutinized more than ever before, with the advent of large facilities. Infrared emission from dust grains is a powerful asset than can help constrain their physical and chemical properties. Among these, the relative ratio of carbon-rich to silicate-rich grains remains one that has not yet been investigated thoroughly, due to the lack of dedicated instruments and modeling limitations. In this paper, we quantify the modeling degeneracies inherent to constraining the far-infrared (far-IR) slope of the dust emission spectral energy distribution. Used as a proxy for the silicate-to-carbon ratio, we find that recovering the far-IR slope is affected by the estimate of the local radiation field, and the input abundances of different grain species. We show that PRIMA's Hyperspectral Imaging will lead to better constrained local radiation fields which will aid -- together with PRIMA's polarization capabilities -- to better constrain the silicate-to-carbon ratio in M31, and how it spatially varies within the galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

The PRIMA promise of deciphering interstellar dust evolution with observations of the nearby Universe

This paper develops a few science cases, using the PRIMA far-IR probe, aimed at achieving several breakthroughs in our understanding of the dust properties and their evolution. We argue that the specific observational capabilities of PRIMA, namely its unprecedented sensitivity over the whole far-IR range and the possibility to obtain continuous spectra between wavelengths 24 and 235 microns, are essential to progress in our understanding of the physics of the interstellar medium and galaxy evolution. Our science cases revolve around observations of nearby galaxies. We discuss the importance of detecting the IR emission of the diffuse interstellar medium of these galaxies, including very low-metallicity systems. We also discuss the opportunity of detecting various solid-state features to understand the mineralogy of interstellar grains. Finally, we stress the unique opportunity brought by the possible simultaneous measures of both the dust continuum and the far-IR fine-structure gas lines. These science cases could be distributed in a few large programs.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

The role of young and evolved stars in the heating of dust in local galaxies

Context. Dust is a fundamental component of the interstellar medium (ISM) and plays a critical role in galaxy evolution. Dust grains influence the ISM by cooling the gas, altering its chemistry, and absorbing stellar radiation, re-emitting it at longer wavelengths in the far-infrared (FIR) and sub-millimeter regimes. The cold dust component, which dominates the dust mass, is primarily heated by stellar radiation, including both young, massive stars and the diffuse emission from older stars. Understanding dust heating is essential to trace the connection between stellar populations and their environments. Aims. We aim to identify the dominant heating mechanisms of the cold dust in typical nearby spiral galaxies and explore the contributions of young and evolved stars to dust heating. Methods. Using 18 large, face-on spiral galaxies from the DustPedia project, we apply two complementary approaches: (1) correlation analysis between dust temperature (T_dust), SFR surface density (Sigma_SFR), and stellar mass surface density (Sigma_Mstar); and (2) study of the relationship between T_dust and dust mass surface density (Sigma_dust). Results. T_dust peaks at ~24 K in galaxy centers and drops to ~15 K at large radii. Galaxies with and without AGNs show similar T_dust profiles. For ~72% of the sample, both methods agree on the dominant heating source. Overall, we find that both young and evolved stars contribute to dust heating, with their relative roles varying between galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

Probing the heating of the neutral atomic interstellar medium in the Dwarf Galaxy Survey through infrared cooling lines

Star formation in galaxies is regulated by dynamical and thermal processes. The photoelectric effect on small dust grains usually dominates the heating of the star-forming neutral atomic gas reservoir in metal-rich galaxies, while the lower dust-to-gas mass ratio and the higher luminosity of X-ray sources in metal-poor galaxies suggest that other heating mechanisms may be at play. We calculate the relative contributions of the photoelectric effect, photoionization by UV and X-ray photons, and ionization by cosmic rays to the total heating in a sample of 37 nearby galaxies reaching down to 3% the Milky Way metallicity. We use the statistical code MULTIGRIS together with a grid of Cloudy models propagating radiation from stellar clusters and X-ray sources to the ionized and neutral gas, each galaxy being described as a statistical distribution of many 1D components. Infrared cooling lines from the interstellar medium (ISM) are used as constraints to evaluate the most likely distributions and parameters. We show that the photoelectric effect heating dominates in high-metallicity galaxies (>1/18 the Milky Way value) while cosmic rays and especially photoionization from X-rays become predominant in low-metallicity galaxies. Our models predict reasonably well the X-ray source fluxes in the 0.3-8 keV band using indirect ISM tracers, illustrating that the adopted strategy makes it possible to recover the global intrinsic radiation field properties when X-ray observations are unavailable, for instance in early universe galaxies. Finally, we show that the photoelectric effect heating efficiency on PAHs may be recovered through the [CII]+[OI] / PAH observational proxy only if the other heating mechanisms are accounted for (abridged).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

JWST MIRI and NIRCam observations of NGC 891 and its circumgalactic medium

We present new JWST observations of the nearby, prototypical edge-on, spiral galaxy NGC 891. The northern half of the disk was observed with NIRCam in its F150W and F277W filters. Absorption is clearly visible in the mid-plane of the F150W image, along with vertical dusty plumes that closely resemble the ones seen in the optical. A $\sim 10 \times 3~{\rm kpc}^2$ area of the lower circumgalactic medium (CGM) was mapped with MIRI F770W at 12 pc scales. Thanks to the sensitivity and resolution of JWST, we detect dust emission out to $\sim 4$ kpc from the disk, in the form of filaments, arcs, and super-bubbles. Some of these filaments can be traced back to regions with recent star formation activity, suggesting that feedback-driven galactic winds play an important role in regulating baryonic cycling. The presence of dust at these altitudes raises questions about the transport mechanisms at play and suggests that small dust grains are able to survive for several tens of million years after having been ejected by galactic winds in the disk-halo interface. We lay out several scenarios that could explain this emission: dust grains may be shielded in the outer layers of cool dense clouds expelled from the galaxy disk, and/or the emission comes from the mixing layers around these cool clumps where material from the hot gas is able to cool down and mix with these cool cloudlets. This first set of data and upcoming spectroscopy will be very helpful to understand the survival of dust grains in energetic environments, and their contribution to recycling baryonic material in the mid-plane of galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Searching for Carriers of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands Across Disciplines, using Natural Language Processing

The explosion of scientific publications overloads researchers with information. This is even more dramatic for interdisciplinary studies, where several fields need to be explored. A tool to help researchers overcome this is Natural Language Processing (NLP): a machine-learning (ML) technique that allows scientists to automatically synthesize information from many articles. As a practical example, we have used NLP to conduct an interdisciplinary search for compounds that could be carriers for Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs), a long-standing open question in astrophysics. We have trained a NLP model on a corpus of 1.5 million cross-domain articles in open access, and fine-tuned this model with a corpus of astrophysical publications about DIBs. Our analysis points us toward several molecules, studied primarily in biology, having transitions at the wavelengths of several DIBs and composed of abundant interstellar atoms. Several of these molecules contain chromophores, small molecular groups responsible for the molecule's colour, that could be promising candidate carriers. Identifying viable carriers demonstrates the value of using NLP to tackle open scientific questions, in an interdisciplinary manner.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2022

Disentangling emission from star-forming regions in the Magellanic Clouds: Linking [OIII]88 micron and 24 micron

This study explores the link between the [OIII]88mu emission, a well-known tracer of HII regions, and 24mu continuum, often used to trace warm dust in the ionized phases of galaxies. We investigate the local conditions driving the relation between those tracers in the Magellanic Clouds, comparing observations with Cloudy models consisting of an HII region plus a photodissociation region (PDR) component, varying the stellar age, the initial density (at the illuminated edge of the cloud), and the ionization parameter. We introduce a new parameter, cPDR, to quantify the proportion of emission arising from PDRs and that with an origin in HII regions along each line of sight. We use the ratio ([CII]+[OI])/[OIII] as a proxy for the ratio of PDR versus HII region emission, and compare it to [OIII]/24mu. The use of [OIII]/24mu and [OIII]/70mu together allows us to constrain the models most efficiently. We find a correlation over at least 3 orders of magnitude in [OIII]88mu and 24mu continuum in spatially resolved maps of the Magellanic Cloud regions as well as unresolved galaxy-wide low metallicity galaxies of the Dwarf Galaxy Survey. Most of the regions have low proportions of PDRs along the lines of sight (< 12%), while a limited area of some of the mapped regions can reach 30 to 50%. For most lines of sight within the star-forming regions we have studied in the Magellanic Clouds, HII regions are the dominant phase. We propose the use of the correlation between the [OIII]88mu and 24mu continuum as a new predictive tool to estimate, for example, the [OIII]88mu emission when the 24mu continuum is available or inversely. This can be useful to prepare for ALMA observations of [OIII]88mu in high-z galaxies. This simple and novel method may also provide a way to disentangle different phases along the line of sight, when other 3D information is not available.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

A nearby galaxy perspective on interstellar dust properties and their evolution

Interstellar dust is a key physical ingredient of galaxies, obscuring star formation, regulating the heating and cooling of the gas, and building-up chemical complexity. In this manuscript, I give a wide review of interstellar dust properties and some of the modern techniques used to study it. I start with a general introduction presenting the main concepts, in molecular and solid-state physics, required to understand the contemporary literature on the subject. I then review the empirical evidence we currently use to constrain state-of-the-art dust models. Follows a long discussion about our current understanding of the grain properties of nearby galaxies, with an emphasis on the results from spectral energy distribution modeling. The following chapter presents dust evolution at all scales. I review the different microphysical evolution processes, and the way they are accounted for in cosmic dust evolution models. I give my take on the origin of interstellar dust in galaxies of different metallicities. The last chapter focusses on methodology. I give an introduction to the Bayesian method and compare it to frequentist techniques. I discuss the epistemological consequences of the two approaches, and show why the field of interstellar dust requires a probabilistic viewpoint. I end the manuscript with a summary of the major breakthroughs achieved in the past decade, and delineate a few prospectives for the next decade.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Probing the spectral shape of dust emission with the DustPedia galaxy sample

The objective of this paper is to understand the variance of the far-infrared (FIR) spectral energy distribution (SED) of the DustPedia galaxies, and its link with the stellar and dust properties. An interesting aspect of the dust emission is the inferred FIR colours which could inform us about the dust content of galaxies, and how it varies with the physical conditions within galaxies. However, the inherent complexity of dust grains as well as the variety of physical properties depending on dust, hinder our ability to utilise their maximum potential. We use principal component analysis (PCA) to explore new hidden correlations with many relevant physical properties such as the dust luminosity, dust temperature, dust mass, bolometric luminosity, star-formation rate (SFR), stellar mass, specific SFR, dust-to-stellar mass ratio, the fraction of absorbed stellar luminosity by dust (f_abs), and metallicity. We find that 95% of the variance in our sample can be described by two principal components (PCs). The first component controls the wavelength of the peak of the SED, while the second characterises the width. The physical quantities that correlate better with the coefficients of the first two PCs, and thus control the shape of the FIR SED are: the dust temperature, the dust luminosity, the SFR, and f_abs. Finally, we find a weak tendency for low-metallicity galaxies to have warmer and broader SEDs, while on the other hand high-metallicity galaxies have FIR SEDs that are colder and narrower.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

A Nearby Galaxy Perspective on Dust Evolution. Scaling relations and constraints on the dust build-up in galaxies with the DustPedia and DGS samples

Methods. We have modelled a sample of ~800 nearby galaxies, spanning a wide range of metallicity, gas fraction, specific star formation rate and Hubble stage. We have derived the dust properties of each object from its spectral energy distribution. Through an additional level of analysis, we have inferred the timescales of dust condensation in core-collapse supernova ejecta, grain growth in cold clouds and dust destruction by shock waves. Throughout this paper, we have adopted a hierarchical Bayesian approach, resulting in a single large probability distribution of all the parameters of all the galaxies, to ensure the most rigorous interpretation of our data. Results. We confirm the drastic evolution with metallicity of the dust-to-metal mass ratio (by two orders of magnitude), found by previous studies. We show that dust production by core-collapse supernovae is efficient only at very low-metallicity, a single supernova producing on average less than ~0.03 Msun/SN of dust. Our data indicate that grain growth is the dominant formation mechanism at metallicity above ~1/5 solar, with a grain growth timescale shorter than ~50 Myr at solar metallicity. Shock destruction is relatively efficient, a single supernova clearing dust on average in at least ~1200 Msun/SN of gas. These results are robust when assuming different stellar initial mass functions. In addition, we show that early-type galaxies are outliers in several scaling relations. This feature could result from grain thermal sputtering in hot X-ray emitting gas, an hypothesis supported by a negative correlation between the dust-to-stellar mass ratio and the X-ray photon rate per grain. Finally, we confirm the well-known evolution of the aromatic-feature-emitting grain mass fraction as a function of metallicity and interstellar radiation field intensity. Our data indicate the relation with metallicity is significantly stronger.

astro-ph.GA↗