arXiv subjects

R. Keskitalo

Publications and source records attributed to R. Keskitalo.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XL. The Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal from the Virgo cluster

The Virgo cluster is the largest Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) source in the sky, both in terms of angular size and total integrated flux. Planck's wide angular scale and frequency coverage, together with its high sensitivity, allow a detailed study of this large object through the SZ effect. Virgo is well resolved by Planck, showing an elongated structure, which correlates well with the morphology observed from X-rays, but extends beyond the observed X-ray signal. We find a good agreement between the SZ signal (or Compton paranmeter, y_c) observed by Planck and the expected signal inferred from X-ray observations and simple analytical models. Due to its proximity to us, the gas beyond the virial radius can be studied with unprecedented sensitivity by integrating the SZ signal over tens of square degrees. We study the signal in the outskirts of Virgo and compare it with analytical models and a constrained simulation of the environment of Virgo. Planck data suggest that significant amounts of low-density plasma surround Virgo out to twice the virial radius. We find the SZ signal in the outskirts of Virgo to be consistent with a simple model that extrapolates the inferred pressure at lower radii while assuming that the temperature stays in the keV range beyond the virial radius. The observed signal is also consistent with simulations and points to a shallow pressure profile in the outskirts of the cluster. This reservoir of gas at large radii can be linked with the hottest phase of the elusive warm/hot intergalactic medium. Taking the lack of symmetry of Virgo into account, we find that a prolate model is favoured by the combination of SZ and X-ray data, in agreement with predictions.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Modeling atmospheric emission for CMB ground-based observations

Atmosphere is one of the most important noise sources for ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. By increasing optical loading on the detectors, it amplifies their effective noise, while its fluctuations introduce spatial and temporal correlations between detected signals. We present a physically motivated 3d-model of the atmosphere total intensity emission in the millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. We derive a new analytical estimate for the correlation between detectors time-ordered data as a function of the instrument and survey design, as well as several atmospheric parameters such as wind, relative humidity, temperature and turbulence characteristics. Using an original numerical computation, we examine the effect of each physical parameter on the correlations in the time series of a given experiment. We then use a parametric-likelihood approach to validate the modeling and estimate atmosphere parameters from the POLARBEAR-I project first season data set. We derive a new 1.0% upper limit on the linear polarization fraction of atmospheric emission. We also compare our results to previous studies and weather station measurements. The proposed model can be used for realistic simulations of future ground-based CMB observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Planck 2015 results. IV. Low Frequency Instrument beams and window functions

This paper presents the characterization of the in-flight beams, the beam window functions, and the associated uncertainties for the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI). The structure of the paper is similar to that presented in the 2013 Planck release; the main differences concern the beam normalization and the delivery of the window functions to be used for polarization analysis. The in-flight assessment of the LFI main beams relies on measurements performed during observations of Jupiter. By stacking data from seven Jupiter transits, the main beam profiles are measured down to -25 dB at 30 and 44 GHz, and down to -30 dB at 70 GHz. It has been confirmed that the agreement between the simulated beams and the measured beams is better than 1% at each LFI frequency band (within the 20 dB contour from the peak, the rms values are 0.1% at 30 and 70 GHz; 0.2% at 44 GHz). Simulated polarized beams are used for the computation of the effective beam window functions. The error budget for the window functions is estimated from both main beam and sidelobe contributions, and accounts for the radiometer band shapes. The total uncertainties in the effective beam window functions are 0.7% and 1% at 30 and 44 GHz, respectively (at $\ell \approx 600$); and 0.5% at 70 GHz (at $\ell \approx 1000$).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXXVIII. E- and B-modes of dust polarization from the magnetized filamentary structure of the interstellar medium

The quest for a B-mode imprint from primordial gravity waves on the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) requires the characterization of foreground polarization from Galactic dust. We present a statistical study of the filamentary structure of the 353 GHz Planck Stokes maps at high Galactic latitude, relevant to the study of dust emission as a polarized foreground to the CMB. We filter the intensity and polarization maps to isolate filaments in the range of angular scales where the power asymmetry between E-modes and B-modes is observed. Using the Smoothed Hessian Major Axis Filament Finder, we identify 259 filaments at high Galactic latitude, with lengths larger or equal to 2° (corresponding to 3.5 pc in length for a typical distance of 100 pc). These filaments show a preferred orientation parallel to the magnetic field projected onto the plane of the sky, derived from their polarization angles. We present mean maps of the filaments in Stokes I, Q, U, E, and B, computed by stacking individual images rotated to align the orientations of the filaments. Combining the stacked images and the histogram of relative orientations, we estimate the mean polarization fraction of the filaments to be 11 %. Furthermore, we show that the correlation between the filaments and the magnetic field orientations may account for the E and B asymmetry and the $C_{\ell}^{TE}/C_{\ell}^{EE}$ ratio, reported in the power spectra analysis of the Planck 353 GHz polarization maps. Future models of the dust foreground for CMB polarization studies will need to take into account the observed correlation between the dust polarization and the structure of interstellar matter.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck 2015 results. XXIII. The thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect--cosmic infrared background correlation

We use Planck data to detect the cross-correlation between the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the infrared emission from the galaxies that make up the the cosmic infrared background (CIB). We first perform a stacking analysis towards Planck-confirmed galaxy clusters. We detect infrared emission produced by dusty galaxies inside these clusters and demonstrate that the infrared emission is about 50% more extended than the tSZ effect. Modelling the emission with a Navarro--Frenk--White profile, we find that the radial profile concentration parameter is $c_{500} = 1.00^{+0.18}_{-0.15}$. This indicates that infrared galaxies in the outskirts of clusters have higher infrared flux than cluster-core galaxies. We also study the cross-correlation between tSZ and CIB anisotropies, following three alternative approaches based on power spectrum analyses: (i) using a catalogue of confirmed clusters detected in Planck data; (ii) using an all-sky tSZ map built from Planck frequency maps; and (iii) using cross-spectra between Planck frequency maps. With the three different methods, we detect the tSZ-CIB cross-power spectrum at significance levels of (i) 6 $σ$, (ii) 3 $σ$, and (iii) 4 $σ$. We model the tSZ-CIB cross-correlation signature and compare predictions with the measurements. The amplitude of the cross-correlation relative to the fiducial model is $A_{\rm tSZ-CIB}= 1.2\pm0.3$. This result is consistent with predictions for the tSZ-CIB cross-correlation assuming the best-fit cosmological model from Planck 2015 results along with the tSZ and CIB scaling relations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXXIV. The magnetic field structure in the Rosette Nebula

Planck has mapped the polarized dust emission over the whole sky, making it possible to trace the Galactic magnetic field structure that pervades the interstellar medium (ISM). We combine polarization data from Planck with rotation measure (RM) observations towards a massive star-forming region, the Rosette Nebula in the Monoceros molecular cloud, to study its magnetic field structure and the impact of an expanding HII region on the morphology of the field. We derive an analytical solution for the magnetic field, assumed to evolve from an initially uniform configuration following the expansion of ionized gas and the formation of a shell of swept-up ISM. From the RM data we estimate a mean value of the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field of about 3microG (towards the observer) in the Rosette Nebula, for a uniform electron density of about 12cm-3. The dust shell that surrounds the Rosette HII region is clearly observed in the Planck intensity map at 353 GHz, with a polarization signal significantly different from that of the local background when considered as a whole. The Planck observations constrain the plane-of-the-sky orientation of the magnetic field in the Rosette's parent molecular cloud to be mostly aligned with the large-scale field along the Galactic plane. The Planck data are compared with the analytical model, which predicts the mean polarization properties of a spherical and uniform dust shell for a given orientation of the field. This comparison leads to an upper limit of about 45degr on the angle between the line of sight and the magnetic field in the Rosette complex, for an assumed intrinsic dust polarization fraction of 4%. This field direction can reproduce the RM values detected in the ionized region if the magnetic field strength in the Monoceros molecular cloud is in the range 6.5--9microG.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXV. The Andromeda Galaxy as seen by Planck

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is one of a few galaxies that has sufficient angular size on the sky to be resolved by the Planck satellite. Planck has detected M31 in all of its frequency bands, and has mapped out the dust emission with the High Frequency Instrument, clearly resolving multiple spiral arms and sub-features. We examine the morphology of this long-wavelength dust emission as seen by Planck, including a study of its outermost spiral arms, and investigate the dust heating mechanism across M31. We find that dust dominating the longer wavelength emission ($\gtrsim 0.3\,$mm) is heated by the diffuse stellar population (as traced by 3.6$\,μ$m emission), with the dust dominating the shorter wavelength emission heated by a mix of the old stellar population and star-forming regions (as traced by 24$\,μ$m emission). We also fit spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for individual 5' pixels and quantify the dust properties across the galaxy, taking into account these different heating mechanisms, finding that there is a linear decrease in temperature with galactocentric distance for dust heated by the old stellar population, as would be expected, with temperatures ranging from around 22$\,$K in the nucleus to 14$\,$K outside of the 10$\,$kpc ring. Finally, we measure the integrated spectrum of the whole galaxy, which we find to be well-fitted with a global dust temperature of ($18.2\pm1.0$)$\,$K with a spectral index of $1.62\pm0.11$ (assuming a single modified blackbody), and a significant amount of free-free emission at intermediate frequencies of 20-60$\,$GHz, which corresponds to a star formation rate of around $0.12$M$_\odot\,$yr$^{-1}$. We find a $2.3\,σ$ detection of the presence of spinning dust emission, with a 30$\,$GHz amplitude of $0.7\pm0.3\,$Jy, which is in line with expectations from our Galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXXV. Probing the role of the magnetic field in the formation of structure in molecular clouds

Within ten nearby (d < 450 pc) Gould Belt molecular clouds we evaluate statistically the relative orientation between the magnetic field projected on the plane of sky, inferred from the polarized thermal emission of Galactic dust observed by Planck at 353 GHz, and the gas column density structures, quantified by the gradient of the column density, $N_H$. The selected regions, covering several degrees in size, are analyzed at an effective angular resolution of 10' FWHM, thus sampling physical scales from 0.4 to 40 pc in the nearest cloud. The column densities in the selected regions range from $N_H \approx 10^{21}$ to $10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, and hence they correspond to the bulk of the molecular clouds. The relative orientation is evaluated pixel by pixel and analyzed in bins of column density using the novel statistical tool called "Histogram of Relative Orientations". Throughout this study, we assume that the polarized emission observed by Planck at 353 GHz is representative of the projected morphology of the magnetic field in each region, i.e., we assume a constant dust grain alignment efficiency, independent of the local environment. Within most clouds we find that the relative orientation changes progressively with increasing $N_H$, from preferentially parallel or having no preferred orientation to preferentially perpendicular. In simulations of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in molecular clouds this trend in relative orientation is a signature of Alfvénic or sub-Alfvénic turbulence, implying that the magnetic field is significant for the gas dynamics at the scales probed by Planck. We compare the deduced magnetic field strength with estimates we obtain from other methods and discuss the implications of the Planck observations for the general picture of molecular cloud formation and evolution.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXXIX. The Planck list of high-redshift source candidates

The Planck mission, thanks to its large frequency range and all-sky coverage, has a unique potential for systematically detecting the brightest, and rarest, submillimetre sources on the sky, including distant objects in the high-redshift Universe traced by their dust emission. A novel method, based on a component-separation procedure using a combination of Planck and IRAS data, has been applied to select the most luminous cold submm sources with spectral energy distributions peaking between 353 and 857GHz at 5' resolution. A total of 2151 Planck high-z source candidates (the PHZ) have been detected in the cleanest 26% of the sky, with flux density at 545GHz above 500mJy. Embedded in the cosmic infrared background close to the confusion limit, these high-z candidates exhibit colder colours than their surroundings, consistent with redshifts z>2, assuming a dust temperature of 35K and a spectral index of 1.5. First follow-up observations obtained from optical to submm have confirmed that this list consists of two distinct populations. A small fraction (around 3%) of the sources have been identified as strongly gravitationally lensed star-forming galaxies, which are amongst the brightest submm lensed objects (with flux density at 545GHz ranging from 350mJy up to 1Jy) at redshift 2 to 4. However, the vast majority of the PHZ sources appear as overdensities of dusty star-forming galaxies, having colours consistent with z>2, and may be considered as proto-cluster candidates. The PHZ provides an original sample, complementary to the Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich Catalogue; by extending the population of the virialized massive galaxy clusters to a population of sources at z>1.5, the PHZ may contain the progenitors of today's clusters. Hence the PHZ opens a new window on the study of the early ages of structure formation, and the understanding of the intensively star-forming phase at high-z.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck 2013 results. XXXI. Consistency of the Planck data

The Planck design and scanning strategy provide many levels of redundancy that can be exploited to provide tests of internal consistency. One of the most important is the comparison of the 70GHz and 100GHz channels. Based on different instrument technologies, with feeds located differently in the focal plane, analysed independently by different teams using different software, and near the minimum of diffuse foreground emission, these channels are in effect two different experiments. The 143GHz channel has the lowest noise level on Planck, and is near the minimum of unresolved foreground emission. In this paper, we analyse the level of consistency achieved in the 2013 Planck data. We concentrate on comparisons between the 70/100/143GHz channel maps and power spectra, particularly over the angular scales of the first and second acoustic peaks, on maps masked for diffuse Galactic emission and for strong unresolved sources. Difference maps covering angular scales from 8deg-15arcmin are consistent with noise, and show no evidence of cosmic microwave background structure. Including small but important corrections for unresolved-source residuals, we demonstrate agreement between 70 and 100GHz power spectra averaged over 70<l<390 at the 0.8% level, and agreement between 143 and 100GHz power spectra of 0.4% over the same l range. These values are within and consistent with the overall uncertainties in calibration given in the Planck 2013 results. We also present results based on the 2013 likelihood analysis showing consistency at the 0.35% between the 100/143/217GHz power spectra. We analyse calibration procedures and beams to determine what fraction of these differences can be accounted for by known approximations or systematic errors that could be controlled even better in the future, reducing uncertainties still further. Several possible small improvements are described...(abridged)

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Planck 2013 results. XXVII. Doppler boosting of the CMB: Eppur si muove

Our velocity relative to the rest frame of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) generates a dipole temperature anisotropy on the sky which has been well measured for more than 30 years, and has an accepted amplitude of v/c = 0.00123, or v = 369km/s. In addition to this signal generated by Doppler boosting of the CMB monopole, our motion also modulates and aberrates the CMB temperature fluctuations (as well as every other source of radiation at cosmological distances). This is an order 0.1% effect applied to fluctuations which are already one part in roughly one hundred thousand, so it is quite small. Nevertheless, it becomes detectable with the all-sky coverage, high angular resolution, and low noise levels of the Planck satellite. Here we report a first measurement of this velocity signature using the aberration and modulation effects on the CMB temperature anisotropies, finding a component in the known dipole direction, (l,b)=(264, 48) [deg], of 384km/s +- 78km/s (stat.) +- 115km/s (syst.). This is a significant confirmation of the expected velocity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXXIII. Signature of the magnetic field geometry of interstellar filaments in dust polarization maps

Planck observations at 353GHz provide the first fully-sampled maps of the polarized dust emission towards interstellar filaments and their backgrounds. The polarization data provide insight on the structure of their magnetic field (B). We present the polarization maps of three nearby star forming filament of moderate column density (NH~10^22cm^-2): Musca, B211, and L1506. We use the spatial information to separate Stokes I, Q, and U of the filaments from those of their backgrounds, an essential step to measure the intrinsic polarization fraction (p) and angle (psi) of each emission component. We find that the polarization angles in the three filaments (psi_fil) are coherent along their lengths and not the same as in their backgrounds (psi_bg). The differences between psi_fil and psi_bg are 12deg, 6deg, and 54deg for Musca, B211, and L1506, respectively. These differences for Musca and L1506 are larger than the dispersions of psi, both along the filaments and in their backgrounds. The observed changes of psi are direct evidence for variations of the orientation of the plane of the sky (POS) projection of the B-field. As in previous studies, we find a decrease of several percent of p with NH. We show that the drop in p cannot be explained by random fluctuations of the orientation of B within the filaments because they are too small (sigma_psi<10deg). We recognize the degeneracy between dust alignment efficiency and the structure of B in causing variations in p, but we argue that the decrease of p from the backgrounds to the filaments results in part from depolarization associated with the 3D structure of B: both its orientation in the POS and with respect to the POS. We do not resolve the inner structure of the filaments, but at the smallest scales accessible with Planck (~0.2pc), the observed changes of psi and p hold information on the B-field structure within filaments.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXIII. Galactic plane emission components derived from Planck with ancillary data

Planck data when combined with ancillary data provide a unique opportunity to separate the diffuse emission components of the inner Galaxy. The purpose of the paper is to elucidate the morphology of the various emission components in the strong star-formation region lying inside the solar radius and to clarify the relationship between the various components. The region of the Galactic plane covered is l=300-0-60deg where star-formation is highest and the emission is strong enough to make meaningful component separation. The latitude widths in this longitude range lie between 1deg and 2deg, which correspond to FWHM z-widths of 100-200pc at a typical distance of 6kpc. The four emission components studied here are synchrotron, free-free, anomalous microwave emission (AME), and thermal (vibrational) dust emission. These components are identified by constructing spectral energy distributions (SEDs) at positions along the Galactic plane using the wide frequency coverage of Planck (28.4-857GHz) in combination with low-frequency radio data at 0.408-2.3GHz plus WMAP data at 23-94GHz, along with far-infrared (FIR) data from DIRBE and IRAS. The free-free component is determined from radio recombination line (RRL) data. AME is found to be comparable in brightness to the free-free emission on the Galactic plane in the frequency range 20-40GHz with a width in latitude similar to that of the thermal dust; it comprises 45+/-1% of the total 28.4GHz emission in the longitude range l=300-0-60deg. The free-free component is the narrowest, reflecting the fact that it is produced by current star-formation as traced by the narrow distribution of OB stars. It is the dominant emission on the plane between 60 and 100GHz. RRLs from this ionized gas are used to assess its distance, leading to a free-free z-width of FWHM ~100pc...(abridged)

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXII. Frequency dependence of thermal emission from Galactic dust in intensity and polarization

Planck has mapped the intensity and polarization of the sky at microwave frequencies with unprecedented sensitivity. We make use of the Planck 353 GHz I, Q, and U Stokes maps as dust templates, and cross-correlate them with the Planck and WMAP data at 12 frequencies from 23 to 353 GHz, over circular patches with 10 degree radius. The cross-correlation analysis is performed for both intensity and polarization data in a consistent manner. We use a mask that focuses our analysis on the diffuse interstellar medium at intermediate Galactic latitudes. We determine the spectral indices of dust emission in intensity and polarization between 100 and 353 GHz, for each sky-patch. The mean values, $1.59\pm0.02$ for polarization and $1.51\pm0.01$ for intensity, for a mean dust temperature of 19.6 K, are close, but significantly different ($3.6\,σ$). We determine the mean spectral energy distribution (SED) of the microwave emission, correlated with the 353 GHz dust templates, by averaging the results of the correlation over all sky-patches. We find that the mean SED increases for decreasing frequencies at $ν< 60$ GHz, for both intensity and polarization. The rise of the polarization SED towards low frequencies may be accounted for by a synchrotron component correlated with dust, with no need for any polarization of the anomalous microwave emission. We use a spectral model to separate the synchrotron and dust polarization and to characterize the spectral dependence of the dust polarization fraction. The polarization fraction ($p$) of the dust emission decreases by $(21\pm6)$ % from 353 to 70 GHz. The decrease of $p$ could indicate differences in polarization efficiency among components of interstellar dust (e.g., carbon versus silicate grains). Our observational results provide inputs to quantify and optimize the separation between Galactic and cosmological polarization.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXVII. High-redshift infrared galaxy overdensity candidates and lensed sources discovered by Planck and confirmed by Herschel-SPIRE

[Abridged] We use the Planck all-sky submm and mm maps to search for rare sources distinguished by extreme brightness, a few hundreds of mJy, and their potential for being situated at high redshift. These "cold" Planck sources, selected using the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) directly from the maps and from the Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources (PCCS), all satisfy the criterion of having their rest-frame far-infrared peak redshifted to the frequency range 353 and 857 GHz. This colour-selection favours galaxies in the redshift range z=2-4, which we consider as cold peaks in the cosmic infrared background (CIB). We perform a dedicated Herschel-SPIRE follow-up of 234 such Planck targets, finding a significant excess of red 350 and 500um sources, in comparison to reference SPIRE fields. About 94% of the SPIRE sources in the Planck fields are consistent with being overdensities of galaxies peaking at 350um. About 3% are candidate lensed systems, all 12 of which have secure spectroscopic confirmations, placing them at redshifts z>2.2. The galaxy overdensities are detected with high significance, half of the sample showing statistical significance above 10sigma. The SPIRE photometric redshifts of galaxies in overdensities suggest a peak at z~2. Under the Td=35K assumption, we derive an infrared (IR) luminosity for each SPIRE source of about 4x10^12 Lsun, yielding star formation rates of typically 700 Msun.yr^-1. If the observed overdensities are actual gravitationally-bound structures, the total total star formation rates reaches 7x10^3 Msun.yr^-1. Taken together, these sources show the signatures of high-z (z>$) protoclusters of intensively star-forming galaxies. All these observations confirm the uniqueness of our sample and demonstrate the ability of the all-sky Planck-HFI cold sources to select populations of cosmological and astrophysical interest for structure formation studies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXXII. The relative orientation between the magnetic field and structures traced by interstellar dust

The role of the magnetic field in the formation of the filamentary structures observed in the interstellar medium (ISM) is a debated topic. The Planck all-sky maps of linearly polarized emission from dust at 353GHz provide the required combination of imaging and statistics to study the correlation between the structures of the Galactic magnetic field and of interstellar matter, both in the diffuse ISM and in molecular clouds. The data reveal structures, or ridges, in the intensity map with counterparts in the Stokes Q and/or U maps. We focus on structures at intermediate and high Galactic latitudes with column density from $10^{20}$ to $10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$. We measure the magnetic field orientation on the plane of the sky from the polarization data, and present an algorithm to estimate the orientation of the ridges from the dust intensity map. We use analytical models to account for projection effects. Comparing polarization angles on and off the structures, we estimate the mean ratio between the strengths of the turbulent and mean components of the magnetic field to be between 0.6 and 1.0, with a preferred value of 0.8. We find that the ridges are preferentially aligned with the magnetic field measured on the structures. This trend becomes more striking for increasing polarization fraction and decreasing column density. We interpret the increase of alignment with polarization fraction as a consequence of projections effects. The decrease of alignment for high column density is not due to a loss of correlation between the structures and the geometry of the magnetic field. In molecular complexes, we observe structures perpendicular to the magnetic field, which cannot be accounted for by projection effects. We discuss our results in the context of models and MHD simulations, which describe the formation of structures in the magnetized ISM.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXVIII. Interstellar gas and dust in the Chamaeleon clouds as seen by Fermi LAT and Planck

Shortened abstract: Observations of the nearby Chamaeleon clouds in gamma rays with the Fermi Large Area Telescope and in thermal dust emission with Planck and IRAS have been used with the HI and CO radio data to (i) map the gas column densities in the different phases and at the dark neutral medium (DNM) transition between the HI-bright and CO-bright media; (ii) constrain the CO-to-$H_2$ conversion factor, $X_{CO}$; (iii) probe the dust properties per gas nucleon in each gas phase and spatially across the clouds. We have separated clouds in velocity in HI and CO emission and modelled the 0.4-100 GeV intensity, the dust optical depth at 353 GHz, the thermal radiance of the large grains, and an estimate of the dust extinction empirically corrected for the starlight intensity, $A_{VQ}$. The gamma-ray emissivity spectra confirm that the GeV-TeV cosmic rays uniformly permeate all gas phases up to the CO cores. The dust and cosmic rays reveal large amounts of DNM gas, with comparable spatial distributions and twice as much mass as in the CO-bright clouds. We give constraints on the HI-DNM-CO transitions and CO-dark $H_2$ fractions for separate clouds. The corrected extinction provides the best fit to the total gas traced by the gamma rays, but we find evidence for a rise in $A_{VQ}/N_H$ and a steep rise in opacity, with increasing $N_H$ and $H_2$ fraction, and with decreasing dust temperature. We observe less variations for the specific power of the grains, except for a decline by half in the CO cores. This combined information suggests grain evolution. The gamma rays and dust radiance yield consistent $X_{CO}$ estimates near $0.7\times10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (K km/s)$^{-1}$. The other dust tracers yield biased values because of the grain opacity rise in the CO clouds. These results also confirm a factor of 2 difference between $X_{CO}$ estimates at pc and kpc scales.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Planck intermediate results. XXI. Comparison of polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust at 353 GHz with interstellar polarization in the visible

The Planck survey provides unprecedented full-sky coverage of the submillimetre polarized emission from Galactic dust, bringing new constraints on the properties of dust. The dust grains that emit the radiation seen by Planck in the submillimetre also extinguish and polarize starlight in the visible. Comparison of the polarization of the emission and of the interstellar polarization on selected lines of sight probed by stars provides unique new diagnostics of the emission and light scattering properties of dust. Using ancillary catalogues of interstellar polarization and extinction of starlight, we obtain the degree of polarization, $p_V$ , and the optical depth in the V band to the star, $τ_V$. Toward these stars we measure the submillimetre polarized intensity, $P_S$, and total intensity, $I_S$, in the Planck 353 GHz channel. For those lines of sight through the diffuse interstellar medium with comparable values of the estimated column density and polarization directions close to orthogonal, we correlate properties in the submillimetre and visible to find two ratios, $R_{S/V} = (P_S/I_S)/(p_V/τ_V)$ and $R_{P/p} = P_S/p_V$ , the latter focusing directly on the polarization properties of the aligned grain population alone. We find $R_{S/V}$ = 4.2, with statistical and systematic uncertainties 0.2 and 0.3, respectively, and $R_{P/p}$ = 5.4 MJy sr$^{-1}$, with uncertainties 0.2 and 0.3 MJy sr$^{-1}$, respectively. Our estimate of $R_{S/V}$ is compatible with predictions based on a range of polarizing dust models that have been developed for the diffuse interstellar medium. However, our estimate of $R_{P/p}$ is not compatible with predictions, which are too low by a factor of about 2.5. This more discriminating diagnostic, $R_{P/p}$, indicates that changes to the optical properties in the models of the aligned grain population are required.

astro-ph.GA↗