Julia Roman-Duval

Herschel detects a massive dust reservoir in supernova 1987A.

The large amount of dust produced by this supernova may help explain the dust observed in young galaxies. We report far-infrared and submillimeter observations of supernova 1987A, the star whose explosion was observed on 23 February 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy located 160,000 light years away. The observations reveal the presence of a population of cold dust grains radiating with a temperature of about 17 to 23 kelvin at a rate of about 220 times the luminosity of the Sun. The intensity and spectral energy distribution of the emission suggest a dust mass of about 0.4 to 0.7 times the mass of the Sun. The radiation must originate from the supernova ejecta and requires the efficient precipitation of all refractory material into dust. Our observations imply that supernovae can produce the large dust masses detected in young galaxies at very high redshifts.

Non-standard grain properties, dark gas reservoir, and extended submillimeter excess, probed by Herschel in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Context. Herschel provides crucial constraints on the IR SEDs of galaxies, allowing unprecedented accuracy on the dust mass estimates. However, these estimates rely on non-linear models and poorly-known optical properties. Aims. In this paper, we perform detailed modelling of the Spitzer and Herschel observations of the LMC, in order to: (i) systematically study the uncertainties and biases affecting dust mass estimates; and to (ii) explore the peculiar ISM properties of the LMC. Methods. To achieve these goals, we have modelled the spatially resolved SEDs with two alternate grain compositions, to study the impact of different submillimetre opacities on the dust mass. We have rigorously propagated the observational errors (noise and calibration) through the entire fitting process, in order to derive consistent parameter uncertainties. Results. First, we show that using the integrated SED leads to underestimating the dust mass by ≃50% compared to the value obtained with sufficient spatial resolution, for the region we studied. This might be the case, in general, for unresolved galaxies. Second, we show that Milky Way type grains produce higher gas-to-dust mass ratios than what seems possible according to the element abundances in the LMC. A spatial analysis shows that this dilemma is the result of an exceptional property: the grains of the LMC have on average a larger intrinsic submm opacity (emissivity index β ≃ 1.7 and opacity κ_(abs)(160 μm) = 1.6 m^2 kg^(-1)) than those of the Galaxy. By studying the spatial distribution of the gas-to-dust mass ratio, we are able to constrain the fraction of unseen gas mass between ≃10, and ≃100% and show that it is not sufficient to explain the gas-to-dust mass ratio obtained with Milky Way type grains. Finally, we confirm the detection of a 500 μm extended emission excess with an average relative amplitude of ≃15%, varying up to 40%. This excess anticorrelates well with the dust mass surface density. Although we do not know the origin of this excess, we show that it is unlikely the result of very cold dust, or CMB fluctuations.

THE HERSCHEL EXPLOITATION OF LOCAL GALAXY ANDROMEDA (HELGA). II. DUST AND GAS IN ANDROMEDA

We present an analysis of the dust and gas in Andromeda, using Herschel images sampling the entire far-infrared peak. We fit a modified-blackbody model to similar to 4000 quasi-independent pixels with spatial resolution of similar to 140 pc and find that a variable dust-emissivity index (beta) is required to fit the data. We find no significant long-wavelength excess above this model, suggesting there is no cold dust component. We show that the gas-to-dust ratio varies radially, increasing from similar to 20 in the center to similar to 70 in the star-forming ring at 10 kpc, consistent with the metallicity gradient. In the 10 kpc ring the average beta is similar to 1.9, in good agreement with values determined for the Milky Way (MW). However, in contrast to the MW, we find significant radial variations in beta, which increases from 1.9 at 10 kpc to similar to 2.5 at a radius of 3.1 kpc and then decreases to 1.7 in the center. The dust temperature is fairly constant in the 10 kpc ring (ranging from 17 to 20 K), but increases strongly in the bulge to similar to 30 K. Within 3.1 kpc we find the dust temperature is highly correlated with the 3.6 mu m flux, suggesting the general stellar population in the bulge is the dominant source of dust heating there. At larger radii, there is a weak correlation between the star formation rate and dust temperature. We find no evidence for “dark gas” in M31 in contrast to recent results for the MW. Finally, we obtained an estimate of the CO X-factor by minimizing the dispersion in the gas-to-dust ratio, obtaining a value of (1.9 +/- 0.4) x 10(20) cm(-2) [K km s(-1)](-1).

HERschel Inventory of The Agents of Galaxy Evolution (HERITAGE): The Large Magellanic Cloud dust

The HERschel Inventory of The Agents of Galaxy Evolution (HERITAGE) of the Magellanic Clouds will use dust emission to investigate the life cycle of matter in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC). Using the Herschel Space Observatory’s PACS and SPIRE photometry cameras, we imaged a 2° × 8° strip through the LMC, at a position angle of ~22.5° as part of the science demonstration phase of the Herschel mission. We present the data in all 5 Herschel bands: PACS 100 and 160 μm and SPIRE 250, 350 and 500 μm. We present two dust models that both adequately fit the spectral energy distribution for the entire strip and both reveal that the SPIRE 500 μm emission is in excess of the models by ~6 to 17%. The SPIRE emission follows the distribution of the dust mass, which is derived from the model. The PAH-to-dust mass (f_(PAH)) image of the strip reveals a possible enhancement in the LMC bar in agreement with previous work. We compare the gas mass distribution derived from the HI 21 cm and CO J = 1−0 line emission maps to the dust mass map from the models and derive gas-to-dust mass ratios (GDRs). The dust model, which uses the standard graphite and silicate optical properties for Galactic dust, has a very low GDR = 65^(+15) _(−18) making it an unrealistic dust model for the LMC. Our second dust model, which uses amorphous carbon instead of graphite, has a flatter emissivity index in the submillimeter and results in a GDR = 287^_(+25)_(−42) that is more consistent with a GDR inferred from extinction.

A Stubbornly Large Mass of Cold Dust in the Ejecta of Supernova 1987A

We present new Herschel photometric and spectroscopic observations of Supernova 1987A, carried out in 2012. Our dedicated photometric measurements provide new 70 micron data and improved imaging quality at 100 and 160 micron compared to previous observations in 2010. Our Herschel spectra show only weak CO line emission, and provide an upper limit for the 63 micron [O I] line flux, eliminating the possibility that line contaminations distort the previously estimated dust mass. The far-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) is well fitted by thermal emission from cold dust. The newly measured 70 micron flux constrains the dust temperature, limiting it to nearly a single temperature. The far-infrared emission can be fitted by 0.5+-0.1 Msun of amorphous carbon, about a factor of two larger than the current nucleosynthetic mass prediction for carbon. The observation of SiO molecules at early and late phases suggests that silicates may also have formed and we could fit the SED with a combination of 0.3 Msun of amorphous carbon and 0.5 Msun of silicates, totalling 0.8 Msun of dust. Our analysis thus supports the presence of a large dust reservoir in the ejecta of SN 1987A. The inferred dust mass suggests that supernovae can be an important source of dust in the interstellar medium, from local to high-redshift galaxies.

Determining dust temperatures and masses in the Herschel era: The importance of observations longward of 200 micron

Context. The properties of the dust grains (e.g., temperature and mass) can be derived from fitting far-IR SEDs (≥100 μm). Only with SPIRE on Herschel has it been possible to get high spatial resolution at 200 to 500 μm that is beyond the peak (~160 μm) of dust emission in most galaxies. Aims. We investigate the differences in the fitted dust temperatures and masses determined using only 200 μm data (new SPIRE observations) to determine how important having >200 μm data is for deriving these dust properties. Methods. We fit the 100 to 350 μm observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) point-by-point with a model that consists of a single temperature and fixed emissivity law. The data used are existing observations at 100 and 160 μm (from IRAS and Spitzer) and new SPIRE observations of 1/4 of the LMC observed for the HERITAGE key project as part of the Herschel science demonstration phase. Results. The dust temperatures and masses computed using only 100 and 160 μm data can differ by up to 10% and 36%, respectively, from those that also include the SPIRE 250 & 350 μm data. We find that an emissivity law proportional to λ^(−1.5) minimizes the 100–350 μm fractional residuals. We find that the emission at 500 μm is ~10% higher than expected from extrapolating the fits made at shorter wavelengths. We find the fractional 500 μm excess is weakly anti-correlated with MIPS 24 μm flux and the total gas surface density. This argues against a flux calibration error as the origin of the 500 μm excess. Our results do not allow us to distinguish between a systematic variation in the wavelength dependent emissivity law or a population of very cold dust only detectable at λ ≥ 500 μm for the origin of the 500 μm excess.

Dust and Gas in the Magellanic Clouds from the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project. I. Dust Properties and Insights into the Origin of the Submillimeter Excess Emission

The dust properties in the Large and Small Magellanic clouds (LMC/SMC) are studied using the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project photometric data in five bands from 100 to 500 μm. Three simple models of dust emission were fit to the observations: a single temperature blackbody modified by a power-law emissivity (SMBB), a single temperature blackbody modified by a broken power-law emissivity (BEMBB), and two blackbodies with different temperatures, both modified by the same power-law emissivity (TTMBB). Using these models, we investigate the origin of the submillimeter excess, defined as the submillimeter emission above that expected from SMBB models fit to observations <200 μm. We find that the BEMBB model produces the lowest fit residuals with pixel-averaged 500 μm submillimeter excesses of 27% and 43% for the LMC and SMC, respectively. Adopting gas masses from previous works, the gas-to-dust ratios calculated from our fitting results show that the TTMBB fits require significantly more dust than are available even if all the metals present in the interstellar medium (ISM) were condensed into dust. This indicates that the submillimeter excess is more likely to be due to emissivity variations than a second population of colder dust. We derive integrated dust masses of (7.3 ± 1.7) × 105 and (8.3 ± 2.1) × 104 M ☉ for the LMC and SMC, respectively. We find significant correlations between the submillimeter excess and other dust properties; further work is needed to determine the relative contributions of fitting noise and ISM physics to the correlations.

The HERschel Inventory of the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Magellanic Clouds, a HERschel Open Time Key Program

We present an overview of the HERschel Inventory of The Agents of Galaxy Evolution (HERITAGE) in the Magellanic Clouds project, which is a Herschel Space Observatory open time key program. We mapped the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm with the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) and Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) instruments on board Herschel using the SPIRE/PACS parallel mode. The overriding science goal of HERITAGE is to study the life cycle of matter as traced by dust in the LMC and SMC. The far-infrared and submillimeter emission is an effective tracer of the interstellar medium (ISM) dust, the most deeply embedded young stellar objects (YSOs), and the dust ejected by the most massive stars. We describe in detail the data processing, particularly for the PACS data, which required some custom steps because of the large angular extent of a single observational unit and overall the large amount of data to be processed as an ensemble. We report total global fluxes for the LMC and SMC and demonstrate their agreement with measurements by prior missions. The HERITAGE maps of the LMC and SMC are dominated by the ISM dust emission and bear most resemblance to the tracers of ISM gas rather than the stellar content of the galaxies. We describe the point source extraction processing and the criteria used to establish a catalog for each waveband for the HERITAGE program. The 250 μm band is the most sensitive and the source catalogs for this band have ~25,000 objects for the LMC and ~5500 objects for the SMC. These data enable studies of ISM dust properties, submillimeter excess dust emission, dust-to-gas ratio, Class 0 YSO candidates, dusty massive evolved stars, supernova remnants (including SN1987A), H II regions, and dust evolution in the LMC and SMC. All images and catalogs are delivered to the Herschel Science Center as part of the community support aspects of the project. These HERITAGE images and catalogs provide an excellent basis for future research and follow up with other facilities.

Dust-to-gas Ratio in the Extremely Metal-poor Galaxy I Zw 18

The blue compact dwarf galaxy I Zw 18 is one of the most metal-poor systems known in the local universe (12+log(O/H) = 7.17). In this work we study I Zw 18 using data from Spitzer, Herschel Space Telescope, and IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Our data set includes the most sensitive maps of I Zw 18, to date, in both the far-infrared and the CO J = 1 {yields} 0 transition. We use dust emission models to derive a dust mass upper limit of only M{sub dust} {<=} 1.1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun} (3{sigma} limit). This upper limit is driven by the non-detection at 160 {mu}m, and it is a factor of 4-10 times smaller than previous estimates (depending on the model used). We also estimate an upper limit to the total dust-to-gas mass ratio of M{sub Dust}/M{sub gas} {<=} 5.0 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5}. If a linear correlation between the dust-to-gas mass ratio and metallicity (measured as O/H) were to hold, we would expect a ratio of 3.9 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4}. We also show that the infrared spectral energy distribution is similar to that of starbursting systems.

Dust in the bright supernova remnant N49 in the LMC

We investigate the dust associated with the supernova remnant (SNR) N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as observed with the Herschel Space Observatory. N49 is unusually bright because of an interaction with a molecular cloud along its eastern edge. We have used PACS and SPIRE to measure the far IR flux densities of the entire SNR and of a bright region on the eastern edge of the SNR where the SNR shock is encountering the molecular cloud. Using these fluxes supplemented with archival data at shorter wavelengths, we estimate the dust mass associated with N49 to be about 10 M_☉. The bulk of the dust in our simple two-component model has a temperature of 20–30 K, similar to that of nearby molecular clouds. Unfortunately, as a result of the limited angular resolution of Herschel at the wavelengths sampled with SPIRE, the uncertainties are fairly large. Assuming this estimate of the dust mass associated with the SNR is approximately correct, it is probable that most of the dust in the SNR arises from regions where the shock speed is too low to produce significant X-ray emission. The total amount of warm 50–60 K dust is ~0.1 or 0.4 M_☉, depending on whether the dust is modeled in terms of carbonaceous or silicate grains. This provides a firm lower limit to the amount of shock heated dust in N49.