HOT-DUST (690 K) LUMINOSITY DENSITY AND ITS EVOLUTION IN THE LAST 7.5 GYR

Journal Article · Sun Oct 20 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/776/2/117· OSTI ID:22270801

Messias, H.; Afonso, J. M. ^[1]

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1. Centro de Astronomia e Astrofísica da Universidade de Lisboa, Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-018 Lisbon (Portugal)

We study the contribution of hot-dust to the luminosity density of galaxies and its evolution with cosmic time. Using the Spitzer-IRAC data over an area of 1.8 deg{sup 2} covered by the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, we estimate the contribution from hot-dust at rest-frame 4.2 μm (from 0 ∼< z ∼< 0.2 up to 0.5 ∼< z ∼< 0.9). This wavelength corresponds to blackbody temperature of ∼690 K. The contribution of stellar emission is estimated from the rest-frame 1.6 μm luminosity (assumed to result from stellar emission alone) and subtracted from the mid-infrared luminosity of galaxies to measure hot-dust emission. To attempt the study of the 3.3 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature, we use the rest-frame 4.2 μm to infer the hot-dust flux at 3.3 μm. This study is performed for different spectral types of galaxies: early-type, late-type, starburst, and IR-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We find that (1) the decrease of the hot-dust luminosity density since 0.5 ∼< z ∼< 1 is steeper (by at least 0.5 dex) compared with that of the cold-dust, giving support to the scenario where galaxy obscuration increases with redshift, as proposed in the literature; (2) hot-dust and PAH emission evolution seems to be correlated with stellar mass, where rest-frame 1.6 μm luminous non-AGN galaxies (i.e., massive systems) show a stronger decrement (with decreasing redshift) in hot-dust and PAH emission than the less luminous (less massive) non-AGN galaxies; (3) despite comprising ∼< 3% of the total sample, AGN contribute as much as a third to the hot-dust luminosity density at z < 1 and clearly dominate the bright-end of the total hot-dust luminosity density function at 0.5 ∼< z ∼< 0.9; (4) the average dust-to-total luminosity ratio increases with redshift, while PAH-to-total luminosity ratio remains fairly constant; (5) at M{sub 1.6} > –25, the dust-to-total and PAH-to-total luminosity ratios increase with decreasing luminosity, but deeper data are required to confirm this result. Future study is necessary to further enlighten the characterization of the different spectral components at play in 2-5 μm spectral regime.

• OSTI ID: 22270801
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 776; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COSMIC DUST
EMISSION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
GALAXY NUCLEI
LUMINOSITY
MASS
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RED SHIFT
UNIVERSE