Herschel Photometric Observations of Little Things Dwarf Galaxies

Journal Article · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2021 · The Astronomical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ABFD2E· OSTI ID:23159342

Cigan, Phil ^[1]; Young, Lisa M. ^[2]; Gomez, Haley L.; De Vis, Pieter ^[3]; Madden, Suzanne C. ^[4]; Hunter, Deidre A. ^[5]; Elmegreen, Bruce G. ^[6]; Brinks, Elias ^[7]

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1. George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444 (United States)
2. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
3. School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)
4. CEA Saclay, Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot DAPNIA/Service d’Astrophysique, Bât. 709, CEA-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)
5. Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)
6. IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York (United States)
7. Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB (United Kingdom)

We present here far-infrared photometry of galaxies in a sample that is relatively unexplored at these wavelengths: low-metallicity dwarf galaxies with moderate star formation rates. Four dwarf irregular galaxies from the Little Things survey are considered, with deep Herschel PACS and SPIRE observations at 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm. Results from modified blackbody fits indicate that these galaxies have low dust masses and cooler dust temperatures than more actively star-forming dwarfs, occupying the lowest L {sub TIR} and M {sub dust} regimes seen among these samples. Dust-to-gas mass ratios of ∼10{sup −5} are lower, overall, than in more massive and active galaxies but are roughly consistent with the broken power-law relation between the dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity found for other low-metallicity systems. Chemical evolution modeling suggests that these dwarf galaxies are likely forming very little dust via stars or grain growth and have very high dust destruction rates.

• OSTI ID: 23159342
• Journal Information: The Astronomical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astronomical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 162; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DUSTS
GALAXIES
GRAIN GROWTH
HEAT EXCHANGERS
METALLICITY
PHOTOMETRY
STARS