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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
Can dust emission be used to estimate the mass of the interstellar medium in galaxies - A pilot project with the herschel reference survey
Astrophysical Journal, Volume 761, No. 2, Article 168, Year 2012
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Description
The standard method for estimating the mass of the interstellar medium (ISM) in a galaxy is to use the 21 cm line to trace the atomic gas and the CO 1-0 line to trace the molecular gas. In this paper, we investigate the alternative technique of using the continuum dust emission to estimate the mass of gas in all phases of the ISM. Using Herschel observations of 10 galaxies from the Herschel Reference Survey and the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey, we show that the emission detected by Herschel is mostly from dust that has a temperature and emissivity index similar to that of dust in the local ISM in our galaxy, with the temperature generally increasing toward the center of each galaxy. We calibrate the dust method using the CO and 21 cm observations to provide an independent estimate of the mass of hydrogen in each galaxy, solving the problem of the uncertain "X-factor" for the CO observations by minimizing the dispersion in the ratio of the masses estimated using the two methods. With the calibration for the dust method and the estimate of the X-factor produced in this way, the dispersion in the ratio of the two gas masses is 25%. The calibration we obtain for the dust method is similar to those obtained from Herschel observations of M31 and from Planck observations of the Milky Way. We discuss the practical problems in using this method. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
Authors & Co-Authors
Eales, Stephen A.
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Smith, Matthew W.L.
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Auld, Robbie R.
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Baes, Maarten
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Bendo, George J.
United Kingdom, Manchester
The University of Manchester
Bianchi, Simone
Italy, Florence
Osservatorio Astrofisico Di Arcetri
Boselli, Alessandro
France, Marseille
Laboratoire D'astrophysique de Marseille
Ciesla, Laure
France, Marseille
Laboratoire D'astrophysique de Marseille
Clements, David L.
United Kingdom, London
Imperial College London
Cooray, Asantha Roshan
United States, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
Cortese, Luca
Germany, Garching Bei Munchen
European Southern Observatory
Davies, Jonathan I.
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
de Looze, Ilse
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Galametz, Maud
United Kingdom, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
Gear, Walter K.P.
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Gentile, Gianfranco
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Belgium, Brussels
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Gomez, Haley L.
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Fritz, Jacopo
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Hughes, Thomas M.
China, Beijing
Peking University
Madden, Suzanne C.
France, Gif-sur-yvette
Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation de Paris-saclay
Pohlen, Michael
United Kingdom, Cardiff
Cardiff University
Spinoglio, L.
Italy, Rome
Istituto Nazionale Di Astrofisica, Rome
Verstappen, Joris
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Vlahakis, Catherine
Chile, Santiago
Universidad de Chile
Wilson, Christine D.
Canada, Hamilton
Mcmaster University
Statistics
Citations: 90
Authors: 25
Affiliations: 15
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1088/0004-637X/761/2/168
ISSN:
0004637X
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Quantitative