Modelling galaxy spectra in presence of interstellar dust – II. From the ultraviolet to the far-infrared
11 Aug 2006-Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (Oxford University Press)-Vol. 370, Iss: 3, pp 1454-1478
TL;DR: In this article, the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of different morphological types of galaxies are derived by using a simple geometrical model for each type of galaxy, based on a robust model of chemical evolution that assumes a suitable prescription for gas infall, initial mass function, star formation rate and stellar ejecta.
Abstract: In this paper, we present spectrophotometric models for galaxies of different morphological type whose spectral energy distributions (SEDs) take into account the effect of dust in absorbing UV-optical light and re-emitting it in the infrared (IR). The models contain three main components: (i) the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) composed of gas and dust whose emission and extinction properties have already been studied in detail by Piovan et al. (2006), (ii) the large complexes of molecular clouds (MCs) in which new stars are formed and (iii) the stars of any age and chemical composition. The galaxy models stand on a robust model of chemical evolution that assuming a suitable prescription for gas infall, initial mass function, star formation rate and stellar ejecta provides the total amounts of gas and stars present at any age together with their chemical history. The chemical models are taylored in such a way to match the gross properties of galaxies of different morphological type. In order to describe the interaction between stars and ISM in building up the total SED of a galaxy, one has to know the spatial distribution of gas and stars. This is made adopting a simple geometrical model for each type of galaxy. The total gas and star mass provided by the chemical model are distributed over the whole volume by means of suitable density profiles, one for each component and depending on the galaxy type (spheroidal, disk and disk plus bulge). The galaxy is then split in suitable volume elements to each of which the appropriate amounts of stars, MCs and ISM are assigned. Each elemental volume bin is at the same time source of radiation from the stars inside and absorber and emitter of radiation from and to all other volume bins and the ISM in between. They are the elemental seeds to calculate the total SED. Using the results for the properties of the ISM and the Single Stellar Populations (SSPs) presented by Piovan et al. (2006) we derive the SEDs of galaxies of different morphological type. First the technical details of the method are described and the basic relations driving the interaction between the physical components of the galaxy are presented. Second, the main parameters are examined and their effects on the SED of three prototype galaxies (a disk, an elliptical and a starburster) are highlighted. The final part of the paper is devoted to assess the ability of our galaxy models in reproducing the SEDs of a few real galaxies of the Local Universe.
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TL;DR: The GALEV (Galev Evolutionary Evolutionary Models for Galaxies) model as mentioned in this paper describes the evolution of stellar populations in general, of star clusters as well as of galaxies, both in terms of resolved stellar populations and of integrated light properties over cosmological time-scales of ≥13 Gyr.
Abstract: GALEV (GALaxy EVolution) evolutionary synthesis models describe the evolution of stellar populations in general, of star clusters as well as of galaxies, both in terms of resolved stellar populations and of integrated light properties over cosmological time-scales of ≥13 Gyr from the onset of star formation shortly after the big bang until today. For galaxies, GALEV includes a simultaneous treatment of the chemical evolution of the gas and the spectral evolution of the stellar content, allowing for what we call a chemically consistent treatment: we use input physics (stellar evolutionary tracks, stellar yields and model atmospheres) for a large range of metallicities and consistently account for the increasing initial abundances of successive stellar generations. Here we present the latest version of the GALEV evolutionary synthesis models that are now interactively available at http://www.galev.org. We review the currently used input physics, and also give details on how this physics is implemented in practice. We explain how to use the interactive web interface to generate models for user-defined parameters and also give a range of applications that can be studied using GALEV, ranging from star clusters, undisturbed galaxies of various types E–Sd to starburst and dwarf galaxies, both in the local and the high-redshift Universe.
288 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the stellar spectral synthesis code Starburst99, the nebular modeling code MAPPINGS III and a one-dimensional dynamical evolution model of H II regions around massive clusters of young stars were combined to generate improved models of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of starburst galaxies.
Abstract: We combine the stellar spectral synthesis code Starburst99, the nebular modeling code MAPPINGS III and a one-dimensional dynamical evolution model of H II regions around massive clusters of young stars to generate improved models of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of starburst galaxies. We introduce a compactness parameter, , which characterizes the specific intensity of the radiation field at ionization fronts in H II regions and which controls the shape of the far-infrared (IR) dust reemission, often referred to loosely as the dust temperature. We also investigate the effect of metallicity on the overall SED and in particular, on the strength of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features. We provide templates for the mean emission produced by the young compact H II regions, the older (10-100 Myr) stars and for the wavelength-dependent attenuation produced by a foreground screen of the dust used in our model. We demonstrate that these components may be combined to produce a excellent fit to the observed SEDs of star formation-dominated galaxies which are often used as templates (Arp 220 and NGC 6240). This fit extends from the Lyman limit to wavelengths of about 1 mm. The methods presented in both this paper and in the previous papers of this series allow the extraction of the physical parameters of the starburst region (star formation rates, star formation rate history, mean cluster mass, metallicity, dust attenuation, and pressure) from the analysis of the pan-spectral SED.
252 citations
Max Planck Society1, INAF2, Cornell University3, University of California, Irvine4, University of Padua5, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory6, Paris Diderot University7, Tel Aviv University8, University of Sussex9, University College London10, University of Bologna11, Ames Research Center12, University of Edinburgh13, University of British Columbia14, California Institute of Technology15
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combine far-infrared Herschel photometry from the PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) and Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) guaranteed time programs with ancillary datasets in the GOODS-N, COSMOS fields, and it is possible to sample the 8-500μm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies with at least 7-10 bands.
Abstract: Combining far-infrared Herschel photometry from the PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) and Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) guaranteed time programs with ancillary datasets in the GOODS-N, GOODS-S, and COSMOS fields, it is possible to sample the 8–500 μm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies with at least 7–10 bands. Extending to the UV, optical, and near-infrared, the number of bands increases up to 43. We reproduce the distribution of galaxies in a carefully selected restframe ten colors space, based on this rich data-set, using a superposition of multivariate Gaussian modes. We use this model to classify galaxies and build median SEDs of each class, which are then fitted with a modified version of the magphys code that combines stellar light, emission from dust heated by stars and a possible warm dust contribution heated by an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The color distribution of galaxies in each of the considered fields can be well described with the combination of 6–9 classes, spanning a large range of far- to near-infrared luminosity ratios, as well as different strength of the AGN contribution to bolometric luminosities. The defined Gaussian grouping is used to identify rare or odd sources. The zoology of outliers includes Herschel-detected ellipticals, very blue z ~ 1 Ly-break galaxies, quiescent spirals, and torus-dominated AGN with star formation. Out of these groups and outliers, a new template library is assembled, consisting of 32 SEDs describing the intrinsic scatter in the restframe UV-to-submm colors of infrared galaxies. This library is tested against L(IR) estimates with and without Herschel data included, and compared to eightother popular methods often adopted in the literature. When implementing Herschel photometry, these approaches produce L(IR) values consistent with each other within a median absolute deviation of 10–20%, the scatter being dominated more by fine tuning of the codes, rather than by the choice of SED templates. Finally, the library is used to classify 24 μm detected sources in PEP GOODS fields on the basis of AGN content, L(60)/L(100) color and L(160)/L(1.6) luminosity ratio. AGN appear to be distributed in the stellar mass (M_∗) vs. star formation rate (SFR) space along with all other galaxies, regardless of the amount of infrared luminosity they are powering, with the tendency to lie on the high SFR side of the “main sequence”. The incidence of warmer star-forming sources grows for objects with higher specific star formation rates (sSFR), and they tend to populate the “off-sequence” region of the M_∗ − SFR − z space.
203 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the dependence of the total-infrared to UV luminosity ratio method for calculating the UV dust attenuation A(UV) from the age of the underlying stellar populations by using a library of spectral energy distributions for galaxies with different star formation histories.
Abstract: We investigate the dependence of the total-infrared (TIR) to UV luminosity ratio method for calculating the UV dust attenuation A(UV) from the age of the underlying stellar populations by using a library of spectral energy distributions for galaxies with different star formation histories. Our analysis confirms that the TIR/UV vs. A(UV) relation varies significantly with the age of the underlying stellar population: i.e. for the same TIR/UV ratio, systems with low specific star formation rate (SSFR) suffer a lower UV attenuation than starbursts. Using a sample of nearby field and cluster spiral galaxies we show that the use of a standard (i.e. age independent) TIR/UV vs. A(UV) relation leads to a systematic overestimate up to 2 magnitudes of the amount of UV dust attenuation suffered by objects with low SSFR and in particular HI-deficient star forming cluster galaxies. This result points out that the age independent $TIR/UV$ vs. $A(UV)$ relation cannot be used to study the UV properties of large samples of galaxies including low star-forming systems and passive spirals. Therefore we give some simple empirical relations from which the UV attenuation can be estimated taking into account its dependence on the age of the stellar populations, providing a less biased view of UV properties of galaxies.
164 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use the latest Padova isochrones, with detailed modelling of the Thermally Pulsing AGB phase, to update theoretical colour-M/L relations in the optical and NIR and discuss the consequences for the estimated stellar masses in external galaxies.
Abstract: Colour-M/L (mass-to-light) relations are a popular recipe to derive stellar mass in external galaxies. Stellar mass estimates often rely on near infrared (NIR) photometry, considered an optimal tracer since it is little affected by dust and by the "frosting" effect of recent star formation episodes. However, recent literature has highlighted that theoretical estimates of the NIR M/L ratio strongly depend on the modelling of the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase. We use the latest Padova isochrones, with detailed modelling of the Thermally Pulsing AGB phase, to update theoretical colour-M/L relations in the optical and NIR and discuss the consequences for the estimated stellar masses in external galaxies. We also discuss the effect of attenuation by interstellar dust on colour-M/L relations in the statistical case of large galaxy samples.
157 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1979
TL;DR: Inverse square law for a uniformly bright sphere as discussed by the authors is used to define specific intensity and its moments, which is defined as the specific intensity or brightness of a sphere in terms of specific intensity.
Abstract: Chapter 1 Fundamentals of Radiative Transfer 1.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum Elementary Properties of Radiation 1.2 Radiative Flux Macroscopic Description of the Propagation of Radiation Flux from an Isotropic Source-The Inverse Square Law 1.3 The Specific Intensity and Its Moments Definition of Specific Intensity or Brightness Net Flux and Momentum Flux Radiative Energy Density Radiation Pressure in an Enclosure Containing an Isotropic Radiation Field Constancy of Specific Intensity Along Rays in Free Space Proof of the Inverse Square Law for a Uniformly Bright Sphere 1.4 Radiative Transfer Emission Absorption The Radiative Transfer Equation Optical Depth and Source Function Mean Free Path Radiation Force 1.5 Thermal Radiation Blackbody Radiation Kirchhoff's Law for Thermal Emission Thermodynamics of Blackbody Radiation The Planck Spectrum Properties of the Planck Law Characteristic Temperatures Related to Planck Spectrum 1.6 The Einstein Coefficients Definition of Coefficients Relations between Einstein Coefficients Absorption and Emission Coefficients in Terms of Einstein Coefficients 1.7 Scattering Effects Random Walks Pure Scattering Combined Scattering and Absorption 1.8 Radiative Diffusion The Rosseland Approximation The Eddington Approximation Two-Stream Approximation Problems References Chapter 2 Basic Theory of Radiation Fields 2.1 Review of Maxwell's Equations 2.2 Plane Electromagnetic Waves 2.3 The Radiation Spectrum 2.4 Polarization and Stokes Parameters 62 Monochromatic Waves Quasi-monochromatic Waves 2.5 Electromagnetic Potentials 2.6 Applicability of Transfer Theory and the Geometrical Optics Limit Problems References Chapter 3 Radiation from Moving Charges 3.1 Retarded Potentials of Single Moving Charges: The Lienard-Wiechart Potentials 3.2 The Velocity and Radiation Fields 3.3 Radiation from Nonrelativistic Systems of Particles Larmor's Formula The Dipole Approximation The General Multipole Expansion 3.4 Thomson Scattering (Electron Scattering) 3.5 Radiation Reaction 3.6 Radiation from Harmonically Bound Particles Undriven Harmonically Bound Particles Driven Harmonically Bound Particles Problems Reference Chapter 4 Relativistic Covariance and Kinematics 4.1 Review of Lorentz Transformations 4.2 Four-Vectors 4.3 Tensor Analysis 4.4 Covariance of Electromagnetic Phenomena 4.5 A Physical Understanding of Field Transformations 129 4.6 Fields of a Uniformly Moving Charge 4.7 Relativistic Mechanics and the Lorentz Four-Force 4.8 Emission from Relativistic Particles Total Emission Angular Distribution of Emitted and Received Power 4.9 Invariant Phase Volumes and Specific Intensity Problems References Chapter 5 Bremsstrahlung 5.1 Emission from Single-Speed Electrons 5.2 Thermal Bremsstrahlung Emission 5.3 Thermal Bremsstrahlung (Free-Free) Absorption 5.4 Relativistic Bremsstrahlung Problems References Chapter 6 Synchrotron Radiation 6.1 Total Emitted Power 6.2 Spectrum of Synchrotron Radiation: A Qualitative Discussion 6.3 Spectral Index for Power-Law Electron Distribution 6.4 Spectrum and Polarization of Synchrotron Radiation: A Detailed Discussion 6.5 Polarization of Synchrotron Radiation 6.6 Transition from Cyclotron to Synchrotron Emission 6.7 Distinction between Received and Emitted Power 6.8 Synchrotron Self-Absorption 6.9 The Impossibility of a Synchrotron Maser in Vacuum Problems References Chapter 7 Compton Scattering 7.1 Cross Section and Energy Transfer for the Fundamental Process Scattering from Electrons at Rest Scattering from Electrons in Motion: Energy Transfer 7.2 Inverse Compton Power for Single Scattering 7.3 Inverse Compton Spectra for Single Scattering 7.4 Energy Transfer for Repeated Scatterings in a Finite, Thermal Medium: The Compton Y Parameter 7.5 Inverse Compton Spectra and Power for Repeated Scatterings by Relativistic Electrons of Small Optical Depth 7.6 Repeated Scatterings by Nonrelativistic Electrons: The Kompaneets Equation 7.7 Spectral Regimes for Repeated Scattering by Nonrelativistic Electrons Modified Blackbody Spectra y"1 Wien Spectra y"1 Unsaturated Comptonization with Soft Photon Input Problems References Chapter 8 Plasma Effects 8.1 Dispersion in Cold, Isotropic Plasma The Plasma Frequency Group and Phase Velocity and the Index of Refraction 8.2 Propagation Along a Magnetic Field Faraday Rotation 8.3 Plasma Effects in High-Energy Emission Processes Cherenkov Radiation Razin Effect Problems References Chapter 9 Atomic Structure 9.1 A Review of the Schrodinger Equation 9.2 One Electron in a Central Field Wave Functions Spin 9.3 Many-Electron Systems Statistics: The Pauli Principle Hartree-Fock Approximation: Configurations The Electrostatic Interaction LS Coupling and Terms 9.4 Perturbations, Level Splittings, and Term Diagrams Equivalent and Nonequivalent Electrons and Their Spectroscopic Terms Parity Spin-Orbit Coupling Zeeman Effect Role of the Nucleus Hyperfine Structure 9.5 Thermal Distribution of Energy Levels and Ionization Thermal Equilibrium: Boltzmann Population of Levels The Saha Equation Problems References Chapter 10 Radiative Transitions 10.1 Semi-Classical Theory of Radiative Transitions The Electromagnetic Hamiltonian The Transition Probability 10.2 The Dipole Approximation 10.3 Einstein Coefficients and Oscillator Strengths 10.4 Selection Rules 10.5 Transition Rates Bound-Bound Transitions for Hydrogen Bound-Free Transitions (Continuous Absorption) for Hydrogen Radiative Recombination - Milne Relations The Role of Coupling Schemes in the Determination of f Values 10.6 Line Broadening Mechanisms Doppler Broadening Natural Broadening Collisional Broadening Combined Doppler and Lorentz Profiles Problems References Chapter 11 Molecular Structure 11.1 The Born-Oppenheimer Approximation: An Order of Magnitude Estimate of Energy Levels 11.2 Electronic Binding of Nuclei The H2+ Ion The H2 Molecule 11.3 Pure Rotation Spectra Energy Levels Selection Rules and Emission Frequencies 11.4 Rotation-Vibration Spectra Energy Levels and the Morse Potential Selection Rules and Emission Frequencies 11.5 Electronic-Rotational-Vibrational Spectra Energy Levels Selection Rules and Emission Frequencies Problems References Solutions Index
3,243 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors construct size distributions for carbonaceous and silicate grain populations in different regions of the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC, and adopt a fairly simple functional form for the size distribution, characterized by several parameters.
Abstract: We construct size distributions for carbonaceous and silicate grain populations in different regions of the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC. The size distributions include sufficient very small carbonaceous grains (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules) to account for the observed infrared and microwave emission from the diffuse interstellar medium. Our distributions reproduce the observed extinction of starlight, which varies depending on the interstellar environment through which the light travels. As shown by Cardelli, Clayton, and Mathis in 1989, these variations can be roughly parameterized by the ratio of visual extinction to reddening, RV. We adopt a fairly simple functional form for the size distribution, characterized by several parameters. We tabulate these parameters for various combinations of values for RV and bC, the C abundance in very small grains. We also find size distributions for the line of sight to HD 210121 and for sight lines in the LMC and SMC. For several size distributions, we evaluate the albedo and scattering asymmetry parameter and present model extinction curves extending beyond the Lyman limit.
2,667 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a large grid of stellar evolution-ary tracks, which are suitable to model star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis, is presented for the initial chemical compositions.
Abstract: We present a large grid of stellar evolution- ary tracks, which are suitable to modelling star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis. The tracks are presented for the initial chemical compositions (Z = 0:0004;Y =0 :23), (Z =0 :001;Y =0 :23), (Z =0 :004;Y = 0:24), (Z =0 :008;Y =0 :25), (Z =0 :019;Y =0 :273) (solar composition), and (Z =0 :03;Y =0 :30). They are com- puted with updated opacities and equation of state, and a moderate amount of convective overshoot. The range of initial masses goes from 0:15 M to 7 M ,a nd the evo- lutionary phases extend from the zero age main sequence (ZAMS) till either the thermally pulsing AGB regime or carbon ignition. We also present an additional set of mod- els with solar composition, computed using the classical Schwarzschild criterion for convective boundaries. From all these tracks, we derive the theoretical isochrones in the Johnson-Cousins UBVRIJHK broad-band photometric system.
2,609 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors construct size distributions for carbonaceous and silicate grain populations in different regions of the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC, and adopt a fairly simple functional form for the size distribution, characterized by several parameters.
Abstract: We construct size distributions for carbonaceous and silicate grain populations in different regions of the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC. The size distributions include sufficient very small carbonaceous grains (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules) to account for the observed infrared and microwave emission from the diffuse interstellar medium. Our distributions reproduce the observed extinction of starlight, which varies depending upon the interstellar environment through which the light travels. As shown by Cardelli, Clayton & Mathis in 1989, these variations can be roughly parameterized by the ratio of visual extinction to reddening, R_V. We adopt a fairly simple functional form for the size distribution, characterized by several parameters. We tabulate these parameters for various combinations of values for R_V and b_C, the C abundance in very small grains. We also find size distributions for the line of sight to HD 210121, and for sightlines in the LMC and SMC. For several size distributions, we evaluate the albedo and scattering asymmetry parameter, and present model extinction curves extending beyond the Lyman limit.
2,378 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a large grid of stellar evolutionary tracks are presented for the initial chemical compositions, which are suitable to model star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis, with updated opacities and equation of state, and a moderate amount of convective overshoot.
Abstract: We present a large grid of stellar evolutionary tracks, which are suitable to modelling star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis. The tracks are presented for the initial chemical compositions [Z=0.0004, Y=0.23], [Z=0.001, Y=0.23], [Z=0.004, Y=0.24], [Z=0.008, Y=0.25], [Z=0.019, Y=0.273] (solar composition), and [Z=0.03, Y=0.30]. They are computed with updated opacities and equation of state, and a moderate amount of convective overshoot. The range of initial masses goes from 0.15 M_sun to 7 M_sun, and the evolutionary phases extend from the zero age main sequence (ZAMS) till either the thermally pulsing AGB regime or carbon ignition. We also present an additional set of models with solar composition, computed using the classical Schwarzschild's criterion for convective boundaries. From all these tracks, we derive the theoretical isochrones in the Johnson-Cousins UBVRIJHK broad-band photometric system.
2,264 citations