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Determining the fraction of dust heating from young and old stellar populations with 3D dust radiative transfer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2016

Giovanni Natale
Affiliation:
Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK Max Planck Institute für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Cristina C. Popescu
Affiliation:
Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK Max Planck Institute für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Richard. J. Tuffs
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Victor P. Debattista
Affiliation:
Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
Jörg Fischera
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Meiert W. Grootes
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
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Abstract

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A major difficulty hampering the accuracy of UV/optical star formation rate tracers is the effect of interstellar dust, absorbing and scattering light produced by both young and old stellar populations (SPs). Although empirically calibrated corrections or energy balance SED fitting are often used for fast de-reddening of galaxy stellar emission, eventually only radiative transfer calculations can provide self-consistent predictions of galaxy model spectra, taking into account important factors such as galaxy inclination, different morphological components, non-local heating of the dust and scattered radiation. In addition, dust radiative transfer can be used to determine the fraction of monochromatic dust emission powered by either young or old SPs. This calculation needs to take into account the different response of the dust grains to the UV and optical radiation field, depending on the grain size and composition. We determined the dust heating fractions, on both global and local scales, for a high-resolution galaxy model by using our 3D ray-tracing dust radiative transfer code “DART-Ray”. We show the results obtained using this method and discuss the consequences for star formation rate indicators.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

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