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Context. The far-infrared (FIR) lines are important tracers of the cooling and physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM) and are rapidly becoming workhorse diagnostics for galaxies throughout the universe. There are clear indications of a different behavior of these lines at low metallicity that needs to be explored. Aims. Our goal is to explain the main differences and trends observed in the FIR line emission of dwarf galaxies compared to more metal-rich galaxies, and how this translates in ISM properties. Methods. We present Herschel/PACS spectroscopic observations of the [C ii] 157 μm, [O i] 63 and 145 μm, [O iii] 88 μm, [N ii] 122 and 205 μm, and [N iii] 57 μm fine-structure cooling lines in a sample of 48 low-metallicity star-forming galaxies of the guaranteed time key program Dwarf Galaxy Survey. We correlate PACS line ratios and line-to-LTIR ratios with LTIR, LTIR/LB, metallicity, and FIR color, and interpret the observed trends in terms of ISM conditions and phase filling factors with Cloudy radiative transfer models. Results. We find that the FIR lines together account for up to 3 percent of LTIR and that star-forming regions dominate the overall emission in dwarf galaxies. Compared to metal-rich galaxies, the ratios of [O iii]88/[N ii]122 and [N iii]57/[N ii]122 are high, indicative of hard radiation fields. In the photodissociation region (PDR), the [C ii]157/[O i]63 ratio is slightly higher than in metal-rich galaxies, with a small increase with metallicity, and the [O i]145/[O i]63 ratio is generally lower than 0:1, demonstrating that optical depth effects should be small on the scales probed. The [O iii]88/[O i]63 ratio can be used as an indicator of the ionized gas/PDR filling factor, and is found to be ~4 times higher in the dwarfs than in metal-rich galaxies. The high [C ii]/LTIR, [O i]/LTIR, and [O iii]/LTIR ratios, which decrease with increasing LTIR and LTIR/LB, are interpreted as a combination of moderate far-UV fields and a low PDR covering factor. Harboring compact phases of a low filling factor and a large volume filling factor of diffuse gas, the ISM of low-metallicity dwarf galaxies has a more porous structure than that of metal-rich galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the physical properties of the molecular and ionized gas, and their relationship to the star formation and dust properties in M?83, based on submillimeter imaging spectroscopy from within the central 3.5' (~4 kpc in diameter) around the starburst nucleus. The observations use the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) of the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) onboard the Herschel Space Observatory. The newly observed spectral lines include [CI] 370 μm, [CI] 609 μm, [NII] 205 μm, and CO transitions from J = 4-3 to J = 13-12. Combined with previously observed J = 1-0 to J = 3-2 transitions, the CO spectral line energy distributions are translated to spatially resolved physical parameters, column density of CO, N(CO), and molecular gas thermal pressure, Pth, with a non-local thermal equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative transfer model, RADEX. Our results show that there is a relationship between the spatially resolved intensities of [NII] 205 μm and the surface density of the star formation rate (SFR), ΣSFR. This relation, when compared to integrated properties of ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), exhibits a different slope, because the [NII] 205 μm distribution is more extended than the SFR. The spatially resolved [CI] 370 μm, on the other hand, shows a generally linear relationship with ΣSFR and can potentially be a good SFR tracer. Compared with the dust properties derived from broad-band images, we find a positive trend between the emissivity of CO in the J = 1-0 transition with the average intensity of interstellar radiation field (ISRF), ⟨ U ⟩. This trend implies a decrease in the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, XCO, when ⟨ U ⟩ increases. We estimate the gas-to-dust mass ratios to be 77 ± 33 within the central 2 kpc and 93 ± 19 within the central 4 kpc of M?83, which implies a Galactic dust-to-metal mass ratio within the observed region of M?83. The estimated gas-depletion time for the M?83 nucleus is 1.13 ± 0.6 Gyr, which is shorter than the values for nearby spiral galaxies found in the literature (~2.35 Gyr), most likely due to the young nuclear starbursts. A linear relationship between Pth and the radiation pressure generated by ⟨ U ⟩, Prad, is found to be Pth ≈ 30 Prad, which signals that the ISRF alone is insufficient to sustain the observed CO transitions. The spatial distribution of Pth reveals a pressure gradient, which coincides with the observed propagation of starburst activities and the alignment of (possibly background) radio sources. We discover that the off-centered (from the optical nucleus) peak of the molecular gas volume density coincides well with a minimum in the relative aromatic feature strength, indicating a possible destruction of their carriers. We conclude that the observed CO transitions are most likely associated with mechanical heating processes that are directly or indirectly related to very recent nuclear starbursts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Dust reprocesses about half of the stellar radiation in galaxies. The thermal re-emission by dust of absorbed energy is considered to be driven merely by young stars so is often applied to tracing the star formation rate in galaxies. Recent studies have argued that the old stellar population might be responsible for a non-negligible fraction of the radiative dust heating. Aims. In this work, we aim to analyze the contribution of young (≲100 Myr) and old (~10 Gyr) stellar populations to radiative dust heating processes in the nearby grand-design spiral galaxy M51 using radiative transfer modeling. High-resolution 3D radiative transfer (RT) models are required to describe the complex morphologies of asymmetric spiral arms and clumpy star-forming regions and to model the propagation of light through a dusty medium. Methods. In this paper, we present a new technique developed to model the radiative transfer effects in nearby face-on galaxies. We construct a high-resolution 3D radiative transfer model with the Monte-Carlo code SKIRT to account for the absorption, scattering, and non-local thermal equilibrium (NLTE) emission of dust in M51. The 3D distribution of stars is derived from the 2D morphology observed in the IRAC 3.6 μm, GALEX FUV, Hμα and MIPS 24 μm wavebands, assuming an exponential vertical distribution with an appropriate scale height. The dust geometry is constrained through the far-ultraviolet (FUV) attenuation, which is derived from the observed total-infrared-to-far-ultraviolet luminosity ratio. The stellar luminosity, star formation rate, and dust mass have been scaled to reproduce the observed stellar spectral energy distribution (SED), FUV attenuation, and infrared SED. Results. The dust emission derived from RT calculations is consistent with far-infrared and submillimeter observations of M51, implying that the absorbed stellar energy is balanced by the thermal re-emission of dust. The young stars provide 63% of the energy for heating the dust responsible for the total infrared emission (8-1000 μm), while 37% of the dust emission is governed through heating by the evolved stellar population. In individual wavebands, the contribution from young stars to the dust heating dominates at all infrared wavebands but gradually decreases towards longer infrared and submillimeter wavebands for which the old stellar population becomes a non-negligible source of heating. Upon extrapolation of the results for M51, we present prescriptions for estimating the contribution of young stars to the global dust heating based on a tight correlation between the dust heating fraction and specific star formation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Observations of nearby starburst and spiral galaxies have revealed that molecular gas is the driver of star formation. However, some nearby low-metallicity dwarf galaxies are actively forming stars, but CO, the most common tracer of this reservoir, is faint, leaving us with a puzzle about how star formation proceeds in these environments. Aims. We aim to quantify the molecular gas reservoir in a subset of 6 galaxies from the Herschel Dwarf Galaxy Survey with newly acquired CO data and to link this reservoir to the observed star formation activity. Methods. We present CO(1-0), CO(2-1), and CO(3-2) observations obtained at the ATNF Mopra 22-m, APEX, and IRAM30-m telescopes, as well as [C ii] 157μm and [Oi] 63 μm observations obtained with the Herschel/PACS spectrometer in the 6 low-metallicity dwarf galaxies: Haro 11, Mrk 1089, Mrk 930, NGC4861, NGC625, and UM311.We derived their molecular gas masses from several methods, including using the CO-to-H2 conversion factor XCO (both Galactic and metallicity-scaled values) and dust measurements. The molecular and atomic gas reservoirs were compared to the star formation activity. We also constrained the physical conditions of the molecular clouds using the non-LTE code RADEX and the spectral synthesis code Cloudy. Results. We detect CO in 5 of the 6 galaxies, including first detections in Haro 11 (Z ∼ 0.4 Z☉), Mrk 930 (0.2 Z☉), and UM311 (0.5 Z☉), but CO remains undetected in NGC4861 (0.2 Z☉). The CO luminosities are low, while [C II] is bright in these galaxies, resulting in [C II]/CO(1-0) ⩾ 10 000. Our dwarf galaxies are in relatively good agreement with the Schmidt-Kennicutt relation for total gas. They show short molecular depletion timescales, even when considering metallicity-scaled XCO factors. Those galaxies are dominated by their Hi gas, except Haro 11, which has high star formation efficiency and is dominated by ionized and molecular gas. We determine the mass of each ISM phase in Haro 11 using Cloudy and estimate an equivalent XCO factor that is 10 times higher than the Galactic value. Overall, our results confirm the emerging picture that CO suffers from significant selective photodissociation in low-metallicity dwarf galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. We present new photometric data from our Herschel guaranteed time key programme, the Dwarf Galaxy Survey (DGS), dedicated to the observation of the gas and dust in low-metallicity environments. A total of 48 dwarf galaxies were observed with the PACS and SPIRE instruments onboard the Herschel Space Observatory at 70, 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm. Aims. The goal of this paper is to provide reliable far-infrared (FIR) photometry for the DGS sample and to analyse the FIR/submillimetre (submm) behaviour of the DGS galaxies. We focus on a systematic comparison of the derived FIR properties (FIR luminosity, LFIR, dust mass, Mdust, dust temperature, T, emissivity index, β) with more metal-rich galaxies and investigate the detection of a potential submm excess. Methods. The data reduction method is adapted for each galaxy in order to derive the most reliable photometry from the final maps. The derived PACS flux densities are compared with the Spitzer MIPS 70 and 160 μm bands. We use colour-colour diagrams to analyse the FIR/submm behaviour of the DGS galaxies and modified blackbody fitting procedures to determine their dust properties. To study the variation in these dust properties with metallicity, we also include galaxies from the Herschel KINGFISH sample, which contains more metal-rich environments, totalling 109 galaxies. Results. The location of the DGS galaxies on Herschel colour-colour diagrams highlights the differences in dust grain properties and/or global environments of low-metallicity dwarf galaxies. The dust in DGS galaxies is generally warmer than in KINGFISH galaxies (TDGS ~ 32 K and TKINGFISH ~ 23 K). The emissivity index, β, is ~1.7 in the DGS, however metallicity does not make a strong effect on β. The proportion of dust mass relative to stellar mass is lower in low-metallicity galaxies: Mdust/Mstar ~ 0:02% for the DGS versus 0.1% for KINGFISH. However, per unit dust mass, dwarf galaxies emit about six times more in the FIR/submm than higher metallicity galaxies. Out of the 22 DGS galaxies detected at 500 μμm, about 41% present an excess in the submm beyond the explanation of our dust SED model, and this excess can go up to 150% above the prediction from the model. The excess mainly appears in lower metallicity galaxies (12 + log(O/H) . 8.3), and the strongest excesses are detected in the most metal-poor galaxies. However, we also stress the need for observations longwards of the Herschel wavelengths to detect any submm excess appearing beyond 500 μm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study that compares the results for dust-to-stellar ratios and metallicity for two Herschel samples. The study is undertaken through the computation of stellar masses. The results of the study show that stellar masses are constantly estimated for both samples particularly in observed correlations.