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Because the galaxies of the Local Group have such large angular sizes, much of their diffuse, large-angular-scale emission is filtered out by the Herschel data reduction process. In this work, we restore this previously missed dust in Herschel observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud, Small Magellanic Cloud, M31, and M33. We do this by combining Herschel data (including new reductions for the Magellanic Clouds), in Fourier space, with lower-resolution data from all-sky surveys (Planck, IRAS, and COBE) that did not miss the extended emission. With these new maps, we find that a significant amount of emission was missing from uncorrected Herschel data of these galaxies; over 20% in some bands. Our new photometry also resolves the disagreement between fluxes reported from older HERITAGE Magellanic Cloud Herschel reductions, and fluxes reported from other telescopes. More emission is restored in shorter wavelength bands, especially in the galaxies' peripheries, making these regions 20-40% bluer than before. We also find that the Herschel-PACS instrument response conflicts with the all-sky data, over the 20-90' angular scales to which they are both sensitive, by up to 31%. By binning our new data based on hydrogen column density, we are able to detect emission from dust at low ISM densities (at $\Sigma_{\rm H} < 1\,{\rm M_{\odot} pc^{-2}}$ in some cases), and are able to detect emission at much lower densities (a factor of 2.2 lower on average, and more than a factor of 7 lower in several cases) than was possible with uncorrected data., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a high-sensitivity ($1\sigma, Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication by ApJ

Dust modeling is crucial to infer dust properties and budget for galaxy studies. However, there are systematic disparities between dust grain models that result in corresponding systematic differences in the inferred dust properties of galaxies. Quantifying these systematics requires a consistent fitting analysis. We compare the output dust parameters and assess the differences between two dust grain models, Compiegne et al (2011), and THEMIS (Jones et al 2013, Kohler et al 2015). In this study, we use a single fitting method applied to all the models to extract a coherent and unique statistical analysis. We fit the models to the dust emission seen by Spitzer and Herschel in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC and LMC). The observations cover the infrared (IR) spectrum from a few microns to the sub-millimeter range. For each fitted pixel, we calculate the full n-D likelihood, based on the method described in Gordon et al (2014). The free parameters are both environmental ($U$, the interstellar radiation field strength; $\alpha_\mathrm{ISRF}$, power-law coefficient for a multi-U environment; $\Omega^*$, the starlight strength) and intrinsic to the model ($Y_\mathrm{i}$: abundances of the grain species $i$; $\alpha_\mathrm{sCM20}$, coefficient in the small carbon grain size distribution). Fractional residuals of 5 different sets of parameters show that fitting THEMIS brings a more accurate reproduction of the observations than the Compiegne model. However, independent variations of the dust species show strong model-dependencies. We find that the abundance of silicates can only be constrained to an upper-limit and the silicate/carbon ratio is different than that seen in our Galaxy. In the LMC, our fits result in dust masses slightly lower than those found in literature , by a factor lower than 2. In the SMC, we find dust masses in agreement with previous studies., Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures; accepted for publication in A&A

We present maps of the dust properties in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC, LMC) from fitting Spitzer and Herschel observations with the \citet{DL07} dust model. We derive the abundance of the small carbonaceous grain (or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; PAH) component. The global PAH fraction (q_pah, the fraction of the dust mass in the form of PAHs) is smaller in the SMC (1.0$^{+0.3}_{-0.3}$%) than in the LMC (3.3$^{+1.4}_{-1.3}$%). We measure the PAH fraction in different gas phases (H II regions, ionized gas outside of H II regions, molecular gas, and diffuse neutral gas). H II regions appear as distinctive holes in the spatial distribution of the PAH fraction. In both galaxies, the PAH fraction in the diffuse neutral medium is higher than in the ionized gas, but similar to the molecular gas. Even at equal radiation field intensity, the PAH fraction is lower in the ionized gas than in the diffuse neutral gas. We investigate the PAH life-cycle as a function of metallicity between the two galaxies. The PAH fraction in the diffuse neutral medium of the LMC is similar to that of the Milky Way ($\sim4.6$%), while it is significantly lower in the SMC. Plausible explanations for the higher PAH fraction in the diffuse neutral medium of the LMC compared to the SMC include: a more effective PAH production by fragmentation of large grains at higher metallicity, and/or the growth of PAHs in molecular gas., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We present the results of modeling dust SEDs across the SMC with the aim of mapping the distribution of PAHs in a low-metallicity environment. Using Spitzer Survey of the SMC (S3MC) photometry from 3.6-160 um over the main star-forming regions of the Wing and Bar along with spectral mapping from 5-38 um from the Spitzer Spectroscopic Survey of the SMC (S4MC) in selected regions, we model the dust SED and emission spectrum to determine the fraction of dust in PAHs across the SMC. We use the regions of overlapping photometry and spectroscopy to test the reliability of the PAH fraction as determined from SED fits alone. The PAH fraction in the SMC is low compared to the Milky Way and variable--with relatively high fractions (q_PAH~1-2%) in molecular clouds and low fractions in the diffuse ISM (=0.6%). We use the map of PAH fraction across the SMC to test a number of ideas regarding the production, destruction and processing of PAHs in the ISM. We find weak or no correlation between the PAH fraction and the distribution of carbon AGB stars, the location of supergiant H I shells and young SN remnants, or the turbulent Mach number. We find that the PAH fraction is correlated with CO intensity, peaks in the dust surface density and the molecular gas surface density as determined from 160 um emission. The PAH fraction is high in regions of active star-formation, as predicted by its correlation with molecular gas, but is suppressed in H II regions. Because the PAH fraction in the diffuse ISM is generally very low--in accordance with previous work on modeling the SED of the SMC--and the PAH fraction is relatively high in molecular regions, we suggest that PAHs are destroyed in the diffuse ISM of the SMC and/or PAHs are forming in molecular clouds. We discuss the implications of these observations for our understanding of the PAH life cycle, particularly in low-metallicity galaxies., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ, abstract abridged

The Tail region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) was imaged using the MIPS instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the SAGE-SMC Spitzer Legacy. Diffuse infrared emission from dust was detected in all the MIPS bands. The Tail gas-to-dust ratio was measured to be 1200 +/- 350 using the MIPS observations combined with existing IRAS and HI observations. This gas-to-dust ratio is higher than the expected 500-800 from the known Tail metallicity indicating possible destruction of dust grains. Two cluster regions in the Tail were resolved into multiple sources in the MIPS observations and local gas-to-dust ratios were measured to be ~440 and ~250 suggests dust formation and/or significant amounts of ionized gas in these regions. These results support the interpretation that the SMC Tail is a tidal tail recently stripped from the SMC that includes gas, dust, and young stars., 6 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters, in press, (version with full resolution figures at http://www.stsci.edu/~kgordon/papers/PS_files/sage-smc_taildust_v1.62.pdf)

The amount of molecular gas is a key for understanding the future star formation in a galaxy. However, this quantity is difficult to infer as the cold H2 is almost impossible to observe and, especially at low metallicities, CO only traces part of the clouds, keeping large envelopes of H2 hidden from observations. In this context, millimeter dust emission tracing the cold and dense regions can be used as a tracer to unveil the total molecular gas masses. I present studies of a sample of giant molecular clouds in the Small Magellanic Cloud. These clouds have been observed in the millimeter and sub-millimeter continuum of dust emission: with SIMBA/SEST at 1.2 mm and the new LABOCA bolometer on APEX at 870 μm. Combining these with radio data for each cloud, the spectral energy distribution of dust emission are obtained and gas masses are inferred. The molecular cloud masses are found to be systematically larger than the virial masses deduced from CO emission. Therefore, the molecular gas mass in the SMC has been underestimated by CO observations, even through the dynamical masses. This result confirms what was previously observed by Bot et al. (2007). We discuss possible interpretations of the mass discrepancy observed: in the giant molecular clouds of the SMC, part of cloud's support against gravity could be given by a magnetic field. Alternatively, the inclusion of surface terms in the virial theorem for turbulent clouds could reproduce the observed results and the giant molecular clouds could be transient structures.

We have studied the relationship between the star formation rate (SFR) surface density and gas surface density in the spiral galaxy M51a (NGC 5194), using multi-wavelength data obtained as part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). We introduce a new SFR index based on a linear combination of H-alpha emission-line and 24 micron continuum luminosities, that provides reliable extinction-corrected ionizing fluxes and SFR densities over a wide range of dust attenuations. The combination of these extinction-corrected SFR densities with aperture synthesis HI and CO maps has allowed us to probe the form of the spatially-resolved star formation law on scales of 0.5 to 2 kpc. We find that the resolved SFR vs gas surface density relation is well represented by a Schmidt power law, which is similar in form and dispersion to the disk-averaged Schmidt law. We observe a comparably strong correlation of the SFR surface density with the molecular gas surface density, but no significant correlation with the surface density of atomic gas. The best-fitting slope of the Schmidt law varies from N = 1.37 to 1.56, with zeropoint and slope that change systematically with the spatial sampling scale. We tentatively attribute these variations to the effects of areal sampling and averaging of a nonlinear intrinsic star formation law. Our data can also be fitted by an alternative parametrization of the SFR surface density in terms of the ratio of gas surface density to local dynamical time, but with a considerable dispersion., 46 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

Dust in galaxies can be mapped by either the FIR/sub-mm emission, the optical or infrared reddening of starlight, or the extinction of a known background source. We compare two dust extinction measurements for a set of fifteen sections in thirteen nearby galaxies, to determine the scale of the dusty ISM responsible for disk opacity: one using stellar reddening and the other a known background source. In our earlier papers, we presented extinction measurements of 29 galaxies, based on calibrated counts of distant background objects identified though foreground disks in HST/WFPC2 images. For the 13 galaxies that overlap with the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS), we now compare these results with those obtained from an I-L color map. Our goal is to determine whether or not a detected distant galaxy indicates a gap in the dusty ISM, and hence to better understand the nature and geometry of the disk extinction. We find that distant galaxies are predominantly in low-extinction sections marked by the color maps, indicating that their number depends both on the cloud cover of {\it Spitzer}-resolved dust structures --mostly the spiral arms--and a diffuse, unresolved underlying disk. We note that our infrared color map (E[I-L]) underestimates the overall dust presence in these disks severely, because it implicitly assumes the presence of a dust screen in front of the stellar distribution., 22 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in AJ

We present new far infrared maps of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at 24, 70, and 160 microns obtained as part of the Spitzer Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (S3MC,Bolatto et al. 2006). These maps cover most of the active star formation in the SMC Bar and the more quiescent Wing. We combine our maps with literature data to derive the dust surface density across the SMC. We find a total dust mass of Mdust = 3 10^5 Msun, implying a dust-to-hydrogen ratio over the region studied of log D/H = -2.86, or 1-to-700, which includes H_2. Assuming the dust to trace the total gas column, we derive H_2 surface densities across the SMC. We find a total H_2 mass M_H2 = 3.2 10^7 Msun in a distribution similar to that of the CO, but more extended. We compare profiles of CO and H_2 around six molecular peaks and find that on average H_2 is more extended than CO by a factor of \sim 1.3. The implied CO-to-H_2 conversion factor over the whole SMC is XCO = 13 +/- 1 10^21 cm^-2 (K km/s)^-1. Over the volume occupied by CO we find a lower conversion factor, XCO = 6 +/- 1 10^21 cm^-2 (K km/s)^-1, which is still a few times larger than that found using virial mass methods. The molecular peaks have H_2 surface densities \Sigma_H2 \approx 180 +/- 30 Msun pc^-2, similar to those in Milky Way GMCs, and correspondingly low extinctions, A_V \sim 1 - 2 mag. To reconcile these measurements with predictions by the theory of photoionization-regulated star formation, which requires A_V \sim 6, the GMCs must be \sim 3 times smaller than our 46 pc resolution element. We find that for a given hydrostatic gas pressure, the SMC has a 2 - 3 times lower ratio of molecular to atomic gas than spiral galaxies. Combined with the lower mean densities in the SMC this may explain why this galaxy has only 10% of its gas in the molecular phase.

We present the initial results from the Spitzer Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (S3MC), which imaged the star-forming body of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) in all seven MIPS and IRAC wavebands. We find that the F_8/F_24 ratio (an estimate of PAH abundance) has large spatial variations and takes a wide range of values that are unrelated to metallicity but anticorrelated with 24 um brightness and F_24/F_70 ratio. This suggests that photodestruction is primarily responsible for the low abundance of PAHs observed in star-forming low-metallicity galaxies. We use the S3MC images to compile a photometric catalog of ~400,000 mid- and far-infrared point sources in the SMC. The sources detected at the longest wavelengths fall into four main categories: 1) bright 5.8 um sources with very faint optical counterparts and very red mid-infrared colors ([5.8]-[8.0]>1.2), which we identify as YSOs. 2) Bright mid-infrared sources with mildly red colors (0.16, Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. Given the draconian figure file-size limits implemented in astro-ph, readers are encouraged to download the manuscript with full quality images from http://celestial.berkeley.edu/spitzer/publications/s3mcsurvey.pdf

The dust properties in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are studied using the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project photometric data in five bands from 100 to 500 micron. Three simple models of dust emission were fit to the observations: a single temperature blackbody modified by a power- law emissivity (SMBB), a single temperature blackbody modified by a broken power-law emissivity (BEMBB), and two blackbodies with different temperatures, both modified by the same power-law emissivity (TTMBB). Using these models we investigate the origin of the submm excess; defined as the submillimeter (submm) emission above that expected from SMBB models fit to observations < 200 micron. We find that the BEMBB model produces the lowest fit residuals with pixel-averaged 500 micron submm excesses of 27% and 43% for the LMC and SMC, respectively. Adopting gas masses from previous works, the gas-to-dust ratios calculated from our the fitting results shows that the TTMBB fits require significantly more dust than are available even if all the metals present in the interstellar medium (ISM) were condensed into dust. This indicates that the submm excess is more likely to be due to emissivity variations than a second population of colder dust. We derive integrated dust masses of (7.3 +/- 1.7) x 10^5 and (8.3 +/- 2.1) times 10^4 M(sun) for the LMC and SMC, respectively. We find significant correlations between the submm excess and other dust properties; further work is needed to determine the relative contributions of fitting noise and ISM physics to the correlations., 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ

International audience; The Strasbourg astronomical Data Center (CDS) was created in 1972 and has had a major role in astronomy for more than forty years. CDS develops a service called SIMBAD that provides basic data, cross-identifications, bibliography, and measurements for astronomical objects outside the solar system. It brings to the scientific community an added value to content which is updated daily by a team of documentalists working together in close collaboration with astronomers and IT specialists. We explain how the CDS staff updates SIMBAD with object citations in the main astronomical journals, as well as with astronomical data and measurements. We also explain how the identification is made between the objects found in the literature and those already existing in SIMBAD. We show the steps followed by the documentalist team to update the database using different tools developed at CDS, like the sky visualizer Aladin, and the large catalogues and survey database VizieR. As a direct result of this teamwork, SIMBAD integrates almost 10.000 bibliographic references per year. The service receives more than 400.000 queries per day.

This paper presents a tutorial explaining the use of Virtual Observatory tools in high energy astrophysics. Most of the tools used in this paper were developed at the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center and we show how they can be applied to conduct a multi-instrument, multi-wavelength analysis of sources detected by the High Energy Stereoscopic System and the Fermi Large Area Telescope. The analysis involves queries of different data catalogs, selection and cross-correlation techniques on multi-waveband images, and the construction of high energy color-color plots and multi-wavelength spectra. The tutorial is publicly available on the website of the European Virtual Observatory project., Comment: SF2A 2014 proceedings

We study the emission by dust and stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, a pair of low-metallicity nearby galaxies, as traced by their spatially resolved spectral energy distributions (SEDs). This project combines Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE far-infrared photometry with other data at infrared and optical wavelengths. We build maps of dust and stellar luminosity and mass of both Magellanic Clouds, and analyze the spatial distribution of dust/stellar luminosity and mass ratios. These ratios vary considerably throughout the galaxies, generally between the range $0.01\leq L_{\rm dust}/L_\ast\leq 0.6$ and $10^{-4}\leq M_{\rm dust}/M_\ast\leq 4\times10^{-3}$. We observe that the dust/stellar ratios depend on the interstellar medium (ISM) environment, such as the distance from currently or previously star-forming regions, and on the intensity of the interstellar radiation field (ISRF). In addition, we construct star formation rate (SFR) maps, and find that the SFR is correlated with the dust/stellar luminosity and dust temperature in both galaxies, demonstrating the relation between star formation, dust emission and heating, though these correlations exhibit substantial scatter., 15 pages, 18 figures; ApJ, in press; version published in the journal will have higher-resolution figures

We compare atomic gas, molecular gas, and the recent star formation rate (SFR) inferred from H-alpha in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). By using infrared dust emission and local dust-to-gas ratios, we construct a map of molecular gas that is independent of CO emission. This allows us to disentangle conversion factor effects from the impact of metallicity on the formation and star formation efficiency of molecular gas. On scales of 200 pc to 1 kpc we find a characteristic molecular gas depletion time of ~1.6 Gyr, similar to that observed in the molecule-rich parts of large spiral galaxies on similar spatial scales. This depletion time shortens on much larger scales to ~0.6 Gyr because of the presence of a diffuse H-alpha component, and lengthens on much smaller scales to ~7.5 Gyr because the H-alpha and H2 distributions differ in detail. We estimate the systematic uncertainties in our measurement to be a factor of 2-3. We suggest that the impact of metallicity on the physics of star formation in molecular gas has at most this magnitude. The relation between SFR and neutral (H2+HI) gas surface density is steep, with a power-law index ~2.2+/-0.1, similar to that observed in the outer disks of large spiral galaxies. At a fixed total gas surface density the SMC has a 5-10 times lower molecular gas fraction (and star formation rate) than large spiral galaxies. We explore the ability of the recent models by Krumholz et al. (2009) and Ostriker et al. (2010) to reproduce our observations. We find that to explain our data at all spatial scales requires a low fraction of cold, gravitationally-bound gas in the SMC. We explore a combined model that incorporates both large scale thermal and dynamical equilibrium and cloud-scale photodissociation region structure and find that it reproduces our data well, as well as predicting a fraction of cold atomic gas very similar to that observed in the SMC., Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 21 pages and 11 figures in apjemulate style

The properties of the dust grains (e.g., temperature and mass) can be derived from fitting far-IR SEDs (>100 micron). Only with SPIRE on Herschel has it been possible to get high spatial resolution at 200 to 500 micron that is beyond the peak (~160 micron) of dust emission in most galaxies. We investigate the differences in the fitted dust temperatures and masses determined using only 200 micron data (new SPIRE observations) to determine how important having >200 micron data is for deriving these dust properties. We fit the 100 to 350 micron observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) point-by-point with a model that consists of a single temperature and fixed emissivity law. The data used are existing observations at 100 and 160 micron (from IRAS and Spitzer) and new SPIRE observations of 1/4 of the LMC observed for the HERITAGE Key Project as part of the Herschel Science Demonstration phase. The dust temperatures and masses computed using only 100 and 160 micron data can differ by up to 10% and 36%, respectively, from those that also include the SPIRE 250 & 350 micron data. We find that an emissivity law proportional to lambda^-1.5 minimizes the 100-350 micron fractional residuals. We find that the emission at 500 micron is ~10% higher than expected from extrapolating the fits made at shorter wavelengths. We find the fractional 500 micron excess is weakly anti-correlated with MIPS 24 micron flux and the total gas surface density. This argues against a flux calibration error as the origin of the 500 micron excess. Our results do not allow us to distinguish between a systematic variation in the wavelength dependent emissivity law or a population of very cold dust only detectable at lambda > 500 micron for the origin of the 500 micron excess., 5 pages, 3 figurers, A&A, in press

Dust emission at submm to cm wavelengths is often simply the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of dust particles at thermal equilibrium and is used as a cold mass tracer in various environments including nearby galaxies. However, well-sampled spectral energy distributions of the nearby, star-forming Magellanic Clouds have a pronounced (sub-)millimeter excess (Israel et al., 2010). This study attempts to confirm the existence of such a millimeter excess above expected dust, free-free and synchrotron emission and to explore different possibilities for its origin. We model NIR to radio spectral energy distributions of the Magellanic Clouds with dust, free-free and synchrotron emission. A millimeter excess emission is confirmed above these components and its spectral shape and intensity are analysed in light of different scenarios: very cold dust, Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) fluctuations, a change of the dust spectral index and spinning dust emission. We show that very cold dust or CMB fluctuations are very unlikely explanations for the observed excess in these two galaxies. The excess in the LMC can be satisfactorily explained either by a change of the spectral index due to intrinsic properties of amorphous grains, or by spinning dust emission. In the SMC however, due to the importance of the excess, the dust grain model including TLS/DCD effects cannot reproduce the observed emission in a simple way. A possible solution was achieved with spinning dust emission, but many assumptions on the physical state of the interstellar medium had to be made. Further studies, using higher resolution data from Planck and Herschel, are needed to probe the origin of this observed submm-cm excess more definitely. Our study shows that the different possible origins will be best distinguished where the excess is the highest, as is the case in the SMC., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; accepted in A&A

We present clumps of dust emission from Herschel observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and their physical and statistical properties. We catalog cloud features seen in the dust emission from Herschel observations of the LMC, the Magellanic type irregular galaxy closest to the Milky Way, and compare these features with HI catalogs from the ATCA+Parkes HI survey. Using an automated cloud-finding algorithm, we identify clouds and clumps of dust emission and examine the cumulative mass distribution of the detected dust clouds. The mass of cold dust is determined from physical parameters that we derive by performing spectral energy distribution fits to 250, 350, and 500 micronm emission from SPIRE observations using DUSTY and GRASIL radiative transfer calculation with dust grain size distributions for graphite/silicate in low-metallicity extragalactic environments. The dust cloud mass spectrum follows a power law distribution with an exponent of gamma=-1.8 for clumps larger than 400 solar mass and is similar to the HI mass distribution. This is expected from the theory of ISM structure in the vicinity of star formation., 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in A&A special issue

High resolution mid-infrared spectra are presented for 155 nuclear and extranuclear regions from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). The fluxes for nine atomic forbidden and three molecular hydrogen mid-infrared emission lines are also provided, along with upper limits in key lines for infrared-faint targets. The SINGS sample shows a wide range in the ratio of [SIII]18.71um/[SIII]33.48um, but the average ratio of the ensemble indicates a typical interstellar electron density of 300-400 cm^{-3} on ~23"x15" scales and 500-600 cm^{-3} using ~11"x9" apertures, independent of whether the region probed is a star-forming nuclear, a star-forming extranuclear, or an AGN environment. Evidence is provided that variations in gas-phase metallicity play an important role in driving variations in radiation field hardness, as indicated by [NeIII]15.56um/[NeII]12.81um, for regions powered by star formation. Conversely, the radiation hardness for galaxy nuclei powered by accretion around a massive black hole is independent of metal abundance. Furthermore, for metal-rich environments AGN are distinguishable from star-forming regions by significantly larger [NeIII]15.56um/[NeII]12.81um ratios. Finally, [FeII]25.99um/[NeII]12.81um versus [SiII]34.82um/[SIII]33.48um also provides an empirical method for discerning AGN from normal star-forming sources. However, similar to [NeIII]15.56um/[NeII]12.81um, these mid-infrared line ratios lose their AGN/star-formation diagnostic powers for very low metallicity star-forming systems with hard radiation fields., Accepted for publication in ApJ

To understand the impact of low metallicities on giant molecular cloud (GMC) structure, we compare far infrared dust emission, CO emission, and dynamics in the star-forming complex N83 in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Dust emission (measured by Spitzer as part of the S3MC and SAGE-SMC surveys) probes the total gas column independent of molecular line emission and traces shielding from photodissociating radiation. We calibrate a method to estimate the dust column using only the high-resolution Spitzer data and verify that dust traces the ISM in the HI-dominated region around N83. This allows us to resolve the relative structures of H2, dust, and CO within a giant molecular cloud complex, one of the first times such a measurement has been made in a low-metallicity galaxy. Our results support the hypothesis that CO is photodissociated while H2 self-shields in the outer parts of low-metallicity GMCs, so that dust/self shielding is the primary factor determining the distribution of CO emission. Four pieces of evidence support this view. First, the CO-to-H2 conversion factor averaged over the whole cloud is very high 4-11 \times 10^21 cm^-2/(K km/s), or 20-55 times the Galactic value. Second, the CO-to-H2 conversion factor varies across the complex, with its lowest (most nearly Galactic) values near the CO peaks. Third, bright CO emission is largely confined to regions of relatively high line-of-sight extinction, A_V >~ 2 mag, in agreement with PDR models and Galactic observations. Fourth, a simple model in which CO emerges from a smaller sphere nested inside a larger cloud can roughly relate the H2 masses measured from CO kinematics and dust., 17 pages, 10 figures (including appendix), accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We present a search for infrared dust emission associated with the Leo cloud, a large intergalactic cloud in the M96 group. Mid-infrared and far-infrared images were obtained with IRAC and MIPS on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our analysis of these maps is done at each wavelength relative to the HI spatial distribution. We observe a probable detection at 8 microns and a marginal detection at 24 microns associated with the highest HI column densities in the cloud. At 70 and 160 microns, upper limits on the dust emission are deduced. The level of the detection is low so that the possibility of a fortuitous cirrus clump or of an overdensity of extragalactic sources along the line of sight can not be excluded. If this detection is confirmed, the quantities of dust inferred imply a dust to gas ratio in the intergalactic cloud up to a few times solar but no less than 1/20 solar. A confirmed detection would therefore exclude the possibility that the intergalactic cloud has a primordial origin. Instead, this large intergalactic cloud could therefore have been formed through interactions between galaxies in the group., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted in AJ

Molecular gas in galaxies is the primary fuel of star formation but the exact amount of molecular gas remains unknown since H_2 is not observed directly in cold interstellar regions. CO observations have been so far the best way to trace molecular gas in external galaxies, but in low metallicity environments the gas mass deduced could be largely underestimated due to enhanced photodissociation of CO. In this context, using millimeter dust emission as a dense gas tracer could unveil large H_2 enveloppes in molecular clouds. Mass estimates from millimeter dust emission are compared to virial masses in two giant molecular clouds samples: the local clouds in our Galaxy, and equivalents in the Small Magellanic Cloud. In our Galaxy, virial masses are systematically larger than mass estimates from millimeter emission, confirming previous studies. This is not the case for SMC clouds: molecular gas masses deduced from millimeter observations are systematically higher than the virial masses from CO observations. We show that an additional magnetic field support of the SMC clouds could explain the difference observed.

(simplified) Results on the properties of warm H2 in 57 normal galaxies are derived from H2 rotational transitions, obtained as part of SINGS. This study extends previous extragalactic surveys of H2, the most abundant constituent of the molecular ISM, to more common systems (L_FIR = e7 to 6e10 L_sun) of all morphological and nuclear types. The S(1) transition is securely detected in the nuclear regions of 86% of SINGS galaxies with stellar masses above 10^9.5 M_sun. The derived column densities of warm H2 (T > ~100 K), even though averaged over kiloparsec-scale areas, are commensurate with those of resolved PDRs; the median of the sample is 3e20 cm-2. They amount to between 1% and >30% of the total H2. The power emitted in the sum of the S(0) to S(2) transitions is on average 30% of the [SiII] line power, and ~4e-4 of the total infrared power (TIR) within the same area for star-forming galaxies, which is consistent with excitation in PDRs. The fact that H2 emission scales tightly with PAH emission, even though the average radiation field intensity varies by a factor ten, can also be understood if both tracers originate predominantly in PDRs, either dense or diffuse. A large fraction of the 25 LINER/Sy targets, however, strongly depart from the rest of the sample, in having warmer H2 in the excited states, and an excess of H2 emission with respect to PAHs, TIR and [SiII]. We propose a threshold in H2 to PAH power ratios, allowing the identification of low-luminosity AGNs by an excess H2 excitation. A dominant contribution from shock heating is favored in these objects. Finally, we detect, in nearly half the star-forming targets, non-equilibrium ortho to para ratios, consistent with FUV pumping combined with incomplete ortho-para thermalization by collisions, or possibly non-equilibrium PDR fronts advancing into cold gas., ApJS, in press

With the goal of investigating the degree to which the mid-infrared emission traces the star formation rate (SFR), we analyze Spitzer 8 um and 24 um data of star-forming regions in a sample of 33 nearby galaxies with available HST/NICMOS images in the Paschen-alpha (1.8756 um) emission line. The galaxies are drawn from the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS) sample, and cover a range of morphologies and a factor ~10 in oxygen abundance. Published data on local low-metallicity starburst galaxies and Luminous Infrared Galaxies are also included in the analysis. Both the stellar-continuum-subtracted 8 um emission and the 24 um emission correlate with the extinction-corrected Pa-alpha line emission, although neither relationship is linear. Simple models of stellar populations and dust extinction and emission are able to reproduce the observed non-linear trend of the 24 um emission versus number of ionizing photons, including the modest deficiency of 24 um emission in the low metallicity regions, which results from a combination of decreasing dust opacity and dust temperature at low luminosities. Conversely, the trend of the 8 um emission as a function of the number of ionizing photons is not well reproduced by the same models. The 8 um emission is contributed, in larger measure than the 24 um emission, by dust heated by non-ionizing stellar populations, in agreement with previous findings. Two SFR calibrations, one using the 24 um emission and the other using a combination of the 24 um and H-alpha luminosities (Kennicutt et al. 2007), are presented. No calibration is presented for the 8 um emission, because of its significant dependence on both metallicity and environment. The calibrations presented here should be directly applicable to systems dominated by on-going star formation., Comment: 67 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication on the Astrophysical Journal; replacement contains: correction to equation 8; important tweaks to equation 9; various typos corrected

Physical dust models are presented for 65 galaxies in the SINGS survey that are strongly detected in the four IRAC bands and three MIPS bands. For each galaxy we estimate (1) the total dust mass, (2) the fraction of the dust mass contributed by PAHs, and (3) the intensity of the starlight heating the dust grains. We find that spiral galaxies have dust properties resembling the dust in the local region of the Milky Way, with similar dust-to-gas ratio, and similar PAH abundance. The observed SEDs, including galaxies with SCUBA photometry, can be reproduced by dust models that do not require "cold" (T8.1, grains contain a substantial fraction of interstellar Mg, Si and Fe. Galaxies with A_O8.1 have a median q_PAH=3.55%. The derived dust masses favor a value X_CO approx 4e20 cm^{-2}(K kms)^{-1} for the CO to H_2 conversion factor. Except for some starbursting systems (Mrk33, Tolo89, NGC3049), dust in the diffuse ISM dominates the IR power., Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

CO observations have been so far the best way to trace molecular gas in external galaxies, but at low metallicity the gas mass deduced could be largely underestimated. At present, the kinematic information of CO data cubes are used to estimate virial masses and trace the total mass of the molecular clouds. Millimeter dust emission can also be used as a dense gas tracer and could unveil H2 envelopes lacking CO. These different tracers must be compared in different environments. This study compares virial masses to masses deduced from millimeter emission, in two GMC samples: the local molecular clouds in our Galaxy and their equivalents in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of the nearest low metallicity dwarf galaxy. In our Galaxy, mass estimates deduced from millimeter emission are consistent with masses deduced from gamma ray analysis and trace the total mass of the clouds. Virial masses are systematically larger (twice on average) than mass estimates from millimeter dust emission. This difference decreases toward high masses and has already been reported in previous studies. In the SMC however, molecular cloud masses deduced from SIMBA millimeter observations are systematically higher (twice on average for conservative values of the dust to gas ratio and dust emissivity) than the virial masses from SEST CO observations. The observed excess can not be accounted for by any plausible change of dust properties. Taking a general form for the virial theorem, we show that a magnetic field strength of ~15 micro Gauss in SMC clouds could provide additional support to the clouds and explain the difference observed. Masses of SMC molecular clouds have therefore been underestimated so far. Magnetic pressure may contribute significantly to their support., 10 pages, 2 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics accepted

We present Spitzer imaging of the metal-deficient (Z ~30% Z_sun) Local Group dwarf galaxy NGC 6822. On spatial scales of ~130 pc, we study the nature of IR, H alpha, HI, and radio continuum emission. Nebular emission strength correlates with IR surface brightness; however, roughly half of the IR emission is associated with diffuse regions not luminous at H alpha (as found in previous studies). The global ratio of dust to HI gas in the ISM, while uncertain at the factor of ~2 level, is ~25 times lower than the global values derived for spiral galaxies using similar modeling techniques; localized ratios of dust to HI gas are about a factor of five higher than the global value in NGC 6822. There are strong variations (factors of ~10) in the relative ratios of H alpha and IR flux throughout the central disk; the low dust content of NGC 6822 is likely responsible for the different H alpha/IR ratios compared to those found in more metal-rich environments. The H alpha and IR emission is associated with high-column density (> ~1E21 cm^-2) neutral gas. Increases in IR surface brightness appear to be affected by both increased radiation field strength and increased local gas density. Individual regions and the galaxy as a whole fall within the observed scatter of recent high-resolution studies of the radio-far IR correlation in nearby spiral galaxies; this is likely the result of depleted radio and far-IR emission strengths in the ISM of this dwarf galaxy., ApJ, in press; please retrieve full-resolution version from http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/~cannon/pubs.html

We present results of mid-infrared spectroscopic mapping observations of six star-forming regions in the Small Magellanic Cloud from the Spitzer Spectroscopic Survey of the SMC (S4MC). We detect the mid-IR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in all of the mapped regions, greatly increasing the range of environments where PAHs have been spectroscopically detected in the SMC. We investigate the variations of the mid-IR bands in each region and compare our results to studies of the PAH bands in the SINGS sample and in a sample of low-metallicity starburst galaxies. PAH emission in the SMC is characterized by low ratios of the 6-9 micron features relative to the 11.3 micron feature and weak 8.6 and 17.0 micron features. Interpreting these band ratios in the light of laboratory and theoretical studies, we find that PAHs in the SMC tend to be smaller and less ionized than those in higher metallicity galaxies. Based on studies of PAH destruction, we argue that a size distribution shifted towards smaller PAHs cannot be the result of processing in the interstellar medium, but instead reflects differences in the formation of PAHs at low metallicity. Finally, we discuss the implications of our observations for our understanding of the PAH life-cycle in low-metallicity galaxies---namely that the observed deficit of PAHs may be a consequence of PAHs forming with smaller average sizes and therefore being more susceptible to destruction under typical interstellar medium conditions., Submitted to ApJ

Aims: In this paper, we perform detailed modelling of the Spitzer and Herschel observations of the LMC, in order to: (i) systematically study the uncertainties and biases affecting dust mass estimates; and to (ii) explore the peculiar ISM properties of the LMC. Methods: To achieve these goals, we have modelled the spatially resolved SEDs with two alternate grain compositions, to study the impact of different submillimetre opacities on the dust mass. We have rigorously propagated the observational errors (noise and calibration) through the entire fitting process, in order to derive consistent parameter uncertainties. Results: First, we show that using the integrated SED leads to underestimating the dust mass by ~50 % compared to the value obtained with sufficient spatial resolution, for the region we studied. This might be the case, in general, for unresolved galaxies. Second, we show that Milky Way type grains produce higher gas-to-dust mass ratios than what seems possible according to the element abundances in the LMC. A spatial analysis shows that this dilemma is the result of an exceptional property: the grains of the LMC have on average a larger intrinsic submm opacity (emissivity index beta~1.7 and opacity kappa_abs(160 microns)=1.6 m2/kg) than those of the Galaxy. By studying the spatial distribution of the gas-to-dust mass ratio, we are able to constrain the fraction of unseen gas mass between ~10, and ~100 % and show that it is not sufficient to explain the gas-to-dust mass ratio obtained with Milky Way type grains. Finally, we confirm the detection of a 500 microns extended emission excess with an average relative amplitude of ~15 %, varying up to 40 %. This excess anticorrelates well with the dust mass surface density. Although we do not know the origin of this excess, we show that it is unlikely the result of very cold dust, or CMB fluctuations., 33 pages, 36 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

The HERschel Inventory of The Agents of Galaxy Evolution (HERITAGE) of the Magellanic Clouds will use dust emission to investigate the life cycle of matter in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC). Using the Herschel Space Observatory's PACS and SPIRE photometry cameras, we imaged a 2x8 square degree strip through the LMC, at a position angle of ~22.5 degrees as part of the science demonstration phase of the Herschel mission. We present the data in all 5 Herschel bands: PACS 100 and 160 {\mu}m and SPIRE 250, 350 and 500 {\mu}m. We present two dust models that both adequately fit the spectral energy distribution for the entire strip and both reveal that the SPIRE 500 {\mu}m emission is in excess of the models by 6 to 17%. The SPIRE emission follows the distribution of the dust mass, which is derived from the model. The PAH-to-dust mass (f_PAH) image of the strip reveals a possible enhancement in the LMC bar in agreement with previous work. We compare the gas mass distribution derived from the HI 21 cm and CO J=1-0 line emission maps to the dust mass map from the models and derive gas-to-dust mass ratios (GDRs). The dust model, which uses the standard graphite and silicate optical properties for Galactic dust, has a very low GDR = 65(+15,-18) making it an unrealistic dust model for the LMC. Our second dust model, which uses amorphous carbon instead of graphite, has a flatter emissivity index in the submillimeter and results in a GDR = 287(+25,-42) that is more consistent with a GDR inferred from extinction., Comment: To be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Herschel First Results Issue

International audience; Since the CDS (Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg) began a little more than forty years ago, astronomers, documentalists, and information technology (IT) specialists have been working together. The synergy between these three professional groups support the core of the work and is becoming more and more crucial with the increasing volume and complexity of data handled. The astronomers use their understanding of the subject and of users' needs to help to maintain the accuracy and the relevance of data. The computer engineers enhance these data by maintaining the database framework and continuing to add useful tools to retrieve and reuse this content. Finally, the documentalists, by definition, manage the content. They do so with the help of IT tools developed at CDS; they analyze the publications, extract the relevant information, verify the data, make comparisons with existing data, add the useful information in VizieR and SIMBAD, and confer with astronomers to make corrections, if needed. After an historical review of the evolution in data and the way data have been provided at CDS, we will further discuss the fundamental roles of the three professional groups to support the mission of the CDS.

My thesis focused on the implications of dust emission modelisation choices on its derived properties in nearby galaxies. A first approach showed that all models do not fit observations of two nearby galaxies adequately and similarly, although they all managed to fit the Milky Way infrared emission. It also highlighted that the dust composition is not the same between those two galaxies, and also with that of the Milky Way. The choice of the dust grains environment, through the incident radiation field, can significantly impact results like the total dust masses. A second project investigated the systematics errors due to the empirical laws used to describe the radiation field that heats the dust grains. I showed that some parameters can be over- or underestimated, while showing good fits to the observations. These results show that it is important to take into consideration the choices made for modelisation in order to accurately determine dust properties in nearby galaxies., Ma thèse s’est concentrée sur les conséquences qu’ont les choix de modélisation de l’émission de la poussière sur ses propriétés déduites dans les galaxies proches.Une première étude a montré que tous les modèles ne reproduisent pas des observations de deux galaxies proches de façon satisfaisante, bien que tous reproduisent l’émission IR de la Voie Lactée. Cela a aussi mis en évidence que la composition de la poussière est différente d’une galaxie à l’autre, et différente de celle de la Voie Lactée. Le choix de l’environnement des grains, à travers la description du champ de rayonnement qui chauffe ces grains, impacte significativement les résultats tels que la masse totale de poussières. Une deuxième étude s’est concentrée sur les biais systématiques dus à l‘emploi de lois empiriques de mélange pour décrire le chauffage de la poussière. J’ai montré que les masses déduites peuvent être sous- ou surestimées, bien que les ajustements aux données apparaissent raisonnables. Les résultats de cette thèse montrent alors qu’il est nécessaire de prendre en compte les choix de modélisation pour déterminer au mieux les propriétés des poussières dans les galaxies proches.