Mapping Galactic Dust Emission and Extinction with H I, H II, and H2

Observations of the submillimetre emission from Galactic dust, in both total intensityIand polarization, have received tremendous interest thanks to thePlanckfull-sky maps. In this paper we make use of such full-sky maps of dust polarized emission produced from the third public release ofPlanckdata. As the basis for expanding on astrophysical studies of the polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust, we present full-sky maps of the dust polarization fractionp, polarization angleψ, and dispersion function of polarization angles 𝒮. The joint distribution (one-point statistics) ofpandNHconfirms that the mean and maximum polarization fractions decrease with increasingNH. The uncertainty on the maximum observed polarization fraction,pmax= 22.0−1.4+3.5% at 353 GHz and 80′ resolution, is dominated by the uncertainty on the Galactic emission zero level in total intensity, in particular towards diffuse lines of sight at high Galactic latitudes. Furthermore, the inverse behaviour betweenpand 𝒮 found earlier is seen to be present at high latitudes. This follows the 𝒮 ∝ p−1relationship expected from models of the polarized sky (including numerical simulations of magnetohydrodynamical turbulence) that include effects from only the topology of the turbulent magnetic field, but otherwise have uniform alignment and dust properties. Thus, the statistical properties ofp,ψ, and 𝒮 for the most part reflect the structure of the Galactic magnetic field. Nevertheless, we search for potential signatures of varying grain alignment and dust properties. First, we analyse the product map 𝒮 × p, looking for residual trends. While the polarization fractionpdecreases by a factor of 3−4 betweenNH = 1020 cm−2andNH = 2 × 1022 cm−2, out of the Galactic plane, this product 𝒮 × ponly decreases by about 25%. Because 𝒮 is independent of the grain alignment efficiency, this demonstrates that the systematic decrease inpwithNHis determined mostly by the magnetic-field structure and not by a drop in grain alignment. This systematic trend is observed both in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) and in molecular clouds of the Gould Belt. Second, we look for a dependence of polarization properties on the dust temperature, as we would expect from the radiative alignment torque (RAT) theory. We find no systematic trend of 𝒮 × pwith the dust temperatureTd, whether in the diffuse ISM or in the molecular clouds of the Gould Belt. In the diffuse ISM, lines of sight with high polarization fractionpand low polarization angle dispersion 𝒮 tend, on the contrary, to have colder dust than lines of sight with lowpand high 𝒮. We also compare thePlanckthermal dust polarization with starlight polarization data in the visible at high Galactic latitudes. The agreement in polarization angles is remarkable, and is consistent with what we expect from the noise and the observed dispersion of polarization angles in the visible on the scale of thePlanckbeam. The two polarization emission-to-extinction ratios,RP/pandRS/V, which primarily characterize dust optical properties, have only a weak dependence on the column density, and converge towards the values previously determined for translucent lines of sight. We also determine an upper limit for the polarization fraction in extinction,pV/E(B − V), of 13% at high Galactic latitude, compatible with the polarization fractionp ≈ 20% observed at 353 GHz. Taken together, these results provide strong constraints for models of Galactic dust in diffuse gas.

If a single line of sight (LOS) intercepts multiple dust clouds with different spectral energy distributions and magnetic field orientations, then the frequency scaling of each of the Stokes Q and U parameters of the thermal dust emission may be different, a phenomenon we refer to as LOS frequency decorrelation. We present first evidence for LOS frequency decorrelation in Planck data using independent measurements of neutral-hydrogen (HI) emission to probe the 3D structure of the magnetized interstellar medium (ISM). We use HI-based measurements of the number of clouds per LOS and the magnetic field orientation in each cloud to select two sets of sightlines: (i) a target sample of pixels that are likely to exhibit LOS frequency decorrelation and (ii) a control sample of pixels that lack complex LOS structure. We test the null hypothesis that LOS frequency decorrelation is not detectable in Planck 353 and 217 GHz polarization data at high Galactic latitudes. We reject the null hypothesis at high significance based on data that show that the combined effect of polarization angle variation with frequency and depolarization are detected in the target sample. This detection is robust against the choice of cosmic microwave background (CMB) map and map-making pipeline. The observed change in polarization angle due to LOS frequency decorrelation is detectable above the Planck noise level. The probability that the detected effect is due to noise alone ranges from 5 × 10−2 to 4 × 10−7, depending on the CMB subtraction algorithm and treatment of residual systematic errors; correcting for residual systematic errors consistently increases the significance of the effect. Within the target sample, the LOS decorrelation effect is stronger for sightlines with more misaligned magnetic fields, as expected. With our sample, we estimate that an intrinsic variation of ~15% in the ratio of 353 to 217 GHz polarized emission between clouds is sufficient to reproduce the measured effect. Our finding underlines the importance of ongoing studies to map the three-dimensional structure of the magnetized and dusty ISM that could ultimately help component separation methods to account for frequency decorrelation effects in CMB polarization studies.

This study presents the first millimeter continuum mapping observations of two nearby galaxies, the starburst spiral galaxy NGC2146 and the dwarf galaxy NGC2976, at 1.15 mm and 2 mm using the NIKA2 camera on the IRAM 30m telescope, as part of the Guaranteed Time Large Project IMEGIN. These observations provide robust resolved information about the physical properties of dust in nearby galaxies by constraining their FIR-radio SED in the millimeter domain. After subtracting the contribution from the CO line emission, the SEDs are modeled spatially using a Bayesian approach. Maps of dust mass surface density, temperature, emissivity index, and thermal radio component of the galaxies are presented, allowing for a study of the relations between the dust properties and star formation activity (using observations at 24μm as a tracer). We report that dust temperature is correlated with star formation rate in both galaxies. The effect of star formation activity on dust temperature is stronger in NGC2976, an indication of the thinner interstellar medium of dwarf galaxies. Moreover, an anti-correlation trend is reported between the dust emissivity index and temperature in both galaxies.

<div> <p>The world’s largest contemporary dust sources are in low-lying, hot, arid regions, however the processes of dust production and emission also operate in cold climate regions at high latitudes and altitudes.  This lecture focuses on contemporary dust emissions originating from the high latitudes (≥50°N and ≥40°S) and explores three themes before setting out an integrated agenda for future research.  The first theme considers how much dust originates from the high latitudes and methods for determining this.  Estimates from field studies, remote sensing and modelling all suggest around 5% of contemporary global dust emissions originate in the high latitudes, a similar proportion to that from the USA (excluding Alaska) or Australia.  This estimate is a proportion of a highly uncertain figure as quantification of dust emissions from Eurasian high latitudes is limited, and the contribution of local and regional emissions (from any latitude) to the global total is thought to be considerably under-estimated.  Emissions are particularly likely to be under-estimated where dust sources are topographically constrained, and where cold climates reduce vertical mixing of dust plumes restricting the altitudes to which the dust can rise, because both these characteristics present particular challenges for modelling and remote sensing approaches. The second theme considers the drivers of contemporary high latitude dust emissions that reflect complex interactions among sediment supply, sediment availability and transport capacity across different geomorphic sub-systems.  These interactions determine the magnitude, frequency and timing of dust emissions at a range of time scales (diurnal, seasonal, decadal) but both the drivers and response can be nonlinear and hard to predict.  The third and final theme explores the importance of high latitude dust cycling for facilitating cross-boundary material fluxes and its impact in the atmosphere, cryosphere, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems.  This is influenced not only by the quantity and timing of dust emissions but also by dust properties such as particle-size and geochemistry.  Landscape sensitivity, spatial environmental transitions and temporal environmental change are highlighted for their importance in determining how the interactions among drivers and cycles are likely to change in response to future environmental change.</p> </div>

This paper presents the first results of comparison of Planck along with IRAS data with Green Bank Telescope 21-cm observations in 14 fields covering more than 800 square degrees at high Galactic latitude. Galactic dust emission for fields with average HI column density lower than 2 x 10^20 cm^-2 is well correlated with 21-cm emission. The residual emission in these fields, once the HI-correlated emission is removed, is consistent with the expected statistical properties of the cosmic infrared background fluctuations. Fields with larger column densities show significant excess dust emission compared to the HI column density. Regions of excess lie in organized structures that suggest the presence of hydrogen in molecular form, though they are not always correlated with CO emission. Dust emission from intermediate-velocity clouds is detected with high significance. Its spectral properties are consistent with, compared to the local ISM values, significantly hotter dust (T~20 K), lower sub-millimeter dust opacity, and a relative abundance of very small grains to large grains about four times higher. These results are compatible with expectations for clouds that are part of the Galactic fountain in which there is dust shattering and fragmentation. Correlated dust emission in HVCs is not detected; the average of the 99.9% confidence upper limits to the emissivity is 0.15 times the local ISM value at 857 and 3000 GHz, in accordance with gas phase evidence for lower metallicity and depletion in these clouds. Unexpected anti-correlated variations of the dust temperature and emission cross-section per H atom are identified in the local ISM and IVCs, a trend that continues into molecular environments. This suggests that dust growth through aggregation, seen in molecular clouds, is active much earlier in the cloud condensation and star formation processes.

While it is well recognized that both the Galactic interstellar extinction curves and the gas-phase abundances of dust-forming elements exhibit considerable variations from one sight line to another, as yet most of the dust extinction modeling efforts have been directed to the Galactic average extinction curve, which is obtained by averaging over many clouds of different gas and dust properties. Therefore, any details concerning the relationship between the dust properties and the interstellar environments are lost. Here we utilize the wealth of extinction and elemental abundance data obtained by space telescopes and explore the dust properties of a large number of individual sight lines. We model the observed extinction curve of each sight line and derive the abundances of the major dust-forming elements (i.e., C, O, Si, Mg, and Fe) required to be tied up in dust (i.e., dust depletion). We then confront the derived dust depletions with the observed gas-phase abundances of these elements and investigate the environmental effects on the dust properties and elemental depletions. It is found that for the majority of the sight lines the interstellar oxygen atoms are fully accommodated by gas and dust and therefore there does not appear to be a “missing oxygen” problem. For those sight lines with an extinction-to-hydrogen column density A V /N H ≳ 4.8 × 10−22 mag cm2 H−1 there are shortages of C, Si, Mg, and Fe elements for making dust to account for the observed extinction, even if the interstellar C/H, Si/H, Mg/H, and Fe/H abundances are assumed to be protosolar abundances augmented by Galactic chemical evolution.

With Planck and Herschel, we now have the spectral coverage and angular resolution required to observe dense and cold molecular clouds. As these clouds are optically thick at short wavelength but optically thin at long wavelength, it is tricky to conclude anything about dust properties without a proper treatment of the radiative transfer (RT). Our aim is to disentangle the effects of RT and of dust properties on the variations in the dust emission to provide observers with keys to analyse the emission arising from dense clouds. We model cylindrical clouds, illuminated by the ISRF, and carry out full RT calculations. Dust temperatures are solved using DustEM for amorphous carbons and silicates, grains coated with carbon mantles, and mixed aggregates of carbon and silicate. We allow variations of the grain optical properties with wavelength and temperature. We determine observed colour temperatures, T, and emissivity spectral indices, beta, by fitting the dust emission with modified blackbodies, to compare our models with observations. RT effects can neither explain the low T nor the increased submm emissivity measured at the centre of dense clouds, nor the observed beta-T anti-correlation. Adding noise to the modelled data, we show that it is not likely to be the unique explanation for the beta-T anti-correlation observed in starless clouds. It may be explained by intrinsic variations in the grain optical properties with temperature. As for the increased submm emissivity and the low T, they have to originate in variations in the grain optical properties, probably caused by their growth to form porous aggregates. We find it difficult to track back the nature of grains from the spectral variations in their emission. Finally, the column density is underestimated when determined with blackbody fitting because of the discrepancy between T and the true dust temperature at the cloud centre.

We have modelled the near-infrared to radio images of the Crab Nebula with a Bayesian SED model to simultaneously fit its synchrotron, interstellar (IS), and supernova dust emission. We infer an IS dust extinction map with an average AV = 1.08 ± 0.38 mag, consistent with a small contribution (${\lesssim }22{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) to the Crab’s overall infrared emission. The Crab’s supernova dust mass is estimated to be between 0.032 and 0.049 M⊙ (for amorphous carbon grains) with an average dust temperature Tdust = 41 ± 3 K, corresponding to a dust condensation efficiency of 8–12 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. This revised dust mass is up to an order of magnitude lower than some previous estimates, which can be attributed to our different IS dust corrections, lower SPIRE flux densities, and higher dust temperatures than were used in previous studies. The dust within the Crab is predominantly found in dense filaments south of the pulsar, with an average V-band dust extinction of AV = 0.20–0.39 mag, consistent with recent optical dust extinction studies. The modelled synchrotron power-law spectrum is consistent with a radio spectral index αradio = 0.297 ± 0.009 and an infrared spectral index αIR = 0.429 ± 0.021. We have identified a millimetre excess emission in the Crab’s central regions, and argue that it most likely results from two distinct populations of synchrotron emitting particles. We conclude that the Crab’s efficient dust condensation (8–12 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) provides further evidence for a scenario where supernovae can provide substantial contributions to the IS dust budgets in galaxies.

The Galactic neutral hydrogen (H i ) sky at high Galactic latitudes is suffused with linear structure. Particularly prominent in narrow spectral intervals, these linear H i features are well aligned with the plane-of-sky magnetic field orientation as measured with optical starlight polarization and polarized thermal dust emission. We analyze the coherence of the orientation of these features with respect to line-of-sight velocity, and propose a new metric to quantify this H i coherence. We show that H i coherence is linearly correlated with the polarization fraction of 353 GHz dust emission. H i coherence constitutes a novel method for measuring the degree of magnetic field tangling along the line of sight in the diffuse interstellar medium. We propose applications of this property for H i -based models of the polarized dust emission in diffuse regions, and for studies of frequency decorrelation in the polarized dust foreground to the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

The dust-HI correlation is used to characterize the emission properties of dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. We cross-correlate sky maps from Planck, WMAP, and DIRBE, at 17 frequencies from 23 to 3000 GHz, with the Parkes survey of the 21-cm line emission of neutral atomic hydrogen, over a contiguous area of 7500 deg$^2$ centred on the southern Galactic pole. Our analysis yields four specific results. (1) The dust temperature is observed to be anti-correlated with the dust emissivity and opacity. We interpret this result as evidence for dust evolution within the diffuse ISM. The mean dust opacity is measured to be $(7.1 \pm 0.6) 10^{-27} cm^2/H \times (\nu/353\, GHz)^{1.53\pm0.03}$ for $100 < \nu <353$GHz. (2) We map the spectral index of dust emission at millimetre wavelengths, which is remarkably constant at $\beta_{mm} = 1.51\pm 0.13$. We compare it with the far infrared spectral index beta_FIR derived from greybody fits at higher frequencies, and find a systematic difference, $\beta_{mm}-\beta_{FIR} = -0.15$, which suggests that the dust SED flattens at $\nu < 353\,$GHz. (3) We present spectral fits of the microwave emission correlated with HI from 23 to 353 GHz, which separate dust and anomalous microwave emission. The flattening of the dust SED can be accounted for with an additional component with a blackbody spectrum, which accounts for $(26 \pm 6)$% of the dust emission at 100 GHz and could represent magnetic dipole emission. Alternatively, it could account for an increasing contribution of carbon dust, or a flattening of the emissivity of amorphous silicates, at millimetre wavelengths. These interpretations make different predictions for the dust polarization SED. (4) We identify a Galactic contribution to the residuals of the dust-HI correlation, which we model with variations of the dust emissivity on angular scales smaller than that of our correlation analysis.

New observations withHerschel allow accurate measurement of the equilibrium temperature of large dust grains heated by the interstellar radiation field (ISRF), which is critical in deriving dust column density and masses. We present temperature maps derived from the Herschel SPIRE and PACS data in two fields along the Galactic plane, obtained as part of the Hi-GAL survey during the Herschel science demonstration phase (SDP). We analyze the distribution of the dust temperature spatially, as well as along the two lines-of-sight (LOS) through the Galaxy. The zero-level offsets in the Herschel maps were established by comparison with the IRAS and Planck data at comparable wavelengths. We derive maps of the dust temperature and optical depth by adjusting a detailed model for dust emission at each pixel. The dust temperature maps show variations in the ISRF intensity and reveal the intricate mixture of the warm dust heated by massive stars and the cold filamentary structures of embedded molecular clouds. The dust optical depth at 250 μm is well correlated with the gas column density, but with a significantly higher dust emissivity than in the solar neighborhood. We correlate the optical depth with 3-D cubes of the dust extinction to investigate variations in the ISRF strength and dust abundance along the line of sight through the spiral structure of the Galaxy. We show that the warmest dust along the LOS is located in the spiral arms of the Galaxy, and we quantify their respective IR contribution.

We present the dust properties of 125 brightHerschelgalaxies selected from thez-GAL NOEMA spectroscopic redshift survey. All the galaxies have precise spectroscopic redshifts in the range 1.3 &lt;z&lt; 5.4. The large instantaneous bandwidth of NOEMA provides an exquisite sampling of the underlying dust continuum emission at 2 and 3 mm in the observed frame, with flux densities in at least four sidebands for each source. Together with the availableHerschel250, 350, and 500 μm and SCUBA-2 850 μm flux densities, the spectral energy distribution (SED) of each source can be analyzed from the far-infrared to the millimeter, with a fine sampling of the Rayleigh-Jeans tail. This wealth of data provides a solid basis to derive robust dust properties, in particular the dust emissivity index (β) and the dust temperature (Tdust). In order to demonstrate our ability to constrain the dust properties, we used a flux-generated mock catalog and analyzed the results under the assumption of an optically thin and optically thick modified black body emission. The robustness of the SED sampling for thez-GAL sources is highlighted by the mock analysis that showed high accuracy in estimating the continuum dust properties. These findings provided the basis for our detailed analysis of thez-GAL continuum data. We report a range of dust emissivities withβ ∼ 1.5 − 3 estimated up to high precision with relative uncertainties that vary in the range 7%−15%, and an average of 2.2 ± 0.3. We find dust temperatures varying from 20 to 50 K with an average ofTdust ∼ 30 K for the optically thin case andTdust ∼ 38 K in the optically thick case. For all the sources, we estimate the dust masses and apparent infrared luminosities (based on the optically thin approach). An inverse correlation is found betweenTdustandβwithβ ∝ Tdust−0.69, which is similar to what is seen in the local Universe. Finally, we report an increasing trend in the dust temperature as a function of redshift at a rate of 6.5 ± 0.5 K/zfor this 500 μm-selected sample. Based on this study, future prospects are outlined to further explore the evolution of dust temperature across cosmic time.

Context. The Planck-HFI all-sky survey from 353 to 857 GHz combined with the IRAS data at 100 m (3000 GHz, IRIS version of the data) show that the dust properties vary from line of sight to line of sight in the di use interstellar medium (ISM) at high Galactic latitude (10 19 6 NH 6 2:5 10 20 H/cm 2 , for a sky coverage of 12%). Aims. These observations contradict the usual thinking of uniform dust properties, even in the most di use areas of the sky. Thus, our aim is to explain these variations with changes in the ISM properties and with evolution of the grain properties. Methods. Our starting point is the latest core-mantle dust model. This model consists of small aromatic-rich carbon grains, larger amorphous carbonaceous grains with an aliphatic-rich core and an aromatic-rich mantle, and amorphous silicates (mixture of olivine and pyroxene types) with Fe/FeS nano-inclusions covered by aromatic-rich carbon mantles. We explore whether variations in the radiation field or in the gas density distribution in the di use ISM could explain the observed variations. The dust properties are also varied in terms of their mantle thickness, metallic nano-inclusions, carbon abundance locked in the grains, and size distributions. Results. We show that variations in the radiation field intensity and gas density distribution cannot explain variations observed with Planck-HFI but that radiation fields harder than the standard ISRF may participate in creating part of the observed variations. We further show that variations in the mantle thickness on the grains coupled with changes in their size distributions can reproduce most of the observations. We concurrently put a limit on the mantle thickness of the silicates, which should not exceed 10 to 15 nm, and find that aromatic-rich mantles are definitely needed for the carbonaceous grain population with a thickness of at least 5 to 7.5 nm. We also find that changes in the carbon cosmic abundance included in the grains could explain part of the variations in dust observations. Finally, we show that varying the composition of metallic nano-inclusions in the silicates cannot account for the variations, at the same time showing that the amount of FeS they contain cannot be >50% by volume. Conclusions. With small variations in the dust properties, we are able to explain most of the variations in the dust emission observed by Planck-HFI in the di use ISM. We also find that the small realistic changes in the dust properties that we consider almost perfectly match the anti-correlation and scatter in the observed T relation.

Context. The composition and properties of interstellar silicate dust are not well understood. In X-rays, interstellar dust can be studied in detail by making use of the fine structure features in the Si K-edge. The features in the Si K-edge offer a range of possibilities to study silicon-bearing dust, such as investigating the crystallinity, abundance, and the chemical composition along a given line of sight. Aims. We present newly acquired laboratory measurements of the silicon K-edge of several silicate-compounds that complement our measurements from our earlier pilot study. The resulting dust extinction profiles serve as templates for the interstellar extinction that we observe. The extinction profiles were used to model the interstellar dust in the dense environments of the Galaxy. Methods. The laboratory measurements, taken at the Soleil synchrotron facility in Paris, were adapted for astrophysical data analysis and implemented in the SPEX spectral fitting program. The models were used to fit the spectra of nine low-mass X-ray binaries located in the Galactic center neighborhood in order to determine the dust properties along those lines of sight. Results. Most lines of sight can be fit well by amorphous olivine. We also established upper limits on the amount of crystalline material that the modeling allows. We obtained values of the total silicon abundance, silicon dust abundance, and depletion along each of the sightlines. We find a possible gradient of 0.06 ± 0.02 dex/kpc for the total silicon abundance versus the Galactocentric distance. We do not find a relation between the depletion and the extinction along the line of sight.

Context. Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are powerful probes for studying the different properties of their host galaxies (e.g., the interstellar dust) at all redshifts. By fitting their spectral energy distribution (SED) over a large range of wavelengths, we can gain direct insights into the properties of the interstellar dust by studying the extinction curves. Unlike the dust extinction templates, such as those of the average Milky Way (MW) or the Small and Large Magellanic Cloud (SMC and LMC), the extinction curves of galaxies outside the Local Group exhibit deviation from these laws. Altogether, X-ray and gamma-ray satellites as well as ground-based telescopes, such as Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (Swift) and Gamma-Ray Optical and Near-Infrared Detector (GROND), provide measurements of the afterglows from the X-ray to the NIR, which can be used to extract information on dust extinction curves along their lines of sight (LoS). The study presented in this paper undertakes such a photometric study, comprising a preparatory work for the SVOM mission and its ground-based follow-up telescope COLIBRI. Aims. We propose a simple approach to parameterize the dust extinction curve of GRB host galaxies. The model used in this analysis is based on a power law form with the addition of a Loretzian-like Drude profile with two parameters: the extinction slope, γ, and the 2175 Å bump amplitude, Eb. Methods. Using the g′r′i′z′JHKs GROND filter bands, we tested our dust extinction model and explored the parameter space in extinction and redshift by fitting SEDs of simplified simulations of GRB afterglow spectra based on different extinction curve templates. From a final sample of 10 real Swift/GROND extinguished GRBs, we determined the quantities of the dust extinction in their host and measured their extinction curves. Results. We find that our derived extinction curves are in agreement with the spectroscopic measurements reported for four GRBs in the literature. We compared four other GRBs to the results of photometric studies where fixed laws were used to fit their data. We additionally derived two new GRB extinction curves. The measured average extinction curve is given by a slope of γ = 1.051 ± 0.129 and Eb = 0.070 ± 0.036, which is equivalent to a quasi-featureless in-between SMC-LMC template. This is consistent with previous studies aimed at deriving the dust host galaxy extinction where we expect that small dust grains dominate in GRB environment, yielding a steeper curve than the mean MW extinction curve.