The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. V. Star-forming dwarf galaxies - dust in metal-poor environments
Bomans, D. J.; Bianchi, S.; Fritz, J.; De Looze, I.; Hunt, L. K.; Baes, M.; Dariush, A.; Bendo, G. J.; Boselli, A.; Cortese, L.; di Serego Alighieri, S.; Hughes, T. M.; Madden, S.; Pohlen, M.; Clemens, M.; Smith, M. W. L.; Verstappen, J.; Xilouris, E. M.; Gavazzi, G.; Zibetti, S.; Sabatini, S.; Corbelli, E.; Pierini, D.; Jones, A. P.; Fadda, D.; Vlahakis, C.; Grossi, M.; Giovanardi, C.; Davies, J. I.; Garcia-Appadoo, D. A.
Portugal, Italy, France, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, United States, Chile, Greece
Abstract
We present the dust properties of a small sample of Virgo cluster dwarf galaxies drawn from the science demonstration phase data set of the Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey. These galaxies have low metallicities (7.8 < 12 + log(O/H) < 8.3) and star-formation rates ≲10-1 M⊙ yr-1. We measure the spectral energy distribution (SED) from 100 to 500 μm and derive dust temperatures and dust masses. The SEDs are fitted by a cool component of temperature T ≲ 20 K, implying dust masses around 105 M⊙ and dust-to-gas ratios D within the range 10-3-10-2. The completion of the full survey will yield a larger set of galaxies, which will provide more stringent constraints on the dust content of star-forming dwarf galaxies.
Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.