EDP Sciences Journals List
Advanced Search
Subscriber Authentication Point
Home All issues Volume 502/2 Article
Free access article

Issue A&A
Volume 502, Number 2, August I 2009
Page(s) 541 - 548
Section Extragalactic astronomy
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/200811205
Published online 04 June 2009

A&A 502, 541-548 (2009)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/200811205

Starburst and cirrus models for submillimeter galaxies

A. Efstathiou1 and R. Siebenmorgen2

1  School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Diogenes Street, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
    e-mail: a.efstathiou@euc.ac.cy
2  European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschildstr. 2, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany

Received 21 October 2008 / Accepted 20 May 2009

Abstract
We present radiative transfer models for submillimeter galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts and mid-infrared spectroscopy from Spitzer/IRS and analyze available Spitzer/MIPS 24, 70 and 160 $\mu$m data. We use two types of starburst models, a cirrus model and a model for the emission of an AGN torus in order to investigate the nature of these objects. We find that for three of the objects (25%) cirrus emission alone can account for the mid-infrared spectrum and the MIPS and submillimeter data. For the remaining objects we find that we need a combination of starburst and cirrus in order to fit simultaneously the multi-wavelength data. We find that the typical submillimeter galaxy has comparable luminosity in the starburst (median $L=10^{12.5}~L_\odot$) and cirrus (median $L=10^{12.4}~L_\odot$) components. This could arise if the galaxies have been forming stars continuously for the last 250 Myr with the star formation occurring in the last 5 Myr being shrouded by high-optical-depth molecular cloud dust, whereas the rest of the starlight is attenuated by diffuse dust or cirrus with an $A_{\rm V}$ of about 1 mag.


Key words: galaxies: active -- galaxies: evolution -- galaxies: starburst -- infrared: galaxies



© ESO 2009


What is OpenURL?

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.
  • If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
  • You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
  • You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.