Dust extinction and emission in a clumpy galactic disk

An application of the radiative transfer code TRADING

INAF - Istituto di Radioastronomia, Sezione di Firenze, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy e-mail: sbianchi@arcetri.astro.it

Received: 22 April 2008
Accepted: 17 July 2008

Abstract

Aims. I present the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code TRADING (Transfer of RAdiation through Dust In Galaxies). The code self-consistently computes the extinction of radiation in a dusty medium (including absorption and scattering) and the dust emission.

Methods. A binary-tree adaptive grid is used for the description of the dust distribution. Dust radiation is computed at thermal equilibrium or under stochastic heating conditions, for a distribution of grains of different radii and materials. The code is applied to the case of a clumpy galactic disk, including both diffuse dust and a distribution of spherical clouds modelled on the GMCs of local galaxies. Diffuse and localised sources of starlight are used, with independent spectra.

Results. A model is provided for the edge-on galaxy NGC 891. The SED of the galaxy from the UV to the submm/mm range can be well reproduced by a bulge/disk configuration of old stars together with an extended dust disk, as suggested by the analysis of optical/near-infrared images; a clumpy dust distribution of the same mass as the diffuse dust disk, together with a UV emitting component, half of which is in the form of a diffuse disk and half in sources embedded in clouds. In total, it is found that about 35% of the bolometric radiation is absorbed (and emitted) by dust; that absorption of starlight from the old population contributes to about 60% of the dust emission. A significant component of the dust emission from clouds is due to absorption of diffuse radiation. Radial profiles of dust emission in a clumpy disk are almost independent of the wavelength, with the exception of the wavelength range on the Wien side of the thermal equilibrium peak.