Dust-to-gas Ratio in the Extremely Metal-poor Galaxy I Zw 18

The blue compact dwarf galaxy I Zw 18 is one of the most metal-poor systems known in the local universe (12+log(O/H) = 7.17). In this work we study I Zw 18 using data from Spitzer, Herschel Space Telescope, and IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Our data set includes the most sensitive maps of I Zw 18, to date, in both the far-infrared and the CO J = 1 → 0 transition. We use dust emission models to derive a dust mass upper limit of only M _dust <= 1.1 × 10⁴ M _⊙ (3σ limit). This upper limit is driven by the non-detection at 160 μm, and it is a factor of 4-10 times smaller than previous estimates (depending on the model used). We also estimate an upper limit to the total dust-to-gas mass ratio of M _Dust/M _gas <= 5.0 × 10^-5. If a linear correlation between the dust-to-gas mass ratio and metallicity (measured as O/H) were to hold, we would expect a ratio of 3.9 × 10^-4. We also show that the infrared spectral energy distribution is similar to that of starbursting systems.