Quantifying the Heating Sources for Mid-infrared Dust Emissions in Galaxies: The Case of M 81

With the newly available photometric images at 250 and 500 μm from the Herschel Space Observatory, we study quantitative correlations over a sub-kiloparsec scale among three distinct emission components in the interstellar medium of the nearby spiral galaxy M 81 (NGC 3031): (1) I ₈ or I ₂₄, the surface brightness of the mid-infrared emission observed in the Spitzer Space Telescope 8 or 24 μm band, with I ₈ and I ₂₄ being dominated by the emissions from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and very small grains (VSGs) of dust, respectively; (2) I ₅₀₀, that of the cold dust continuum emission in the Herschel Space Observatory 500 μm band, dominated by the emission from large dust grains heated by evolved stars; and (3) I _Hα, a nominal surface brightness of the Hα line emission, from gas ionized by newly formed massive stars. The results from our correlation study, free from any assumption on or modeling of dust emissivity law or dust temperatures, present solid evidence for significant heating of PAHs and VSGs by evolved stars. In the case of M 81, about 67% (48%) of the 8 μm (24 μm ) emission derives its heating from evolved stars, with the remainder attributed to radiation heating associated with ionizing stars.

Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.