A bimodal dust grain distribution in the IC 434 H ii region

Context. Studies of dust evolution and processing in different phases of the interstellar medium (ISM) is essential to understanding the lifecycle of dust in space. Recent results have challenged the capabilities and validity of current dust models, indicating that the properties of interstellar dust evolve as it transits between different phases of the ISM.
Aims: We characterize the dust content from the IC 434 H ii region, and present a scenario that results in the large-scale structure of the region seen to date.
Methods: We conduct a multi-wavelength study of the dust emission from the ionized gas, and combine this with modeling, from large scales that provide insight into the history of the IC 434/L1630 region, to small scales that allow us to infer quantitative properties of the dust content inside the H ii region.
Results: The dust enters the H ii region through momentum transfer with a champagne flow of ionized gas, set up by a chance encounter between the L1630 molecular cloud and the star cluster of σ Ori. We observe two clearly separated dust populations inside the ionized gas, that show different observational properties, as well as contrasting optical properties. Population A is colder (~25 K) than predicted by widely-used dust models, its temperature is insensitive to an increase of the impinging radiation field, it is momentum-coupled to the gas, and efficiently absorbs radiation pressure to form a dust wave at 1.0 pc ahead of σ Ori AB. Population B is characterized by a constant [20/30] flux ratio throughout the H ii region, heats up to ~75 K close to the star, and is less efficient in absorbing radiation pressure, forming a dust wave at 0.1 pc from the star.
Conclusions: The dust inside IC 434 is bimodal. The characteristics of population A are remarkable and cannot be explained by current dust models. We argue that large porous grains or fluffy aggregates are potential candidates to explain much of the observational characteristics. Population B are grains that match the classical description of spherical, compact dust. The inferred optical properties are consistent with either very small grains, or large grains in thermal equilibrium with the radiation field. Our results confirm recent work that stress the importance of variations in the dust properties between different regions of the ISM.