An Infrared Study of the Magellanic Clouds Schwering, P.B.W
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An infrared study of the Magellanic clouds Schwering, P.B.W. Citation Schwering, P. B. W. (1988, October 19). An infrared study of the Magellanic clouds. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/12856 Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version Licence agreement concerning inclusion of License: doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/12856 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). AN INFRARED STUDY OF THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS Piet Schwering Promotiecommissie: Promotor: Prof. Dr. H.J. Habing Co-promotor: Dr. F.F. Israël Referent: Dr. J. Koornneef Overige leden: Prof. Dr. W.B. Burton Prof. Dr. A. Blaauw Prof. Dr. H. van de Laan Prof. Dr. G.K. Miley Prof. Ir. C. van Schooneveld Prof. Dr. W.J. Huiskamp The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was developed and operated by the Nether- lands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR), the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.K. Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC). Gracias a la Vida Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto, me dió dos luceros que cuando los abro perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco, en el alto cielo su fonda estrellado, en las multitudes la mujer que yo amo. Gracias a la vida que me ha dada tanto, me dió el corazón que agita su morco cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano, cuando miro el bueno tan lejos del malo, cuando miro el fonda de tus ojos claros. Violeta Parra Mijn dank aan het leven Mijn dank aan het leven dat me zo véél heeft gegeven, het heeft me twee ogen gegeven zodat ik, wanneer ik ze open perfekt het donkere van het lichte kan onderscheiden, in de hoge hemel de besterde verte, in de menigten de vrouw die ik liefheb. Mijn dank aan het leven dat me zo véél heeft gegeven, het heeft me mijn hart gegeven dat zo heftig klopt als ik de vrucht bekijk van het menselijk brein, als ik de goede mensen zo ver verwijderd zie van de slechte mensen, als ik de diepte zie van jouw heldere ogen. vertaald door Hannie van Loon Contents Chapter I Introduction 1. The earliest observations of the Magellanic Clouds 1 2. Modern observations 2 2.1. The Local Group of Galaxies 2 2.2. The Magellanic Clouds 2 2.3. Atomic, molecular and ionized gas 4 2.4. Abundances and star formation 5 3. Outline of this thesis 6 Chapter II Infrared Observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud Summary 11 1. Introduction 11 2. Observations and data reduction 13 3. The maps of infrared radiation 16 4. The Infrared Source List in the SMC 19 4.1. The Source List 19 4.2. Positions 29 4.3. Flux densities .' 30 5. Identification of Sources v 30 5.1. Stars in the DPM fields 30 5.1.1. Comparison with SAO stars 30 5.1.2. Comparison with Radcliffe SMC-stars 32 5.1.3. Comparison with Late Type Giants 34 5.1.4. Stars: Conclusion 34 5.2. Ha nebulosities in the SMC 34 5.3. Clusters in the SMC 38 5.4. Supernova- remnants in the SMC 39 5.5. Planetary nebulae in the SMC 40 5.6. Dark clouds in the SMC 41 6. Conclusions 41 Appendix A: Additions to the Infrared Source List 44 A.I. Introduction 44 A.2. Observations and data reduction 44 A.3. The maps of infrared radiation 45 A.4. Additions to the Infrared Source List in the SMC 46 A.5. Identification of sources 47 A.5.1. Stars in the fields 47 A.5.1.1. Comparison with SAO stars 47 A.5.1.2. Comparison with Radcliffe SMC-stars 47 A.5.2. Ha nebulosities in the SMC 47 A.5.3. Clusters in the SMC 48 A.5.4. Planetary nebulae in the SMC 48 A.6. Conclusions 48 Chapter jIII Infrared Observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud Summary 51 1. Introduction 51 2. Observations and data reduction 52 3. The maps of infrared radiation 54 4. The Infrared Source List in the LMC 60 5. Identification of Sources 82 5.1. Stars in the DPM fields 82 5.1.1. Comparison with foreground stars 82 5.1.2. Comparison with Radcliffe LMC-stars 82 5.1.3. Comparison with LMC Late Type Giants 89 5.1.4. Stars: Conclusion 97 5.2. Ha nebulosities in the LMC 97 5.3. Globular clusters in the LMC 98 5.4. Supernova remnants in the LMC 98 5.5. Planetary nebulae in the LMC 100 5.6. Dark clouds in the LMC 105 6. Conclusions 105 Appendix A: Additions to the Infrared Source List 107 A.I. Introduction 107 A.2. Observations and data reduction 107 A.3. The maps of infrared radiation 107 A.4. Additions to the Infrared Source List in the LMC 108 A.5. Identification of sources 109 A.5.1. Stars in the Co-added fields 109 A.5.2. Ha nebulosities in the LMC 109 A.5.3. Globular clusters in the LMC 109 A.5.4. Planetary nebulae in the LMC 109 A.6. Conclusions Ill Chapter IV Galactic infrared foreground emission in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds 1. Introduction 115 2. Data presentation and handling 116 2.1. Infrared data 116 2.2. Atomic hydrogen data 118 3. The stellar infrared foreground 120 4. The cirrus infrared foreground 121 4.1. Atomic and molecular hydrogen column densities 122 4.2. Infrared emission 122 4.3. Dust temperatures 124 4.4. Dust column densities 125 4.5. Gas-to-dust ratio 125 4.6. Predicted infrared foreground emission 133 5. The relation between Galactic infrared and atomic hydrogen 135 5.1. Comparison of Galactic infrared-atomic hydrogen relations ... 135 5.2. Variations in the relation between infrared intensity and atomic hydrogen column density 136 6. The Galactic foreground extinction 139 7. Implications of the extinction by foreground dust on Magellanic Clouds studies 141 8. Conclusions 142 Chapter V Overall infrared properties of the Magellanic Clouds 1. Introduction 145 2. Data presentation and data handling 145 3. Integrated infrared properties of the Magellanic Clouds 146 3.1. Flux densities and spectra 146 3.2. Infrared sizes 161 3.3. Luminosities and luminosity ratios 162 4. Large scale infrared structure of the Magellanic Clouds 167 4.1. Infrared morphology 167 4.2. Line-of-sight temperature distribution of the dust 170 4.3. Comparison of infrared radiation with Ha / HI supergiant shells 181 4.4. The density of the Interstellar radiation field 181 5. Comparison of infrared emission with data at other wavelengths . .. 183 5.1. Comparison of infrared with ultraviolet radiation from the LMC 183 5.2. Comparison of infrared radiation with Ha emission 188 5.3. Comparison of infrared with radio continuum radiation 188 6. Conclusions 190 m Chapter VI Properties of dust in the Magellanic Clouds 1. Introduction and data presentation 195 2. Nature of dust emitting at mid-infrared wavelengths 195 2.1. The Clouds' integrated mid-infrared excess emission 196 2.2. The contribution of star-like objects to the mid-infrared excess emission 199 2.2.1. Cool stellar photospheres 199 2.2.2. Dust shells surrounding main sequence stars 200 2.2.3. Late-type stars with thick dust shells (OH/IR stars and Miras) 200 2.2.4. Proto stellar objects or young stars still embedded in dust 201 2.3. The nature of the mid-infrared excess emission 203 2.3.1. Very small grains mixed with large grains in infrared cirrus 203 2.3.2. The distribution of the mid-infrared excess emission ... 204 2.3.3. Conclusion: mid-infrared emission in the Magellanic Clouds 211 3. Amount of emitting dust in the Magellanic Clouds 212 3.1. Dust mass estimated from global emission 212 3.2. Dust mass estimated from line-of-sight temperature distribution 214 3.3. Dust mass estimated from decomposition of line-of-sight temperatures 215 3.4. The cold dust mass 217 3.5. The total dust mass of the Magellanic Clouds 218 3.6. The distribution of warm and cool dust 218 4. Comparison of infrared radiation and dust with atomic hydrogen 223 4.1. Infrared and atomic hydrogen emission 223 4.2. Dust and atomic hydrogen column densities 231 5. Conclusions 232 Chapter VII Dust in the Magellanic Clouds 1. Introduction 235 2. Infrared characteristics of the Magellanic Clouds 235 2.1. Galactic foreground dust 235 2.2. Global infrared properties 236 2.3. The radiation fields in the Magellanic Clouds 239 2.4. Dust properties 239 2.5. The gas-to-dust ratio 240 3. The relation between global and local characteristics 246 4. The Magellanic Clouds compared to other galaxies 246 4.1. Local Group spiral galaxies 246 4.2. Irregular galaxies 250 Appendix On the interpretation of IRAS infrared observations 1. Introduction 253 2. Mechanisms and origin of infrared radiation 253 2.1. Mechanisms of infrared radiation 253 2.2. Origin and sources of infrared radiation 254 3. IRAS in-band intensities, specific intensities and colour corrections 254 4. Dust properties and radiative transfer theory 259 4.1. Dust properties 259 4.2. Radiative transfer 261 5. Dust temperature from infrared observations 265 6. Far-infrared luminosity ' 271 7. Optical depth, dust column density and dust masses 275 8. Multiple dust components contributing to the infrared emission 276 9. Summary 277 Summary 281 Resumen 284 Samenvatting 287 Curriculum vitae 291 Nawoord 293 The Antarctic Pole is not so starry as the Arctic.