Herschel-SPIRE observations of the disturbed galaxy NGC4438

TL;DR

This study uses Herschel-SPIRE data to detect and analyze extra-planar dust in the disturbed galaxy NGC4438, revealing dust stripping processes influenced by the cluster environment and its impact on galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first clear evidence of dust stripping in a galaxy within a cluster environment using Herschel observations.

Findings

Detection of dust up to 4-5 kpc from the galaxy disk.

Dust distribution closely follows stripped gas.

Extra-planar dust lacks warm temperature component.

Abstract

We present Herschel-SPIRE observations of the perturbed galaxy NGC4438 in the Virgo cluster. These images reveal the presence of extra-planar dust up to ~4-5 kpc away from the galaxy's disk. The dust closely follows the distribution of the stripped atomic and molecular hydrogen, supporting the idea that gas and dust are perturbed in a similar fashion by the cluster environment. Interestingly, the extra-planar dust lacks a warm temperature component when compared to the material still present in the disk, explaining why it was missed by previous far-infrared investigations. Our study provides evidence for dust stripping in clusters of galaxies and illustrates the potential of Herschel data for our understanding of environmental effects on galaxy evolution.