The complex interplay of dust and star light in spiral galaxy discs

TL;DR

This paper examines how interstellar dust influences the observed structure of spiral galaxy discs, highlighting the complex interaction between dust and starlight through modeling and observational analysis.

Contribution

It introduces new insights into dust attenuation effects on galaxy structure and presents initial modeling results using optical and far-infrared data.

Findings

Dust significantly affects the apparent structure of spiral galaxies.

Modeling with Herschel data reveals complex dust-star interactions.

Dust attenuation impacts bulge and disc observations.

Abstract

Interstellar dust grains efficiently absorb and scatter UV and optical radiation in galaxies, and therefore can significantly affect the apparent structure of spiral galaxies. We discuss the effect of dust attenuation on the observed structural properties of bulges and discs. We also present some first results on modelling the dust content of edge-on spiral galaxies using both optical and Herschel far-infrared data. Both of these results demonstrate the complex interplay of dust and star light in spiral galaxies.