Stellar dust production and composition in the Magellanic Clouds

TL;DR

This paper reviews dust production in the Magellanic Clouds, highlighting how evolved stars contribute to the interstellar dust reservoir, with new insights into the total dust output and composition in these nearby galaxies.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive estimate of dust production rates and composition in the Magellanic Clouds based on Spitzer observations.

Findings

Quantified total dust production rates in the Magellanic Clouds.

Revealed the mineralogical composition of stellar dust in these galaxies.

Enhanced understanding of dust lifecycle in irregular dwarf galaxies.

Abstract

The dust reservoir in the interstellar medium of a galaxy is constantly being replenished by dust formed in the stellar winds of evolved stars. Due to their vicinity, nearby irregular dwarf galaxies the Magellanic Clouds provide an opportunity to obtain a global picture of the dust production in galaxies. The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds have been mapped with the Spitzer Space Telescope from 3.6 to 160 {\mu}m, and these wavelengths are especially suitable to study thermal dust emission. In addition, a large number of individual evolved stars have been targeted for 5-40 {\mu}m spectroscopy, revealing the mineralogy of these sources. Here I present an overview on the work done on determining the total dust production rate in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, as well as a first attempt at revealing the global composition of the freshly produced stardust.