The relationship between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission and far-infrared dust emission from NGC 2403 and M83

TL;DR

This study investigates how polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emit in different galactic environments, revealing that their excitation sources vary between diffuse interstellar radiation and star-forming regions in two nearby spiral galaxies.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the excitation mechanisms of PAHs, showing they are influenced by different stellar populations depending on the galaxy.

Findings

PAH emission correlates with diffuse dust heated by the interstellar radiation field in NGC 2403.

In M83, PAH emission is more associated with dust heated by star-forming regions.

PAHs are excited by different stellar populations in different spiral galaxies.

Abstract

We examine the relation between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission at 8 microns and far-infrared emission from hot dust grains at 24 microns and from large dust grains at 160 and 250 microns in the nearby spiral galaxies NGC 2403 and M83 using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory. We find that the PAH emission in NGC 2403 is better correlated with emission at 250 microns from dust heated by the diffuse interstellar radiation field (ISRF) and that the 8/250 micron surface brightness ratio is well-correlated with the stellar surface brightness as measured at 3.6 microns. This implies that the PAHs in NGC 2403 are intermixed with cold large dust grains in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) and that the PAHs are excited by the diffuse ISRF. In M83, the PAH emission appears more strongly correlated with 160 micron emission originating from large dust grains heated by star forming regions. However, the PAH emission in M83 is low where the 24 micron emission peaks within star forming regions, and enhancements in the 8/160 micron surface brightness ratios appear offset relative to the dust and the star forming regions within the spiral arms. This suggests that the PAHs observed in the 8 micron band are not excited locally within star forming regions but either by light escaping non-axisymmetrically from star forming regions or locally by young, non-photoionising stars that have migrated downstream from the spiral density waves. The results from just these two galaxies show that PAHs may be excited by different stellar populations in different spiral galaxies.