Browsing by Author "Feltre, Anna"

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    The complex physics of dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshifts as revealed by Herschel and Spitzer
    (IOP Publishing, 2013) Lo Faro, Barbara; Franceschini, Alberto; Vaccari, M.; Silva, L.; Rodighiero, G.; Berta, S.; Bock, J.; Burgarella, D.; Buat, V.; Cava, A.; Clements, D.L.; Cooray, Asantha; Farrah, D.; Feltre, Anna; Gonzalez-Solares, Eduardo A.; Hurley, P.; Lutz, D.; Magdis, G.; Magnelli, B.; Marchetti, L.; Oliver, S.J.; Page, Matthew J.; Popesso, P.; Pozzi, F.; Rigopoulou, D.; Rowan-Robinson, M.; Roseboom, I.G.; Scott, Douglas; Smith, A.J.; Symeonidis, Myrto; Wang, L.; Wuyts, S.
    We combine far-infrared photometry from Herschel (PEP/HerMES) with deep mid-infrared spectroscopy from Spitzer to investigate the nature and the mass assembly history of a sample of 31 luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies ((U)LIRGs) at z ∼ 1 and 2 selected in GOODS-S with 24μm fluxes between 0.2 and 0.5 mJy.We model the data with a self-consistent physical model (GRASIL) which includes a state-of-the-art treatment of dust extinction and reprocessing. We find that all of our galaxies appear to require massive populations of old (>1 Gyr) stars and, at the same time, to host a moderate ongoing activity of star formation (SFR 100M yr−1). The bulk of the stars appear to have been formed a few Gyr before the observation in essentially all cases. Only five galaxies of the sample require a recent starburst superimposed on a quiescent star formation history.We also find discrepancies between our results and those based on optical-only spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting for the same objects; by fitting their observed SEDs with our physical model we find higher extinctions (by ΔAV ∼ 0.81 and 1.14) and higher stellar masses (by Δlog(M ) ∼ 0.16 and 0.36 dex) for z ∼ 1 and z ∼ 2 (U)LIRGs, respectively. The stellar mass difference is larger for the most dust-obscured objects. We also find lower SFRs than those computed from LIR using the Kennicutt relation due to the significant contribution to the dust heating by intermediate-age stellar populations through “cirrus” emission (∼73% and ∼66% of the total LIR for z ∼ 1 and z ∼ 2 (U)LIRGs, respectively).
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    The roles of star formation and AGN activity of IRS sources in the HerMES fields
    (Oxford University Press, 2013) Feltre, Anna; Hatziminaoglou, Evanthia; Vaccari, Mattia; Hernán-Caballero, Antonio; Fritz, Jacopo; Franceschini, Alberto; Bock, J.; Cooray, Asantha; Farrah, Duncan; Gonzalez-Solares, Eduardo A.; Ibar, Edo; Isaak, Kate G.; Lo Faro, Barbara; Marchetti, L.; Oliver, Seb J.; Page, Matthew J.; Rigopoulou, Dimitra; Roseboom, Isaac G.; Symeonidis, Myrto
    In this work we explore the impact of the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) on the mid- and far-infrared (IR) properties of galaxies as well as the effects of simultaneous AGN and starburst activity in these same galaxies. To do this we apply a multi-component, multi-band spectral synthesis technique to a sample of 250 μm selected galaxies of the HerschelMulti- tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES), with IRS spectra available for all galaxies. Our results confirm that the inclusion of the IRS spectra plays a crucial role in the spectral analysis of galaxies with an AGN component improving the selection of the best-fit hot dust (torus) model. We find a correlation between the obscured star formation rate (SFR) derived from the IR luminosity of the starburst component, SFRIR and SFRPAH, derived from the luminosity of the PAH features, LPAH, with SFRFIR taking higher values than SFRPAH. The correlation is different for AGN- and starburst-dominated objects. The ratio of LPAH to that of the starburst component, LPAH/LSB, is almost constant for AGN-dominated objects but decreases with increasing LSB for starburst-dominated objects. SFRFIR increases with the accretion luminosity, Lacc, with the increase less prominent for the very brightest, unobscured AGN-dominated sources. We find no correlation between the masses of the hot (AGN-heated) and cold (starburstheated) dust components. We interpret this as a non-constant fraction of gas driven by the gravitational effects to the AGN while the starburst is ongoing. We also find no evidence of the AGN affecting the temperature of the cold dust component, though this conclusion is mostly based on objects with a non-dominantAGN component.We conclude that our findings do not provide evidence that the presence of AGN affects the star formation process in the host galaxy, but rather that the two phenomena occur simultaneously over a wide range of luminosities.